Bullet (mascot)

Bullet
Bullet
	Bullet III at his home ranch near Tulsa, OK in 2010
University	Oklahoma State University
Conference	Big XII
Description	horse
First seen	1984

Bullet is the name of the horse that is ridden by the "Spirit Rider" at Oklahoma State University-Stillwater football games and other special events. The current Bullet is a black American quarter horse gelding. Bullet was introduced as an Oklahoma State tradition in 1984 by the late Dr. Eddy Finley as part of the Spirit Rider Program.^[1] Bullet gallops out onto the football field at Boone Pickens Stadium, ridden by the Spirit Rider carrying an orange OSU flag, during the pre-game performance by the Cowboy Marching Band and after every Cowboy touchdown. The current Bullet is the fifth horse used in the OSU Spirit Rider program, and the fourth horse to be named Bullet. He has served in this role since 2019.^[2]

The first Spirit Rider horse, a black mare named Della, was owned by John Beall Jr., who served as the original Spirit Rider at OSU.^[3] When Beall left OSU, the university decided to keep the tradition alive. In 1988, the school bought its own black horse and through a contest put on by the school newspaper, The Daily O'Collegian, and won by OSU Senior Scott Townsend, "Bullet" was adopted as the name of the horse. In 2003, Bullet I was retired and OSU broke in another black horse to roam the sidelines. Bullet II died shortly before the beginning of the 2005 football season and was replaced by a third Bullet. Bullet III was retired during halftime of the OSU WVU game November 17, 2018. Bullet IV was also introduced during halftime.

In addition to riding Bullet during football games, the Spirit Rider is charged with the task of taking care of the horse, such as cleaning Bullet's stall at the OSU Equine Center, feeding and exercising Bullet every day and bathing Bullet three times a week.

In 2001, Bullet was one of three finalists for the MD Barns Silver Spur Award presented by the American Quarter Horse Association. The award honors American Quarter Horses that have made a significant impact on the lives of others and created a favorable perception of the breed.

References

^ "Spirit Rider: Riding With Cowboy Pride". Archived from the original on 2008-09-30. Retrieved 2008-01-26.
^ KTUL Staff (19 September 2019). "Behind the scenes: OSU's new Bullet rides through Boone Pickens Stadium for the first time". KTUL. Retrieved 3 June 2024.
^ Spirit Rider charges into OSU history

[1] "Spirit Rider: Riding With Cowboy Pride". Archived from the original on 2008-09-30. Retrieved 2008-01-26.

[2] KTUL Staff (19 September 2019). "Behind the scenes: OSU's new Bullet rides through Boone Pickens Stadium for the first time". KTUL. Retrieved 3 June 2024.

[3] Spirit Rider charges into OSU history

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Oklahoma State Cowboys basketball
Venues	Armory–Gymnasium (1919–1938) Gallagher-Iba Arena (1938–present)
Rivalries	Oklahoma
Culture & lore	Bullet Pistol Pete 2001 team plane crash 2017–18 corruption scandal
People	Head coaches NBA players Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

v t e Oklahoma State Cowboys football
Venues	Boone Pickens Stadium (1920–present) Sherman E. Smith Training Center
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Oklahoma: Bedlam Series Tulsa
Culture & lore	Bullet Pistol Pete "The Waving Song" "Ride 'Em Cowboys" Marching band 1951 Drake game 2011 Iowa State game 2015 homecoming parade attack
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025
National championship seasons in bold

v t e Live animal mascots in college sports
The American	TOM (Memphis) Stella (Temple)
ACC	Osceola and Renegade (Florida State) Tuffy (NC State) Rameses (North Carolina) Peruna (SMU)
Big 12	Judge (Baylor) Ralphie the Buffalo (Colorado) Shasta (Houston) Bullet (Oklahoma State) The Masked Rider (Texas Tech)
Big East	Butler Blue (Butler) Jack the Bulldog (Georgetown) Jonathan (UConn)
Big Ten	Traveler (USC) Dubs (Washington)
Conference USA	Tech (Louisiana Tech)
Ivy League	Handsome Dan (Yale)
Missouri Valley	Racer One (Murray State)
Mountain West	Aurora (Air Force) CAM the Ram (Colorado State)
Patriot League	Army Mules (Army) Bill the Goat (Navy)
SEC	Tusk (Arkansas) War Eagle (Auburn) Uga (Georgia) Blue (Kentucky) Mike the Tiger (LSU) Bully (Mississippi State) Boomer and Sooner (Oklahoma) Sir Big Spur (South Carolina) Smokey (Tennessee) Bevo (Texas) Reveille (Texas A&M)