In world that’s all about stats, even professional bull rider Austin Meier is boiled down to the basics.Age 25, the PBR website says, 165 pounds, 5 feet 11 inches and seven years a pro. A Top 10 rider, he’s scored almost a million dollars since he joined the PBR in 2006.Meier, who is a third-generation rider, and 34 other bull riders compete this weekend in Pueblo at the Ford Built Tough Series.Here he talks about what it’s like to ride a bull, the downsides of his passion for the sport and what you do when you’re considered an old man at 35.The Gazette: So, tell me about your first great bull ride.Austin Meier: You know, to be honest, I’ve been on so many bulls … it’s hard to say that one was The One. Unlike other guys who started when they were 14, 16, 12. They started putting me on stock when I was 2 and have (ridden) ever since. I mean, I started traveling and traveling hard from the time I was 15.Gazette: What do you have to know to be a champion rider?Meier: I think the biggest thing to reach is that you have to know yourself. There’s more than just having the physical attributes of it. You have to know deep down inside that even in tough times you have ability to have the capability to be a champion, and when the moment comes you have to strike.Gazette: How do you see the bulls? Are they adversaries or means to an end?Meier: Unlike other sports, where I’m trying to beat another team, that bull is my partner. He has to perform to his best and I have to ride to my best. If I don’t ride to my best — it’s me just hanging on him hard — and if he doesn’t buck to his best, it’s hard on my checkbook. It’s like a dance. You have two partners. If you dance to the song that’s great, but if you’re stepping on each other’s feet, it can be a little rough.Gazette: I’m sure everyone asks you about your injuries.Meier: I’ve got metal from feet to face. This sport is very grueling and can be a brutal sport to the cowboy, especially at this level. You very seldom get on a bull that’s easy. … To that end, it’s hard on your body. You can only take so much until your body has to give. … If you’re willing to put your body in a situation that’s hard on your body for a score, you might get a good score, but you might be stepped on at the end of it.Gazette: What makes it worth it?Meier: I think for me it’s the simple love of the game, loving to compete. I think at our level you have to hate losing more than you love winning. (Laughs)Gazette: What does a career as a bull rider look like from 25? How long can you ride and what do you do after that?Meier: It’s really injury specific, real specific. … I figure I’ll probably ride until my mid-30s but all that depends on how my body feels and my desire to continue.Gazette: What does it feel like when you mount that bull in a competition?Meier: You know, it varies with the bulls a person gets on and how your emotions run — whether it’s just the classic get on there, do your job and don’t stub your toe, or you got the baddest cat in the pen so you better buck up and get it done the best you can. You focus on that. It really varies but at the end of the day you keep your mind as clear as possible and have fun.Gazette: And when the ride is done?Meier: I guess it kind of depends on how the ride goes. (Laughs.) … If it wasn’t good, you’re a little irritated. Some guys show it at the arena. Some hold it back for later. Sometimes you’re just glad that ride is over and you get to live another day.