LEVEL CROSS — Eight seconds. That's how long Brian Canter works each shift – unless he gets off early.

"You ride one bull at a time for eight seconds," he said at his home north of Level Cross near the Guilford County line. "Sometimes the clock is a little slow."

At 20 years of age, Canter has already won more than a half million dollars in his third year on the Built Ford Tough Series presented by Wrangler, the Professional Bull Riders' (PBR) top circuit. The 34-event 2008 series began Dec. 29 in Atlanta and finishes in October. The World Finals will be in November at Las Vegas.

At 5 feet, 4 inches and 120 pounds, Canter doesn't appear to be much of a match for a 1,500-pound bucking bull. Yet he believes his size is to his advantage.

"It's the perfect size," he said. "There's not as much weight to throw around and it's easier to hang on."

Canter and two of his PBR colleagues, Ned Cross of Oregon and Pistol Robinson of Texas, were late risers the first morning of the event at Winston-Salem's LJVM Coliseum on Feb. 1 and 2. You'd almost think they were rock stars, touring the country and finding themselves at a different sold-out arena each weekend, from Madison Square Garden in New York to the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Home is where they crash during the week when most folks are at work.

Canter grew up near Jerome Davis, a former PBR star who wound up in a wheelchair 10 years ago when he landed wrong after a bull ride and was paralyzed from the chest down. The Sophia resident hasn't let adversity get him down, using his farm to raise some of those cantankerous bulls who are born to buck.

"Jerome Davis influenced me," said Canter, "and I have a cousin, Jeff Canter, who used to be on the tour. Jerome helped me a lot."

Canter says he was fairly young when he and another cousin set up some bucking machines to practice on. One still hangs from a tree in the backyard of his home.

"I decided I wanted to (ride bulls) at 8 years old," he said.

With permission from his mother, Beverly Cable, he went on the junior rodeo circuit through high school.

"I didn't want him to do it at first," she said. "I said not past junior (circuit). Then he won the North Carolina high school bull riding two years and came in third at nationals. When he turned 18 he went on the PBR Challenge (similar to minor league baseball or NASCAR's Busch circuit)."

Somewhat laconic by nature, Canter seems to be all business despite ribbing from Cross. He takes the same poker-faced attitude about bull riding.

"They don't really intimidate me," he said of the bulls. "In the bucking chute they can't do anything. But falls can hurt really bad. When you get bucked off and land on your head, it means you're really trying hard. If you land on your feet, you're not trying hard.

"I haven't been hurt real bad," said Canter. "I broke my leg once and was out three weeks. I rode in a cast when I went back."

At each event, 45 riders compete during the first two rounds. Those with the 15 best combined scores get to continue to the final short round to determine the week's winner. Points are awarded for completed rides and add up during the season, sort of like NASCAR points, with the rider with the most cumulative points winning the season championship.

Canter said he and the other riders stay at the same hotels on the road and become an extended family. They even help each other get situated on bulls in the bucking chutes.

So what goes through his mind when he's preparing to ride a bull in front of several thousand fans?

"My mind's blank," Canter said. "I'm wanting to ride him – that's all I want to do.

"A lot of people say that it's crazy," he said. "I say, 'It's not crazy. You should try it.' Nobody's taken me up on it yet."

Canter says he learns something every time he rides a bull.

"They don't all buck the same," he said. When he gets bucked, he'll watch a replay of his ride to "see what I did wrong, get on the next one and fix it."

Fundamentals of bull riding include keeping the elbow of your riding hand bent and staying forward, to "take the power away from the bull." To kids who ask him about bull riding, Canter tells them to "hang on and don't let go."

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LJVM COLISEUM – It's 6:45 p.m. and Brian Canter is in one of three dressing rooms preparing for the Built Ford Tough event scheduled to begin at 8. He's using a cotton glove to rub resin into his bull rope to make it sticky.

The night before he was one of 27 riders to stay on for eight seconds, and a good score put him in fifth place. If he covers his bull in tonight's first round, he's almost guaranteed a spot in the finals.

He insists he wasn't bothered by nerves despite being in front of hometown fans. His parents, his girlfriend Hannah Hess and little sister Kailey are all on the first row near the chutes.

6:50 p.m.: Canter goes next door to the sports medicine room to wrap bandages around the pinky finger on his riding hand. He'd gotten a rope burn on a previous ride.

6:55 p.m.: Back in the dressing room to apply more resin to his bull rope.

7 p.m.: It's time to start changing clothes. There's plenty of good-natured banter in the dressing room, much of it in Spanish. No fewer than seven of the bull riders are from Brazil. A couple are Australian and two more hail from Canada.

7:20 p.m.: Canter and fellow North Carolinian J.B. Mauney of Mooresville are interviewed for a segment about their relationship with Davis – the Tar Heel connection.

7:27 p.m.: In the dressing room again, Canter works on a spur that was bent into his boot during a ride. A couple of other riders help him bend it back.

7:35 p.m.: A fancy, though worn, pair of chaps go on. Now Canter is ready.

7:38 p.m.: Canter walks through the dirt-lined tunnel into the arena. A man introduces him to Richard Childress, the NASCAR team owner.

7:40 p.m.: Fans sitting near the tunnel ask for and get Canter's autograph. He's asked if he's excited, to which he responds, "I don't get excited, I stay calm." Does the adrenalin flow? "Oh yeah."

7:45 p.m.: Canter, Mauney, Childress and one of his drivers, Clint Bowyer, mount a stage to be introduced to the Carolina crowd. The announcer asks Canter how it feels to be home: "It makes you try a little harder." About Davis: "He taught me everything I know about bulls ... it's paid off."

8 p.m.: The lights are dimmed as a large video board shows clips of riders talking about their sport. Then with a loud boom, fire and smoke, introductions of the riders begin. Last are hometown favorites Canter and Mauney, along with Davis who greets them as they come out of the chute.

9:16 p.m.: Canter waits at his chute for his turn to ride. He slips onto the back of "Man Law," a no-nonsense brown bull. With the aid of another rider, Canter wraps the rope around his riding hand, then motions that he's ready. 4.9 seconds later he's on the ground, hustling to get away from "Man Law's" horns and hooves. Canter finishes 16th, just one spot from the short round.

10:45 p.m.: The finals are over and Kasey Hayes wins the $24,500 top prize. Canter earns $468 for his Friday night ride.

"It's no good for me," said Canter, his face still noncommittal. "For Kasey it's pretty good. It usually goes better than this, but (the season's) still early."

So what happened? "The bull got me lifted up, then threw me off," said Canter. "We'll get 'em next weekend. There are a lot of bulls ahead of us."

For D.J. Domangue of Louisiana, there won't be any bulls for at least six months, according to a PBR injury report. He broke his right femur (thigh bone) during his ride when his spur hung in the bull's neck as he was being thrown off. He was transported to Baptist Hospital at Wake Forest University for insertion of a metal rod down the bone.

Such is life with the PBR. Just another day at the office.