We were lucky to catch up with Angel Garcia-Nunez recently and have shared our conversation below.
Angel, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
After my incident and getting out of the hospital, a friend invited me to Heart of the Horse, which is an equestrian therapy riding program. After riding a horse named Gippy for one session, I knew I wanted more. No one wanted to ride her because she was a horse with a little more energy and attitude than the others.
After a few strides on her, she would start bucking and acting up. Those few crazy rides with her made me realize how much I loved that thrill and I just wanted more!
Angel, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Angel Garcia- Nunez and I’m a blind Saddle bronc rider.
I went blind back in 2021 after a suicide attempt, loosing my sight in both eyes. I now wear prosthetics and am adjusting to a new way of living.
Horses have always been in my life, I took a break while I was working as a welder, but after my incident I got into horse therapy and I’ve loved it ever since. Horses have done more for me than I have ever done for them!
I started saddle bronc in 2023, and I’ve been on almost 40 bucking horses, attended 4 schools, rode in at least 20 rodeos across Arizona, and just started placing and making money the last few months!
I’m in the arena riding all on feel while my opponents are riding with sight. It has both its advantages and disadvantages. While I have no distractions in the arena, I also can’t see anything coming. I have to be in sync with my horse and hope I got it right.
I’ve also started working with a sponsor, Atta Brand Apparel, they are a company spreading suicide awareness. We’ve created an Official Blind Bandit clothing line to support my rodeo journey.
Have you ever had to pivot?
After my suicide attempt and becoming blind, my life took a crazy turn. I went from having sight to waking up the next day and seeing absolutely nothing.
My vision of certain things are stuck in time. My friends and family help by going into great detail with how things look.
Relearning how to live and get around has been very difficult and I’ve had an amazing support system to help with direction. I’m now learning how to living on my own, with independent living skills and eventually learn Braille.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
My next goal in my rodeo career is to get my PRCA permit, and receiving my pro card, and continuing to show the world that no matter your disability, you can accomplish whatever you put you mind and heart too! As long as you have a great support system you can do anything!
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @official_blindbandit
- Other: TikTok @theofficialblindbandit
Image Credits
Kellie Marquart