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enise Luna lay in the dirt gasping for air, herribs burning with pain. \X/ith the huge bull stillbucking beside her, the slender 26-year-oldtried to roll out of harm's way, but her musclesrefused. "I couldn't even crawl," says Luna,

thrown while competing in July's Mesquite Champion-ship Rodeo near Dallas. "The bull had kicked a nerve inmy legs, and they were totally numb. And he'd slammedme to the ground so hard that a rib I'd cracked the weekbefore had broken, along with two more. My belt buckle

"She's talentedand pretty,yet tough,"

says her agentRay Salinas.

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was caved in from where he'd stepped on my gut."Just a week later, Luna, looking a bit wan, unwrapped

the tape binding her ribs just long enough to slip into a

silver blue swimsuit for a four-hour beer-ad photo shoot'"Hey, are you gonna be okay?" asked photographer.D"n'Sttoni. "Yeah, sure"' she said. "It hurts a little, butI'm healing fast. Let's go!"

Luna's fife may be the ultimate mix of glamor andgrit. Ranked the world's fourth best female bull rider byIhe Professional'Women's Rodeo Association, the 5'6",

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120\b. Bedford, Texas, resident is also pulling in$25,000 a year digging her heels into a budding model-ing career for tX/ringler ieans, Bud I ight and othercl[nts. "Denise has more heart and more try than somemale cowboys I know," says bull rider Ralph Mosqueda'"I tell her to'keep reaching for the stars,'cause she'sgonna be one someday."" That's if her other career-the one involving 2,000-pound beasts with a yearning to tap-dance on heriread-doesn't do permanent damage. "If I had my way'

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At Cowboys, Luna works the beer tub and dellects pickup lines."When they ask me out," she says, "l say,'0h, you're so funny."'

"We're all like sisters," says Luna (far right) with lellow rodeo bullriders (from left) Lisa Stipp, Joy Gordon and Tina Wilkerson.

who died in 1976, then by hermother, Carmen, 44, ahotel house-keeper. "Like most California girlsmy age, my dream was to becomesome kind of star when I grew up,"says Luna. But as a tomboyish,headstrong teen she clashed with hermother-though the relationship isamicable now-and struck out onher own, moving into an apartmentwith a friend at 16.

After graduating from high schoolin 1.990, Luna spent a semester atcommuniry college before ioining afriend in Arlington, Texas, in L992.There, she met and married a Navyman, though the marriage lastedonly a year. Luna continued workingas a bartender at Cowboys, a honky-tonk where she still moonlights,passing out long-neck bottles of beerand riding the mechanical bull dur-ing breaks. A secretarial job led toher first modeling session, for a localapparel company.

Currently single and living in aone-bedroom apartment with herthree cats, Luna daydreams aboutowning "a beautiful strawberryroan, with land to keep it on, andmaybe some bulls-not for buckingpurposes, but as pets." For now,Luna draws inspiration from thephotos on her walls of such past fe-male rodeo legends as Kitty Canuttand Prairie Rose Henderson andhopes she can hold on for the rest ofthe ride. "'When I drive away from arodeo, even if I didn't cover or didn'twin, I'm satisfied simply knowingthat I got on, that I didn't chickenout," she says, adding significantly,"and that I'm still in one piece."

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she'd wear a protective helmet and amask," says photographer Strout."One hoofprint could ruin her facefor life." Luna, fully aware of thedanger (one of her idols, Lane Frost,whose life was chronicled in the1994 film 8 Seconds, died in a bull-riding accident in 1989), does usethe protective vest worn by mostbull riders, but declines the lacrosse-style mask. "I've heard that the bull'shorn can get hooked on the maskand snap your neck," she explains.

The rewards, compared with therisks, are paltry. Luna's ranking isbased on her earnings, which thisyear total less than $t,S00. By con-

trast, the top male bull riders canearn about $100,000 annually. Butthat inequity has forged a bondamong the 1,6 women who competeon the PWRA circuit. "-We're all re-ally close," says Tammy Kellg 36, ofQueen Creek, Ariz., the current top-ranked rider. "\(/e've gotta be, 'causethere's only a few of us." They shareIong drives and hotel rooms duringthe 4O-event season, believing thatthe more attention they attract, themore money-and acceptance-willfollow. "'We get a lot of the 'Youshould be barefoot, pregnant and inthe kitchen' comments," Luna says."I answer, ''W'hen I find a man who

gives me as big a rush as Iget from a bull, that's whenI'11 quit riding.'That usu-ally shuts 'em up."

Luna got her start inrodeo three years ago,when she tagged along witha male friend on his way tobull-riding practice andtalked the other cowboysinto letting her ride a buck-ing steer. To their surprise,Luna "covered" the steer,riding the eight seconds re-quired in men's competi-tion. (For women it's six.)"The only problem was Ididn't know how to getoff," she recalls with alaugh. After practicing forayea\ Luna got her PWRApermit and hit rhe circuit.

Always adventurous,Luna grew up surfing in

; San Diego. The daughter ofI teenage parents. she neverI knew her farher and wasfi first raised by her grand-5 mother Delfina Benitez,

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La modelo tejana Denise Luna searriesga a quedar desfigurada omorir con tal de coger al toro por

los cuernos

"Es talenlosa y bella, pero recia", dice su repfesentante,Ray Salinas.

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.. , , " enise Luna vacia casi sin aliento con un ardiente dolor,il ti, * las costilias. La esbelta mujer de 26 aflos trat6 de1,,' 'i:' darse vuelta para alejarse del enorme toro que seguia;:i; '';'i' pateando a su lado, pero sus mfsculos no le respon-dian. "No podia ni siquiera gatear", dice Luna, que en esaocasi6n fue derribada por el toro mientras competia en elCampeonato de Rodeo de Mesquite, cerca de Dallas, Texas,en julio. "El toro me pate6 un nervio en las piernas y las teniacompletamente adormecidas. Me tir6 al suelo con tanta fuer-za que me rompi6 una costilla que tenia agrietada desde la

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semana anterior, adem6s de quebrarme otras dos. Cuando seme par6 encima me enterr6 la hebilla de mi correa".

56lo una semana despu6s, todavia algo demacrada, Lunase quit6 la banda que mantenia unidas sus costillas, se pusoun traje de baiio azul plateado y pos6 durante cuatro horaspara las fotografias de un anuncio de cervezas. "Oye, isegu-ro que vas a estar bien?", ie pregunt6 el fot6grafo DanStroud. "Si, c1aro", respondi6 ella. "Me duele un poco, perome estoy recuperando rdpido. iVamosl"

La vida de Luna bien podria ser la mejor mezcla posible

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de encanto y coraje. Esta residente de Bedfcrd, Texas -que mide 5' 6" y pesa 120 libras- ostenta el cuarto lugarmundial en cabalgadura de toros de la Asociaci6n Profesio-nal de Rodeo Femenino (PWRA, por sus siglas en ingl6s).Pero adem6s tiene una prometedora carrera como modelodelos jeans Wrangler, \a cerveza Bud Light y otras compa-flias, que le permite ganar $25,000 anuales. "Tiene mejordisposici6n que muchos vaqueros que conozco", dice eljine-te de toros Ralph Mosqueda.

Su carrera de modelo depender6 de si su otro oficio -

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En Cowboys, Luna ignora los piropos. "Cuando me invitan a salir,les digo: 'Ay, tu eres tan chistoso' ",

enfrentar bestias de 2,000 libras de-seosas de bailarle un jarabe tapatio enla cabeza- no le produce daflos per-manentes. "Si por mi fuera lahariausar un casco protector y una catel.a",dice el fot6grafo Stroud. "Lamarcade una peztfla podria arruinar su carapara siempre". A1 igual que la mayoriade los jinetes de toros, Luna lleva unchaleco protector, pero rehrisa poner-se una careta. "He oido que los cuer-nos del toro pueden engancharse en la

"Somos como hermanas", dice Luna (derecha) con sus compafre-ras (desde la izquierda) Lisa Stipp, Joy Gordon y Tina Wilkerson,

careta y quebrarte el cuello", explica.Las recompensas, comparadas con

los riesgos, son mezquinas. El rangoque ocupa Luna se basa en sus ingre-sos, los cuales este af,o han sumadomenos de $1,500. Por el contrario, eljinete de toros mejor cotizado puedeganar cerca de $100,000 anualmente.Esa injusticia ha forjado un vinculoentre las 16 mujeres que compiten enel circuito de la PWRA, durante latemporada de 40 eventos. "Escucha-

mos muchos comentarios porel estilo de 'Tri deberias estaren la cocina, descalza y emba-tazada' ", dice Luna. "Yo lescontesto:'Cuando encuentreun hombre con una embestidatan grande como la de untoro, entonces dejar6 de ca-balgar'. Casi siempre eso lestapa la boca",

Luna debut6 como jinetehace tres aflos. Habia acompa-flado a un amigo a una prdcticade rodeo; y :unavez alli 6steconvenci6 a otros vaquerospara que la dejaran montar enun novillo. Pafa sorpresa detodos, Luna "domin6" a la bes-tia durante los ocho segundosrequeridos en las competen-cias masculinas. (Para las mu-jeres son seis.) "El rinicoproblema fue que despu6s nosabia bajarme del animal", re-cuerda. Luego de practicar

i por un aflo, Luna obtuvo su li-i cencia de la PWRA.5 Siempre audaz,Lwa,hlja$ de adolescentes, nunca cono-i ci6 a su padre y fue criada por0 su abuela materna, Delfina

Benitez, quien muri6 en 1976. Luegovivi6 con su madre, Carmen, de 44af,os, empleada dom6stica en un hotel."Como lamayoriade las chicas califor-nianas de mi edad, mi sueflo era con-vertirme en artista cuando fueramayor", dice Luna. La testarudajoven-cita tuvo encontronazos con su madre

-hoy la relaci6n es amigable- y a los16 afios se mud6 a un apartamento conuna amiga.

Al graduarse de secundaria en 1990,Luna pas6 un semestre en un colegiouniversitario. Durante un aflo estuvocasada con un miembro de 1a Armada.En 1992, tras mudarse a Arlington,Texas, comenz6 atrabajar como canti-nera en Cowboys, una taberna baratayde poco fuste, donde todavia labora almargen de sus otros empleos. Una po-sici6n de secretaria la 11ev6 a su pri-mera sesi6n de modelaje para unafirma local de ropa.

Luna permanece soltera y vive enun apartamento de un dormitorio consus tres gatos, aunque no deja de so-flar despierta con ser duetia de "uncampo y un hermoso caballo que pon-dria a pastar junto a algunos toros, alos cuales no cabalgaria, sino que lostendria como mascotas". Por ahora, seinspira en las fotos de leyendas del ro-deo femenino y mantiene la esperanzade poderles hacer frente a los futurosretos. "Cuando vengo de regreso de unrodeo, aunque no haya dominado al ani-mal o no haya ganado, me siento satis-fecha con saber simplemente quecabalgu6 y no me acobard6". A esoaflade enfdticamente: "Y que no me hi-cieron pedazos".r SOPHFR0NIA SC0TT GREC0RYrANNE LANG e/, Bedford, Texas

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Ll.oD|V0RGED BY AMERICA On the March 10 Married byAmerica voters rejectedPlayboy model Denise Luna,31,, as fi,ancle for restaurateur Stephen Savona, 35.Just as well: Luna, it turns ou! never told FOX she'salready married to (but separared from) handy-man Alan Hari, 31. Luna shrugs off the match."I don't think I was in love with him. We mar-ried in '93 and it was over as soon as I said, 'Ido."' Oh yeah? Hari says they spent sixmonths togetheq then Luna dumped him whilehe was in Somalia with the Navy. So whyendure a decade of nonmarriage? "Out ofsight, out of mind, probably" he says. Now shesays she'll file papers. And he won't ccintest.

JUllGtE FEVER At the March 5conclusion of the ABC series,Alana Stewart and Robin Leach(above) hugged after a con-tentious week together with eightother celebrities in the Australianrain forest. But the most casualU.N. inspection would have re-vealed that neither had buriedthe hatchet. "I dont care to speakto him," says Stewart, 57, ex-model and ex-wife (Rod Stew-art, George Hamilton). She saysthe former Lifestyles of the Richand Famous host, 61, behavedas if their Outback survival chal-lenge was one long caviar dream:"All he did was lie on his cotall day, ordering everyone elsearound. He was tedious andpompous." Good with poison

darts, though. ln an e-mail sentout to friends after the show,Leach called Stewart a "whininghypochondriac who never lifteda finger to help with anything."Leach tells Proptn: "Don't forone minute think it was just methat had issues with Alana."

At least the winneq anointedby phone-in voters, isnt whining.Choreographer Cris Judd (below)did dish a little in the finale, talk-ing about the first time he kissedex-wife Jenni fer Lopez. (Awww! )"I'm thrilled to win," says Judd,33, who donated his $200,000pr:u;eto the Make-A-\7ish Foun-dation. "But I've had my fillof reality shows." So hasStewart: "Critters are easy.People are more difficult."

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