LAS VEGAS – Clayton Biglow doesn’t have to worry about his place in ProRodeo history.

At just 25 years old, he’s a six-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier. He’s not had the run in Las Vegas that he’d like, but he keeps plugging along. That, in an essence, might be the definition of a cowboy.

Sometimes the horse doesn’t cooperate or the steer is elusive. In rodeo, cowboys make a living eight seconds at a time. For bareback riders, it’s a rough-and-tumble game that features a roller coaster of results and emotions.

Biglow won the 2019 bareback riding world championship in record-setting fashion. He rode 10 horses for a cumulative score of 886.5 points to set a new standard. He also earned nearly $245,000 in a week and a half in the Nevada desert.

On Wednesday night in Las Vegas, he rode Calgary Stampede’s Yippee Kibitz for 86 points to finish in a tie for fourth place in the seventh round. That was worth $9,144, and it pushed his NFR earnings to $29,739.

He had earned $110,000 by this point two years ago in that magical campaign. But rodeo is a humbling sport. In a short span of time, a cowboy can be riding all highs that come with the sport, then see the underside of the horse.

But none of that has bothered Biglow of Clements, California. It’s all part of the game he plays. Still, he’s fifth in the world standings with $171,743 in season earnings.

The best part for him is that there are three nights remaining in this year’s NFR, meaning he has three more opportunities to cash in. He’s won at least one round in each of his five previous trips to the championship, so the odds are in his favor to continue that at some point this week.