Monthly Archives: November 2024

POWELL, Wyo. – While atypical for most rodeo cowboys, Brody Wells didn’t actually grow up competing in the sport. Make no bones about it: He was still a cowboy. Raised in the Bighorn Basin near Powell in the northern Wyoming, he grew up in the elements. He and his family hunted, and he spent countless hours horseback in the mountains. As he aged, he started doing some day work for outfits and spent a summer working at the Pitchfork Cow Camp. Being a rodeo cowboy came to him in his teens, but he didn’t actually enter youth or high school rodeos. The son of a former bareback rider and bull rider, he made a 30-minute drive and tried his hand at the Cody (Wyoming) Nite Rodeo, a summertime tradition in that neck of the woods. “Maury Tate runs the Cody Nite Rodeo, and he asked me how serious I was bout bronc riding, because he could tell I’d get on anything and didn’t care,” said Wells, 23, a first-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier from Powell. “I’d get stood up on my head and pull dirt out of my ears, then I’d go get on another one. I guess I was just tough.” That grit and determination was bound for something, but he wasn’t sure where it was going. Tate also organizes rodeo schools in collaboration with his nightly rodeo, and that provides the rising stars with the opportunity to learn from some of the greatest cowboys to have ever played the game. Bret Franks is one of those instructors. He’s a three-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier in saddle bronc riding and has coached intercollegiate teams to four national championships. “I got to meet Bret in Cody,” Wells said of Franks, who owns two of those titles while coaching at Clarendon (Texas) College. “We were out getting on the bucking machine one day in Cody, and Bret was showing me some stuff to help me. He says, ‘You come down to school for me, you’ll be a bad cat, Brody Wells.’ ” Wells moved to Texas that next fall, and in a short time, he was part of the 2021 Clarendon men’s team that won the national title. A year later, he transferred to Tarleton State University in Stephenville, Texas, to work toward his four-year degree and was part another men’s championship program. “My coaches were pretty big for me,” he said. “Bret helped me actually get the fundamentals right and pointed me in the right direction. I definitely learned how to ride broncs good at Clarendon, and then just rolled on. At Tarleton, (seven-time NFR qualifier) Isaac Diaz was the assistant coach, the roughstock coach, and he helped me in a lot of ways, too. “My buddy, Cash Wilson, and I lived at Isaac’s house for a little bit before we got a house in Stephenville, so being around a veteran like Isaac was great. He has rodeoed a long time, and we learned how to enter and what it takes to rodeo for a living. Being around a good guy like that really helped us both.” With that type of tutelage, Wells started his career as a professional bronc buster along with Wilson and another talented hand, Australian Damian Brennan. All began their careers in 2022, with Brennan winning the coveted Resistol Saddle Bronc Riding Rookie of the Year honor; Wells finished third in that race and 35th in the world standings. Wilson was the fifth-best rookie that year. Heading into this year’s NFR, Brennan leads the pack with $280,000 in earnings; Wells is 12th with $135,803. While that deficit seems overwhelming, the championship features a $12.5 million purse with go-round winners earning nearly $34,000 for each of the 10 December nights. A huge payday awaits those that are most consistent. “I’m just excited to get down there and get my feet wet,” said Wells, who credits part of his success to his sponsors, Cinch, Pitchfork Ranch, Double J Quarter Horses, Wyoming Tourism, Serratelli Hat Co., Miles City Bucking Horse Sale and Pacesetters Hot Shot Service. “We’ve got outstanding horses selected there, so it’s going to be great to get on 10 good ones. I’m excited about that and getting to go with Damian. He’s had an outstanding the year and set a season-earnings record. It’s been a lot of fun.” Wells was raised by his folks, Ed, who owns a trucking company, and Lora, a bookkeeper. His sister, Maesyn, is an artist, and all will be part of his posse once he arrives in Sin City. “Making the NFR means a lot because of all the hard work I’ve put in over the years,” he said. “When you get your first bronc saddle, the goal is to get to the NFR. It also means a lot to all the people that have helped me and the support I have from my parents and my sister, my grandpa, all my family, all my friends and all the community.” The 10-day championship is a big deal. Cowboys and cowgirls travel tens of thousands of miles a year chasing their rodeo dreams, and only the top 15 on the money list in each event at the end of the regular season earn the right to play on the sport’s biggest stage. It’s a dream come true for some, a stepping stone for others. The ultimate prize is the Montana Silversmiths gold buckle awarded to the world champions when the NFR concludes. Wells has snagged some key opportunities in advancing to rodeo’s Super Bowl. He finished his first two years ranked in the 30s as far as his place in the standings. The key to a great season was staying healthy, staying on the road and riding consistently. “I think being able to rodeo all year made the difference,” he said. “I knew I definitely rode good enough to make the finals. I only went to 40 rodeos last year and had to head home mid-summer and took the rest of  Continue Reading »

COLUMBUS, Mont. – Weston Timberman was a rodeo cowboy long before he ever realized it. With a dad and an uncle who rode bareback horses, Timberman spent his early childhood with them when times allowed. When the traveling road show that is rodeo passed by his place, cowboys made a pit stop. It was just part of his early development that is paying off now. “We’d have guys that would be rodeoing and stop by the house throughout the summer and stay on the couch, then hit the road, and I’d always watch my dad and uncle always go out and rodeo,” said Timberman of Columbus. “That was the first thing I remember, and then I always wanted to go with them and bring my stuff. “I knew I was going to be a bareback rider; it’s all I ever wanted to be. Nothing else ever really seemed to cure the itch. That’s what my dad and uncle did. I didn’t even watch the other events growing up. I wanted to watch the bareback riding in the first event, and then go have some popcorn and run around with my friends. I was going to rodeos as a kid for the bareback riding and not the rodeo. That’s just the way it’s always been with me.” His life’s work is coming to fruition. At just 20 years of age, Timberman is a two-time intercollegiate bareback riding champion while attending Clarendon (Texas) College on a rodeo scholarship and has had a superb inaugural campaign in ProRodeo. He finished the regular season with $154,100 and will compete at his first National Finals Rodeo as the No. 7 bareback rider in the world standings. He’s also already clinched the Resistol Rookie of the Year award and carries a boatload of momentum into his first grand championship. “My whole outlook on rodeo this year was trying to go into the finals and didn’t really figure there’d be another rookie there, so the rookie title would take care of itself,” he said. “Winning that rookie title is something you can only accomplish once. I’m super thankful to be in the position where I’m at.” With one bucket-list item checked off, he’s not slowing down. His driven nature has him focused on the ultimate prize in rodeo. “Now that I’ve won the rookie title, let’s go win the world,” said Timberman, who credits part of his success to his sponsors, Cinch, Double J Quarter Horses, Montana Silversmiths and Serratelli Hat Co. “I’m not taking anything away from the Rookie of the Year title; it’s just something that was maybe a touch lower on the totem pole in aspects of goals.” In order to claim that Montana Silversmiths gold buckle awarded to the world champion, he will need to finish the year atop the money list. He trails the world standings leader, Texan Rocker Steiner, by nearly $80,000, but the $12.5 million purse available during the Dec. 5-14 championship is so great that Timberman can move to the lead in three days. Go-round winners will pocket nearly $34,000 for each of the 10 nights inside the Thomas & Mack Center on the University of Nevada-Las Vegas campus, the NFR’s home since 1985. For any of the top 15 men on the money list, the world championship is well within their grasps. “This is the best I’ve felt all year,” said Timberman, whose father, Chris, competed for several years and won the bareback riding title at the National Circuit Finals Rodeo in 2006. “With the stock we bring to the finals, it doesn’t matter what you draw; you just have to go out there, do your job every night and just take care of business. “You have a shot at a check every night no matter what you draw. I’m feeling so good right now. They better be on the lookout, because I’m coming.” That mental approach is why he’s owned bareback riding at the college level each of the past two years. He has confidence, but it also comes from his raising and having superstar genetics. His grandfather passed the bareback-riding bug to his boys, including Uncle Kelly, a seven-time qualifier who won rodeo’s gold in 2004 and is a two-time NFR aggregate champion at ProRodeo’s grand finale. His ancestry has paid off both physically and mentally. The son of Chris and Lucinda Young Timberman, he was raised with two brothers, Aden and Kiley. He called it a wild childhood, with the typical rowdy behavior three young boys commonly show. “Our mom always tried settling us down, but we were boys and didn’t ever want to do that,” he said with a laugh. “Of course, then you have people like Uncle Kelly egging you on. It was an interesting childhood, and we stayed super active and did a bunch of cool things, or stuff I thought was cool, I guess.” His mom is a veterinarian in Columbus. His dad owns Timberman Construction. He wrestled, played football and practiced gymnastics, and the skills gained through a childhood of being active continue to play dividends as a professional athlete. “Even as a young kid, I knew gymnastics was going to help me,” Timberman said. “That’s what my uncle and my dad told me. The main reason I did gymnastics was because I knew it was going to help me, and, sure enough, it did.” To ride bareback horses, it takes explosive power and strong balance as well as a will to tangle with beasts that can weigh more than half a ton. Points are based on a 100-point scale, with half the score coming from the animal and the rest based on how well the cowboy spurs in rhythm with the horse’s bucking motion. “I do this for the love and passion I have for it,” he said. “I know how much work I’ve put into it, and to be able to come out here and do what I’m doing right now drives my hunger for it more  Continue Reading »

ALTAMONT, Utah – Dean Thompson’s fantastic year only got better as the calendar moved toward autumn. While riding bucking horses as a professional bareback rider, the young cowboy produced his best season yet, earning $172,197 through the year-long campaign. He will enter his second straight National Finals Rodeo as the No. 4 man in the world standings with a great shot at winning rodeo’s gold, a buckle made by Montana Silversmiths and awarded to each year’s world champions. That wasn’t even the best part of 2024. In late August while on a hike with his girlfriend, Chezney, Thompson proposed. On Nov. 9, they were married in a ceremony at his hometown of Altamont, a mountain town that’s a 135-mile drive from Salt Lake City. “The day I proposed, it was mostly just a hike in the mountains,” said Thompson, 22, who attended Western Texas College in Snyder, Texas, on a rodeo scholarship. “We spend a lot of times in the mountains; that’s just kind of our family thing since we live at the base of the Unitas Mountains there in Altamont. “We just went out there for a little hike looking for elk and deer, and when the sun was going down, we just got the job done.” The timing was perfect, especially for the cowboy who plowed through the regular season with a focus on the business of riding bucking horses. He picked up big wins along the way, but most importantly, he is building a resume as one of the elite bareback riders in the game today. While doing so, he spent much of the year by himself as a way to keep a schedule that allowed him to compete while also returning home for necessary time off. After a rugged season that featured tens of thousands of miles traveled, the November wedding and subsequent honeymoon was the perfect time to let his mind wander from rodeo and toward building a life with his new bride. Taking his attention off rodeo was a great remedy for him to have the right mental approach as he heads off to the NFR, the sport’s grand finale that takes place Dec. 5-14 in Las Vegas. “I feel like last year by the time I was headed to the NFR, I was so sick and tired of thinking about rodeo and planning and scheming about that’s going to happen at the NFR,” Thompson said. “By taking that two weeks away from rodeo, I feel like I’m in such a better mental state. I’m excited. There was no vacation time last year; it was straight from the season and straight into the NFR workouts and planning. “It’s not that I haven’t been working out and preparing for this, but that just hasn’t been the only thing on my mind. I feel like I picked up speed right when I want to, and I’ll be able to carry this momentum strong into the NFR, where it seems like that momentum was starting to wane by this time last year.” What happened in November for the wedding in Altamont and the honeymoon in Cancun, Mexico, could be a major player in how things roll for Thompson in December at Las Vegas. “I didn’t see myself as a shoo-in for the NFR, but I definitely expected to have to work for it,” he said. “Making it the second time proves that the work and the effort that I’ve put in and the attitude I have toward rodeo and toward bucking horses is working. It wasn’t just a blip in the system for me to make it one time; it’s the new status quo for me now.” Thompson finished his rookie season in the PRCA 13th in the world standings with nearly $175,000 for the year when his inaugural NFR concluded. When he arrives in Las Vegas in a few days, he and the other 119 contestants will receive a $10,000 bonus for being qualifiers, which is added to the earnings that count toward the world standings. That means he has already earned more in his sophomore season in ProRodeo prior to the championship than he did a season ago. “Consistency was big,” Thompson said. “I won a lot more events this year, but it seemed like everywhere I went, I won money.” His winning percentage was big. He made money at 75 percent of the rodeos in which he competed, which is how someone earns that kind of money riding bucking horses. What’s even bigger is that he spent so much of the campaign on the road by himself. “I probably wouldn’t have been able to do that if it wasn’t for the support I got from Ken Garff Nissan in Orem (Utah),” said Thompson, who also credits part of his success to his other sponsors, Beddy’s Beds, War Bonnet Hats and Kings Peak Ready Mix. “They took great care of me, especially when I spent so much time rodeoing alone. They made it possible for me to rodeo and still get back home to see my now-wife and my family and still rodeo the way I wanted.” As he turns his attention to the final few days of preparation, Thompson will focus on the fundamentals he’s used to excel at his craft. He will get on practice horses, hit the gym and form his mind and body for those magical 10 days in the Nevada desert. He’s constructing a career and a lifestyle while also building his family life. This is the next phase of things for him, and he’s eager to meet the challenges that come his way. While in Las Vegas, he’s get on 10 of the greatest bucking horses from this year with the greatest opportunity to cash in while there. He trails the money-list leader, Texan Rocker Steiner, by $61,000, but he can surpass that in just two nights at the NFR. “You’re getting on these horses with the best guys in the world, but one thing you have to  Continue Reading »

MERRIMAN, Neb. – On the northern end of the Nebraska Sandhills rest thousands of acres of rolling grasslands. It’s vast yet desolate, a perfect place for cattle and the ranchers that raise them. This is Garrett Shadbolt’s home. It’s why he’s a cowboy and why he’s raising a family, the things that are the most important for him. When he’s not doing something as the fifth generation of his clan on the expansive spread, he’s handling a different kind of trade in rodeo. The biggest business venture of his season happens at the National Finals Rodeo, the sport’s premier championship that features only the top 15 contestants in each event in December. Shadbolt finished the regular season with $137,096 and enters his third NFR in four years as the 13th-ranked bareback rider. But unlike a lot of cowboys who will leave home in June and not return until October, he found his way back to the Sandhills as much as possible. It’s a testament to the relationship he has with his family and his commitment to continuing the ranching legacy that has been left by the ancestors before him. “Getting home is really important to me,” said Shadbolt, 28, of Merriman. “My mom, dad and older sister are holding the ranch down when I’m gone. It’s pretty awesome to be able to say I’m still involved in a fifth-generation cattle ranch that’s still operating. I could still be gone, and with them there, it’s not going to burn down. “It’s also nice hauling my wife and kids around with me, because they’re there to share your successes and your losses. When you win one, everybody’s there to celebrate with you. When you lose one, my whole crew is with me to pat me on the back and head down to the next one. I won most of my money this year with those kids in the rig. They make a pretty good traveling crew.” That crew is his wife, Katie, and their children, George, Mavis and Lindin. All are under the age of 5, which makes for some interesting travel tales. It’s refreshing for the family man, who knows there are times when they’ll be apart because of his job, so he makes spending time with them a priority. “George is about to turn 5, Mavis is about to turn 3 and Lindin’s a year old, so we’ve got the camper full,” he said of his pickup that’s been outfitted with a Capri camper in the bed. “We’ve got no more room. It’s pretty crazy traveling with the three of them, but it’s so much fun at the same time. Those kids have had more adventures than most kids their age.” Rodeo cowboys travel tens of thousands of miles in order to chase their gold-buckle dreams. The roads can be long and winding, and there are detours along the way. Sometimes it’s a missed flight; other times it may be a horse that didn’t buck as necessary to score enough points to cash in. After sitting out most of 2023 because of a broken leg, he responded fast this season by winning the bareback riding title in Denver in January. The first few hiccups came weeks later when he failed to advance to the final rounds in both Fort Worth and San Antonio, two large, indoor rodeos that take place in Texas through the winter months. He rebounded with a second-place finish at RodeoHouston, worth $26,750, “That was a huge jump for me and really shaped my winter into something totally different,” said Shadbolt, who credits a portion of his success to his sponsors, Spring Lake Ranch, Dragonfly Performance Horses, Topp Hereford, Romsa Farm & Ranch, American Grace and Fuel Grill in Gordon, Nebraska. “It’s funny how rodeo works like that. You just never know when you’re going to strike gold. “It was just a good season. I think I rode really consistently and didn’t leave a lot of money on the table.” Part of that is riding well, but another aspect is competing at events that work best for him. Many big rodeos now feature a tournament-style format. Just like playoffs in other sports, those events feature preliminary rounds, with the top players advancing to the next level. First is the semifinals, and the top four then advance to the championship round. “Those rodeos have been my bread and butter these last few years because of the consistency,” said Shadbolt, who was an intercollegiate wrestler and Doane College in Crete, Nebraska. “I think it takes a little bit of the luck out of it, and I can ride five (horses) better than just about anybody. If there are enough horses, the cream rises to the top. “I can usually fight my way into that short round.” The list of events that feature the tournament-style format is short, so most of his time was getting from one rodeo to another. He traveled much of the season with newcomer Bradlee Miller, a Huntsville, Texas, cowboy who has earned his first NFR qualification this year. That is also part of the rugged test that comes with riding bucking horses for a living; they may drive overnight to get from one spot to another in an effort to gain as much money as possible to earn a trip to the Nevada desert in December. “Bradlee ended up having to split off to go to more rodeos,” Shadbolt said. “I was pretty thankful that I had a good enough winter and early season that I could take my foot off the gas just a tiny bit and be home with the kids a little bit more, but, boy, did I pay for it. I took two weeks off, and I went from sixth or seventh in the world to 13th. “It was crazy competitive out there this year. We’ve got so many young guys in bareback riding that they’ll overwhelm you on sheer numbers if you’re not careful. The younger guys have a  Continue Reading »

HUNTSVILLE, Texas – It is sometimes hard to comprehend when dreams become reality. Growing up in a rodeo family, Bradlee Miller has fantasized about being one of the best cowboys in the world. To do that, the top hands in the game must first earn qualifications to the National Finals Rodeo, the sport’s grand championship that takes place over 10 December nights in Las Vegas. The top line on his bucket list is being crossed. He finished ProRodeo’s regular season with $137,365 and will begin his run in Sin City as the 11th-ranked bareback rider in the world standings. That’s significant, since only the top 15 contestants in each event play on the sport’s biggest stage. “Making the NFR has been a dream of mine,” said Miller, 21, a senior at Sam Houston State University and a hometown kid from Huntsville. “Now that it’s come true, it’s pretty hard to believe, because I’ve waited my whole life to be here. “I’m more confident than I’ve ever been. I feel like there was something that clicked mid-season this year, and I don’t know how to explain it. I became more consistent, and with consistency came confidence. I feel like it doesn’t matter what I draw once I get there. I feel like my riding style fits more horses now than it ever has.” That will come in handy inside the Thomas & Mack Center on the University of Nevada-Las Vegas campus, the home of the NFR since 1985. It’s the culmination of his life’s work, carrying on a rodeo tradition that has been handed to him by his parents, Tammy, who has been a barrel racer, and Bubba, a bareback rider-turned-rodeo coach. “I’m sure I wasn’t able to talk when I got on my first horse,” said Miller, who credits part of his success with his sponsors, Barstow Pro Rodeo, American Hat Co., Pete Carr Pro Rodeo, Triple Deuce Angus and Gordy And Sons. “My parents put me on calves and steers when I was like 4 years old. “I can’t remember not ever getting on something.” For the past four years, Miller has continued to have a coach in his father at Sam Houston State. It’s a dual role, where Bubba Miller is guiding a pupil who is also his son. It’s a mix that seems to be working. Bradlee Miller has qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo in each of his first three seasons and is the top-ranked bareback rider in the Southern Region heading into the spring semester. “It’s kind of a tough job for him whenever I got on the team, because there’s a time to be a coach and a time for him to be a dad,” said the younger cowboy, who has also ridden bulls; in fact, he was the region champion riding bovines his freshman season that wrapped in 2022. “He’s done a really good job of balancing the two. Whenever I need it, he can be a coach and get on to me. Whenever I just need to talk to him as a dad, he’s pretty good at switching roles.” Every member of the clan has a part in Miller’s success, including his sister, Sonilyn. Tammy Miller, a school teacher by trade, provides the perfect mental approach to keep her son at the top of his game. “She’s definitely the encourager in the family,” Bradlee Miller said. “She’s always cheering, even if I’m not doing any good, but it’s no different in her eyes.” Each piece of his support system has been crucial to Miller’s development. He understands the work it takes to be physically and mentally prepared to battle, which will come in quite well when he arrives in the Nevada desert for the world’s richest rodeo. The NFR features a $12.5 million purse, and winners will collect nearly $34,000 per round over 10 nights. Bareback riders will also test their talents and their mental aptitudes against 100 of the best bucking horses, which were selected by the cowboys in the competition. That’s where his consistency will come into play. “I believe I was 4 years old when my dad got the job as rodeo coach, so we spent a lot of time at the college practice arena growing up,” he said. “That’s what my life’s been wrapped around since I was really young. I got to see what it took to be a winner, and I also got to see what made a loser.” Being able to differentiate the two should come in handy as he works to become one of the elite bronc busters in the sport. Making the NFR is just the first step; the next is continuing that trend while also challenging himself to get better physically and mentally. Rodeo wasn’t the only thing he’s done, but he’s excelled at it. He earned all-around points through a variety of Western events but also played football, baseball and soccer as a youngster. “My parents are the main reason I did a lot of that,” Miller said. “I really enjoyed football, I didn’t like baseball at all, and I don’t remember enough about soccer to know if I liked it or not. I think my parents were trying to give me an opportunity to do something other than rodeo if I wanted. “My passion pretty much stayed with rodeo; whenever it came time to either play football or rodeo, it was a pretty easy decision.” As he matured, Miller focused his attention to riding bulls and broncs. A series of head injuries that came about because of bull riding helped him decide to turn his attention toward the horses. He hopes to return to bull riding after the NFR wraps, but his past is still a vital cog in what made his 2024 season so powerful. “Bull riding helped me a lot in my beginning stages of riding bareback horses, because if you’re riding a bucking animal, it makes it easier switching events,” he said. “I have a  Continue Reading »

MANDAREE, N.D. – On a September day in 2008, J.C. Yeahquo realized what he was meant to do. “The first time I got to rope off a horse was on my eighth birthday,” said Yeahquo, 24, who is originally from Manderee, grew up in Crescent, Oklahoma, and now lives in Stephenville, Texas. “That was when I turned my first steer, and I’ve been doing it pretty much ever since.” Being a cowboy is really all he’s ever known. His father, Luke, rode bareback horses and still ropes. He has two great-uncles, Joe Chase and Pete Fredericks, who have been inducted into the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. The genetics and talent are showing for Yeahquo, who has qualified for the National Finals Rodeo for the first time in his career. He finished the regular season with $128,296 in earnings and will enter ProRodeo’s grand championship as the No. 8 team roping header in the world standings. Once he arrives in Las Vegas, he will try to cash in for his share of the $12.5 million purse with Buddy Hawkins, his heeling partner for the 2024 regular season. “This means the world to me,” he said. “This is all I’ve ever dreamed about my whole life, making the finals and getting to do what I love and make a living at it. I really don’t think there’s any better way to do it or any better way to live. “This is what I’ve worked my whole life for, and to get to compete at my first National Finals in my third year of having a PRCA card is pretty dang exciting.” It should be. It’s the culmination of years of practice, a strong work ethic and a family’s support. Born in northwestern North Dakota, the Yeahquos moved to Oklahoma when J.C. was about 2 years old. They are from the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation and part of the MHA Nation – Mandan, Hidatsu and Arikara, which is known as the Three Affiliated Tribes. J.C. Yeahquo is the youngest of Luke and Jennifer’s four children, which include his sister, Sierra Ventresca, and brothers Jessy and L.J. His trip to Las Vegas to battle for the 2024 world championship is a family affair, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. “Our place was pretty rough and rowdy when I was little, and being the youngest, I got beat up a bunch when I was a kid,” J.C. Yeahquo said with a laugh. “I don’t know if it made me tough, but I dang sure got whooped on the most.” That sometimes happens to baby brothers, especially in homes like theirs. “I was probably 3 or 4 when they turned me loose on Shetlands,” he said. “My brother and I used to race and play tag all the time on Shetlands when we were little.” That’s brother L.J., who is 360 days older. The two grew up together and competed together until this year. The entire clan is tight-knit, and it wasn’t until a year ago that he moved from Oklahoma to Stephenville, the Cowboy Capital of the World, which is about five hours south of the family’s home. While in Erath County, Texas, he’s closer to dozens of other ropers who live, practice and compete there. It’s a chance to hone his skills and get with his partner, who lives in Morgan Mill. Hawkins is a seven-time NFR qualifier who earned the 2021 aggregate championship while roping with another Oklahoman, Andrew Ward. “It’s pretty neat roping with him, because it seems like he knows how to make the plays come together and does such a good job,” Yeahquo said of Hawkins. “I just have to worry about myself and my job, and I know he takes care of the rest.” The two dabbled for a bit last fall and started competing together in jackpots, contests where cowboys put up entry fees and hope to beat most in the field for a share of the purse. Their first rodeo together was in January at Odessa, Texas. It didn’t take long for them find the pay window, with their biggest victory of the season coming in March when they won RodeoHouston, pocketing $54,750 each. “That was the biggest win of my career, and that set me up for making the National Finals,” said Yeahquo, who credits part of his success to his sponsors, 4 Bears Casino & Lodge, Cactus Ropes, Cactus Gear, Shorty’s Caboy Hattery, FCA Rodeo, Gold Buckle Construction, Wrangler, Serna Custom Boots and Cleveringa Equine Feeds. He also competed for the second straight year at the Calgary Stampede, winning the title this year roping with a different heeler, Kollin VonAhn, the 2015 world champion. By winning two of the biggest rodeos in the PRCA, Yeahquo set sail on a cruise to the Nevada desert, where he and Hawkins will be one of a handful of teams in the mix. Only the top 15 contestants in each discipline from the regular season earn the right to compete for the biggest pay in the game at the NFR, where go-round winners will snag nearly $34,000 for each of the 10 nights. The average winners – like Hawkins and Ward were three seasons ago – will earn more than $86,000 for having the best 10-run cumulative time. It’s a big chance at a big payday, and that’s something that appeals to everyone. Of course, there’s also a Montana Silversmiths gold buckle on the line; it will be handed out to the top money-makers in each event for 2024. “This is very big, because there haven’t been any Yeahquos make the finals,” he said. “For me to be able to put my family’s name out there is such a great thing for all of us. I know they’re all excited, and I’m sexcited for it. “I’m most excited about doing good out there, and I want to just enjoy my time since this is my first National Finals. I want to cherish  Continue Reading »

WAVERLY, Kan. – The edge is a tricky place to be. One step in the right direction can build confidence and sustain hope. One awkward step can spell disaster. Jess Pope was on that ledge most of the 2024 rodeo season. In fact, it wasn’t until the final few weeks of the ProRodeo campaign that he felt comfortable on the mountaintop instead of looking at the canyon below. It was a different year for the 2022 bareback riding world champion, but he will return to the National Finals Rodeo for the fifth straight time focused and ready for excellence. “Rodeo is the coolest job in the world; the places you see and the people you meet are so awesome,” said Pope, 26, of Waverly. “But there’s something about being able to go home and just stretch back out a little bit. Just 48 hours at home will change a guy’s attitude, make them want to come back and be hungry because it reminds you when you get back out there and why you’re doing it. “It’s a job, and I make a good living doing it, but it’s one of those things that a guy’s got to sometimes come home, refresh, rejuvenate, clear his whole mind of everything and start back fresh the next week.” When the regular season closed Sept. 30, Pope was sixth in the world standings with $168,154. It reflects on the statement he made about supporting his wife, Sydney, while competing for every dollar he has earned, but there were times over the course of the 12-month campaign that things weren’t going quite that well. Pope didn’t have the success he’d hoped during the winter months, and spring wasn’t much better. He was behind the eight ball by the time the summer run kicked off in mid-June, well down the money list and knowing he’d have to climb a pretty steep hill to be among the top 15 on the money list in order to return to the NFR, the sport’s grand championship that takes place Dec. 5-14 in Las Vegas. “It just seemed like I started the year off not drawing good, and that just stuck with me forever and ever,” he said. “I didn’t hardly rodeo in all the month of April and not much of May. I entered all the (springtime) rodeos in California, but I never had one drawn that I thought I should spend the money on to fly out there. “There was never a chance where I thought I had to win a really good check. It worked out, because I got to spend time at home with the family and work on the place Sydney and I bought.” By early July, he was being matched with horses that worked better. He earned about $20,000 over the week of July 4, known as Cowboy Christmas for its series of lucrative rodeos. “I had the second best Fourth of July I’ve ever had, and nobody even noticed it,” said Pope, who credits part of his success to his sponsors, DewEze, Mahindra, Roxor, JD Hudgins Brahman Bulls, Graham School for Cattlemen, Resistol, Justin, Bloomer, Panhandle and Rock & Roll Clothing, Veach’s Custom Leather, Emporia Livestock Sales and T Bar T Cattle Co. “I was playing catch-up, and I kept winning enough.” He kicked off August with a big win in Dodge City, Kansas, the largest PRCA rodeo in his home state. He rode Championship Pro Rodeo’s Hooey Rocks for 91 points in the final round to win the title and $6,600 and earned more than $11,000 that week at events closer to his family’s place. “That next week, I went to six rodeos and didn’t win a single dime,” he said. “During the third weekend, I hit for a big lick, then the next week, I won about $600. Once September hit, it seemed like they drew me a good one and a good chance everywhere I went.” After the first weekend of August, Pope had scurried up the money list to 20th in the world standings. He continued to plug away, a testament to his fortitude and his talent. After the first weekend of September, he had virtually secured his spot at the NFR and was inside the top 10 after winning the playoff series event at the Washington State Fair in Puyallup, Washington, where he collected $16,450 over a long weekend. “After I won Puyallup, I thought I had the NFR made,” said Pope, who attended Missouri Valley College in Marshall on a rodeo scholarship. “There was never a doubt in my mind once I started drawing good that I was going to make the NFR. It was a matter of me having to go rodeo and then win, which is what I’m good at. “Then I got to Sioux Falls (South Dakota) and started crunching the numbers after I didn’t win a check on the first night, and I realized I was dang sure on the bubble again.” Cowboys are matched with their bucking horses by a random, computer-generated draw. For a good part of the year, the PCs weren’t pulling the numbers Pope needed. When that changed, so did the results. After blanking on opening night of the Cinch Playoff Series Championship, he reached out to his longtime friend and traveling partner, three-time world champion Tim O’Connell. “We had a game plan of how we were gong to do things, and he dang sure reminded me, ‘Just go win; that’s what you’re supposed to be doing,’ ” Pope said. The pep talk worked. On Night 2 with everything in the balance, Pope won the round and advanced to the semifinals of the tournament-style rodeo. He then secured a spot in the finale, which he won, and pocketed $39,625 in southeastern South Dakota. Puyallup and Sioux Falls paid him a combined $56,075 and shot him into contention for another world title. “I just kept my nose to the grindstone,” he said. “I’ll be the first one to say  Continue Reading »

MILAN, Minn. – It’s been eight years since J.D. Struxness earned his first qualification to the National Finals Rodeo. From a 21-year-old college student to a family man and father of two little girls, a great deal has changed for the Minnesota cowboy who makes his living wrestling steers and chasing his rodeo dreams. “We’ve got a family all on board, and with all the family support I’ve had the last few years, I’ve made some changes to dedicate myself to trying to make these consecutive trips to the NFR,” said Struxness, 29, of Milan, now living in Perrin, Texas, with his wife, Jayden, and their daughters, Everlee, 5, and Lilly, 3. “To be able to make it back these three years in a row is a big deal to seeing it pay off and making this happen.” Struxness burst onto the ProRodeo scene in 2016, the same year he won the national championship while competing at Northwestern Oklahoma State University in Alva. He played in Las Vegas for the first time that December, then followed with trips in 2017 and 2019 before his current run that began at the end of the 2022 regular season. “Making the finals is the goal every year,” said Struxness, who also attended Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Missouri, before transferring to Oklahoma. “You have to get out there so you can keep doing this for a living. The NFR is where we get our payday. I had another great year with a lot of support from my family and friends. I can’t thank them enough for all the help along the way, so we’re going to go out there and just keep chugging along.” He enters this year’s championship ranked fifth in the steer wrestling world standings, having earned $147,266 over the course of the regular season. While that’s huge, many things went into that. The cost of being a rodeo cowboy looms large, from paying for traveling and other expenses to covering entry fees; rodeo contestants must pay to compete. That’s why advancing to the NFR – set for Dec. 5-14 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas – is important for men and women who do this for a living. Once in Sin City, they will be in line to battle for their share of an $12.5 million purse, with go-rounds paying nearly $34,000 for 10 straight nights. In his five previous trips to the Nevada desert, Struxness has accumulated nearly $540,000, averaging more than $107,000 per NFR. He’s done very well once he arrives, but he has yet to leave with the most sought-after prize in rodeo, the Montana Silversmiths gold buckle awarded to the world champion. “I feel good going into Vegas this year,” he said, noting that he will ride Ty Erickson’s bulldogging horse, Crush, while having veteran Matt Reeves as his hazer. “I tried Crush out there last year with Matt hazing, and we’re doing the same thing this year, so that’s a huge confidence-booster. I had a fairly good finals out there last year, so to be able to do that and come back and have the same team together out there is going to be a big deal.” Yes, it is. Struxness placed in six go-rounds and collected more than $117,000. With that much success, it was only natural for him to partner with Erickson again in 2024. The two traveled together much of the season with a handful of others who jumped in the rig throughout the campaign. “We’ve been bulldogging good this year and trying to take advantage of the situation,” he said of being able to ride an elite horse. Crush will be the primary mount not only for Struxness but also for Erickson, the 2019 world champion from Helena, Montana, and Rowdy Parrott, a four-time NFR qualifier from Mamou, Louisiana. Having that package, mixed with Reeves hazing for all three, can be the defining piece of the puzzle. “Having that same team is a critical deal out there where the start is so fast,” said Struxness, who credits a load of his success to his sponsors, AH Inc., Purple Wave Auction, Secure, Arena Trailer Sales, Unbeetable Feeds, 4-Star Trailers and Nutrena. “We’re all going to be helping each other, and that’s a big deal there. It can be a long 10 days with a lot of ups and downs; things can change either way in a hurry, so having those guys that help and try to keep you up or help pick you back up is a huge deal.” His team expands well beyond that. Struxness will also lean on Jayden, whom he married Jan. 27. The couple has been together for six years, but they put everything together to celebrate. “When we thought about the possible times we were to have our wedding, we picked January because everybody’s coming down to Texas for the winter rodeos,” he said. “With my family in Minnesota and her family in Canada, we figured that most of our family wouldn’t mind getting out of the cold for a little bit. “We wanted to make it convenient for those who wanted to come see us, and that time of year fit in our schedules. We had a good, little wedding, and most of our friends made it.” With a support system in his corner, Struxness is eager to see what can unfold when he arrives in Las Vegas. He’s had five previous adventures inside the Thomas & Mack Center, and each of those plays a role into what he can expect when the competition begins. “There are different lessons I’ve learned at each of those NFRs,” Struxness said, adding that he’s like to earn a top spot in the aggregate race, which will pay a bonus to the top eight cowboys who post the fastest cumulative time through the 10 go-rounds. “I’ve been focusing on what I need to change or do different and get myself ready for that aspect of it.  Continue Reading »

PRYOR, Okla – When Coleman Proctor qualified for the National Finals Rodeo for the first time a decade ago, he was on Cloud 9, an exhilarating feeling he’d only dreamed about. So many things have changed over time, but there’s something familiar for the Pryor team roping header as he prepares for his ninth trip to ProRodeo’s grand finale, set for Dec. 5-14 at Las Vegas. “I was just talking to Jake (Long) the other day about this,” he said of the heeler who grew up in Coffeyville, Kansas, and has been a close friend since their early days in the saddle. “He’s been there now 14 years and I’m going for the ninth time, but we’re still just two little kids roping the Fast Lane (roping dummy) that just wanted to make it once. “It’s still a dream come true, and I still get just as excited the first day of October when you know you’ve made the finals. I think about the smell of the dirt on that arena floor. It’ll still give me butterflies in my stomach and make the little hair stand up on my arms.” Proctor’s eloquence is unbridled, as is his passion for roping. His personality shines, whether he’s in the spotlight or just working around his place near Pryor, a home he shares with his wife, Stephanie, and their daughters, Stella, 7, Caymbree, 5, and Sterling, 7 months. “My support system has gotten bigger,” said Proctor, who was raised in Miami, Oklahoma, and attended Northeastern Oklahoma A&M College and Northwestern Oklahoma State University on rodeo scholarships. “It’s fun, because the older two have grown up at the finals, and that’s really cool to me. I personally never went to the National Finals until I made it, and my kids have grown up in the seats of the Thomas and Mack, which is really special to me. Stella and Caymbree are old enough now that they understand what we’re trying to do. “Every night whether I break the barrier or I miss or I was late or something that happened that I didn’t win, that doesn’t matter to them. Stella knows if we win the round, we’re getting a limo and going to the South Point.” The rewards for success in Sin City are grand. Go-round winners will pocket nearly $34,000 for each of the 10 days of the championship. They’ll also head to the South Point Casino and Spa for the nightly go-round presentation, where they will be awarded a Montana Silversmiths trophy buckle and other trinkets while being honored before a packed crowd in the showroom. “Last year about Round 3, Stella was so mad because we hadn’t got that limo yet,” he said. “I’m like, ‘Baby, believe me, I’m mad, too, but we’re going to keep trying for it.’ For me, and I think anytime you have kids, you want to be able to lead by example. One day they’re going to pursue their dreams doing whatever they want to do, and I want to have been an example. That’s big to me as a father.” His love for the girls in his life is important for Proctor. It’s why he’s gone a good part of the year chasing his dreams. Rodeo is how he makes a living, and he’s done pretty well at it. He collected $155,790 team roping during the regular season and heads to the Nevada desert fourth in the heading world standings. But there’s much more to the Oklahoma cowboy. Two and a half years ago, he picked up another trade: Steer roping. By adding that event to his repertoire, Proctor has increased his odds of making money at many rodeos across North America. In fact, he won nearly $43,000 in single steer roping and finished the year 17th in the world standings, just two spots shy of qualifying for the event’s championship that took place in early November. Along the way, he added the steer roping title in Dalhart, Texas, and earned several all-around crowns, including major events in Cheyenne, Wyoming; Pendleton, Oregon; and Dodge City, Kansas. What’s bigger yet is that he’s in contention to win the all-around world championship; he is third on the money list in that category with nearly $186,000 in dual-event earnings. “Growing up in Oklahoma, I’ve always wanted to rope steers,” said Proctor, who credits a great deal of his success to his sponsors, Lonestar Ropes, Justin Boots, Wrangler, Purina, CSI Saddlepads, Signature Equine, Coats Saddlery, SpeedRoping.com, Southern Welding, Heel-O-Matic, Community Coffee, Signature Quarters, Professional Choice, Red Dirt Hat Co., Western Legacy Co., Compete Equine Performances and KK Branded. “I think it’s the most cowboy event there is. At the finals, there was a lot of money available, which I think is great because that’s an event that’s needed a boost for a long time. That is the hardest event to learn how to win at.” It’s difficult to become victorious in every rodeo event, and he knows that as well as anyone. When he arrives in the Nevada desert, he and his heeling partner, Logan Medlin of Tatum, New Mexico, will try to get their hands on a big share of the $12.5 million purse available. “Logan and I are going to do it again next year, so that will be five years that we’ve been together,” Proctor said. “A lot of teams don’t stick together that long anymore, but we have a rock-solid partnership, a great understanding of each other and great chemistry. I think those are huge ingredients when it comes time for roping for a gold buckle. “We still work at it just as hard as we did the first year we went there. We live seven hours apart, and we’re in the arena two to three days every week through the month of November. It’s a priority for us, and the grind that we go through now sets the tone for the whole year.” It also lines the tandem up for success once they  Continue Reading »

STEVENSVILLE, Mont. – Richmond Champion’s sigh of relief could be heard down the Bitterroot Valley. After a year of rodeo and countless battles with bucking horses that outweigh him by hundreds of pounds, the bareback rider held his breath as the regular season came to a close. He knows only the top 15 men on the money list make the National Finals Rodeo, and he was teeter-tottering on the edge. “That was the toughest year I’ve ever had competition-wise,” said Champion, 31, who lives in Stevensville with his wife, Paige, and their son, Forrest, who turned a year old in September. He’s right. After tens of thousands of miles and about 100 rides on bucking horses bred for excellence, he finished the 2024 campaign 15th in the world standings with $128,965. He slid into that magical spot to secure his ninth NFR in 11 years of doing business, edging fellow bronc buster Tanner Aus by a mere $218. “You can pick any of these rodeos where that dollar amount comes into play,” he said. “Caleb Bennett taking his reride in Mona (Utah) played into it, because he ended up winning it, bumping both Orin (Larsen, who finished 17th) and Tanner down. Jacob Lees went to San Bernardino (California) and won it, so it dropped those guys down in the placing. If those things don’t happen, I’m not going to the NFR.” Those events were on the final weekend of the regular season. Champion continued to hold his breath a couple weeks longer until an audit was complete, verifying he’d secured his spot in ProRodeo’s grand championship, a 10-round affair that features a $12.5 million purse. “I’m super thankful, and it’s hard to believe this is my ninth NFR,” he said. “I think the closest guys to me in the bareback riders’ locker room this year will have five NFRs. When you start your career, you think that’s a possibility, because you want to make NFRs and have a shot at the world title, but to have done it this many times is pretty cool.” He made the championship for the first time a decade ago, won two go-rounds and placed six times. During that NFR, nightly winners pocketed about $19,000. This year’s finale will pay round winners $33,687, an incredible leap in payout. That’s just one of the aspects of ProRodeo’s premier event that has changed since he first walked inside the Thomas & Mack Center on the University of Nevada-Las Vegas campus. “The money, the competition and the horsepower have all changed,” said Champion, who credits part of his success to his sponsors, Cinch, Yeti, Hooey, Hyer Boots and Turtle Box Audio. “Every year it feels like it’s leaping and bounding toward the better, which is super fun to be part of and see. I feel like there’s a new age of guys that are different than the guys I first shared a locker room with by a long shot. “They’re a good group of guys. They’re excited, they’re hungry and they push you. I’m looking forward to sharing the room with them.” There are also other differences. While he still travels a great deal with other bareback-riding wolves who are just as eager, Champion also hit the rodeo trail with his family. It was just too difficult to leave them at home for much of the summer, so the family loaded in an RV and spent weeks together at rodeos across North America. “We put 20,000 miles on the motorhome,” he said. “It was an adjustment and fun at the same time. It was also a lot of work, but I’m glad we made it happen. We had a lot of really good memories and pictures and experiences … and early mornings and long drives. We had probably a handful of 12-hour drives, but Forrest handled it like a champ.” When that wasn’t feasible, the Tarleton State University graduate made adjustments on the fly to make sure he hit the rodeos he needed to make. While the family and RV stayed in one locale, he found other cowboys who were willing to take him on their adventures. “I’d jump in with Caleb and go or I’d get on a plane with Leighton (Berry) and Cole (Reiner),” Champion said. “It was definitely different rodeoing as far as not being in a set group of guys, but we just made it work. It was different every day, but we were able to find our routine.” With each motification came new circumstances. The rodeo campaign is long, running 12 months from Oct. 1-Sept. 30, with world champions being crowned at the NFR, set for Dec. 5-14. There were many ups and downs that came Champion’s way over that time, but he rode the waves like the seasoned veteran he is. He was comfortable with his work in the winter months at the big, indoor rodeos in Texas, then found a hot streak in the heat of the summer. Things didn’t stay steamy, though, and he found himself falling in the standings. “It got to a point where I wasn’t drawing good, so I was turning out of some places,” he said, explaining that he’d take a rodeo off if he wasn’t matched with a horse that could help him to the pay window. “Then, all of the sudden, I started looking at the standings and was seeing how tight everything was. I thought, ‘Oh, we’re about to play a whole different ballgame than we’ve ever played before.’ ” It was a mad scramble to the finish line. Champion sweated his position as the regular season drew to a close. His work and dedication, combined with a little bit of luck, paid off, and he’s about to experience Las Vegas with a strong mindset, a brewing confidence and years of lessons of playing the sport of his choice at an elite level. “I have been in the gym every single day, if not twice a day, for more than a month  Continue Reading »

CALDWELL, Idaho – As he has matured, Jacob Lees has learned what it takes to excel as a professional bareback rider. “I feel like I’m really consistent, and I know how to handle a lot of different horses now,” said Lees, 28, originally from Caldwell but now living in Boyd, Texas, with his wife of two y ears, Chelsea. “I used to struggle a lot with some horses, and now I feel like I don’t struggle with them as much. I definitely have horses I like to get on more, but I don’t worry when I draw one I know I won’t care for.” That’s one of the reasons he is returning for the second straight year to the National Finals Rodeo, the sport’s grand finale that takes place Dec. 5-15 at Las Vegas. He earned $138,363 through the rigors of ProRodeo’s regular season and is 10th in the world standings. “I think the biggest thing for me was keeping strong in my faith and continue training and thinking about doing well even when I wasn’t doing well,” said Lees, an Arroyo Grande (California) High School graduate who attended West Hills (California) Community College and Western Texas College on rodeo scholarships. “It’s important to keep a good mindset when you’re not drawing well, because it takes two to tango. You can only focus on what you can do, and that’s riding as well as you can.” Maintaining a positive attitude is vital, and he has proven himself an elite bronc buster because of it. While he had some big victories in 2024, the bulk of his income was based on finishing among the leaders at most of the rodeos in which he competed. Every paycheck counts, whether it came from finishing first or placing sixth. “I wouldn’t say I won an overtly amount of rodeos, but I hung with them and made money pretty much everywhere I went,” he said. “Staying consistent is what matters most.” Familiarity helps, but there are different styles of bareback horses. The cowboys recognize that, which is why there are five sets of animals for the NFR. The qualifiers select the top 100 animals from the regular season, then identify them into bunches of 20. They range from the “hoppers,” the ones that are the easiest to ride, to the “eliminators,” the rankest broncs in the bunch. “I think I’m just more experienced going up and down the road than I was last year, getting on more horses, picking and choosing what I get on a little bit,” said Lees, who credits part of his success to his sponsors, Toste Construction, ProHats, Double-J Quarter Horses, Bet Hesa Boon, Servi Quarter Horses, Fenoglio Boots, Gentry Custom Cowboy Shop, Kifaru, Cutters Stabilizers, Hampton Pro Rodeo and Top O Texas Outfitters. “With that, I know where to go and more of what to do.” It added up to a spectacular season. While he collected nearly $140,000 in ProRodeo, he added to his coffers through other events that weren’t part of the PRCA. He began the year with nice earnings, some at rodeos that count toward his NFR qualification and others at events that didn’t. It helped. Every penny is valuable, especially for men and women who make their livings in rodeo. There was an added benefit to competing in multiple associations. Lees learned this year that his Native American ancestry was enough to qualify him to compete at rodeos for others like him. He earned his first qualification to the Indian National Finals Rodeo, which took place in late October at Las Vegas. He finished the 2024 season as the Indian world champion bareback rider. “I didn’t know it was even an association until Jayco (Roper) brought it up to me when we first started traveling together,” he said of the Oklahoma cowboy, who earned his first NFR bid in 2023. “He told me that if we had proven ancestry that I’d be able to rodeo in that association. I just knew I had that stuff from my mom’s side of the family, so I had her gather it up. “I went to enough Indian rodeos to qualify for the finals. Jayco and I went out there and did really well. I won the world, and he got reserve world champion.” Lees had a varied experience as a youngster. Born in Caldwell, he and his family moved to California before he started kindergarten. He spent most of his youth between California and Alaska, the latter of which is his mother’s home state. He finished his secondary education in Arroyo Grande and started college in California before transitioning to Texas, but his home will always be western Idaho. “We spent about six or seven years in Alaska, and it was good to be around my mom’s half of the family and get to know everyone there,” he said. “When we were living in California, we had a couple thousand-acre lease pretty much right on the beach. It was really one of the coolest places I ever lived.” The lessons gained in handling livestock have paid off for a man who rides broncs. He learned important values, because cows don’t always do what humans want them to do. “It almost seems like they know what you don’t want them to do, and they do that,” Lees said with a laugh. “It teaches you patience and to work hard, because you’ve got to work for something bigger than yourself. Their lives are in your hands.” The cows also showed him the way to rodeo. He had dreamed of being a bull rider, then learned about bareback riding just before he began high school after listening to songs by former bareback riding world champion and country artist Chris LeDoux. While he still rode bulls through college, competing on bucking horses flipped a switch, which is why he still does it professionally. “I got into that and never looked back,” he said. “I rode bulls for a long time but never really  Continue Reading »

ESTHERWOOD, La. – Taylor Broussard burst onto the ProRodeo scene a decade ago and was quickly identified as a rising star. He proved it in 2019 with his first qualification to the National Finals Rodeo, the sport’s grand finale that takes place over 10 December nights. He finished the campaign 15th in the world standings with nearly $94,000 in earnings. Two years later, he was back in Sin City, where he finished 14th on the bareback riding money list. Three years and a lot of personal growth have happened since, but Broussard is back among the elite bronc busters. He finished the 2024 regular season with $129,499 and enters his third NFR as the 14th ranked bareback rider. The rodeo takes place Dec. 5-15 at the Thomas & Mack Center on the University of Nevada-Las Vegas campus “It means a lot, because I feel like I belong there,” said Broussard, 31, of Estherwood, a village of 678 souls in southern Louisiana. “I feel like I should have made it more than two times already, but I know stuff happens. I’m just glad to be going back there.” Las Vegas hosts this premier event, the world’s richest rodeo that features the top cowboys, cowgirls and livestock from this season. Roughstock hands like Broussard will test their talents and their mental aptitude on bucking horses that have been bred to perform at that level and have been selected to be part of the showcase. The rewards are many, with contestants vying for their fair share of the $12.5 million payout. Go-round winners will pocket $33,687 every night. The ultimate prize is the Montana Silversmiths gold buckle that awaits the world champions in each event, the men and women who finish the campaign atop the money list. “That was pretty special getting in there this year,” said Broussard, who credits much of his success to his sponsors, Cinch, American Hat Co., Smith Pro Rodeos, Acadia Crawfish Co. LLC, Cajun Bayou Blend Seasoning, VOXX Exhibits, CorVive and Deanna Harrison Essential Oils. “The talent we have in bareback riding and with these young guys coming up is unreal. It came down to the very last rodeo with me, and I was able to get it done.” That ride was in Mona, Utah, on a horse aptly named Last Hope from Legacy Pro Rodeo. Broussard and the powerful bay matched for 86 points, good enough for fourth place and a check worth $1,745. That pushed the Louisiana cowboy into the 14th spot, but he was just $752 ahead of Tanner Aus, who finished No. 16. That’s just a whisker of an advantage in a sport, where only the top 15 in the world standings advance to the NFR. Had Broussard fallen to fifth place in Mona, his margin to make the finale virtually disappeared. “That was my last hope, literally,” he said, noting that bareback riders are allowed to count 100 rodeos a season. “That was my 100th rodeo, and I had to be in the top four to make it to where I was safe.” It made a difference, but so did several other instances. He credited great success at Calgary and Colorado Springs in early July for having been major contributors to his earnings. He pocked nearly $20,000 between those two rodeos alone. While credited with nine rodeo victories, the bulk of Broussard’s earnings came from placing high at a lot of rodeos. He didn’t win either Calgary or the NFR Open in Colorado, but the money all added up. “I put in a little bit more work this year, and I think it paid off,” said Broussard, who lives in Estherwood with his wife, Alishea. “Even in the middle of the season, there was a time where I didn’t draw good horses, and I got down on myself a little bit. I didn’t even look like I was having fun, so I just reminded myself that this is fun; this is bareback riding, and I love it. I’ve lived for it. “I just flipped the switch and started having fun again. That’s what I just go by, and it’s more of God’s plan.” There are many things that go into God’s plans, and Broussard is living proof. Even before he was 20 years old, Broussard knew he had a problem. He just didn’t do anything about it until about three years ago. “Where I grew up, people just drink beer, and it was just something I grew up into,” he said. “I remember thinking, ‘I’m probably an alcoholic,’ but I just ignored the fact.” He continued to drink every day, and after an injury sidelined him from competition a few years ago, he began drinking more, starting earlier in the day and hiding it. It was his painkiller, which was another justification to continue to consume. His cravings worsened, and he’d have days where he didn’t want to drink, but he found beer in his hand anyway “There were just these little signs that God was sending me that I needed to get some help, but I just kept ignoring them,” said Broussard, who has witnessed an older brother remain sober for 11 years after seeking treatment. “People started telling my brother that I would be drunk at like 10 o’clock in the morning, but he knew whatever he was going to tell me wasn’t going to work until I was ready for it.” Broussard eventually sought help, went to a rehabilitation clinic for 45 days and has been sober ever since. It’s changed his life and his livelihood. “It was the best decision I’ve ever made in my life,” he said. “I know it made my riding better, and I think it’s just made me a better person all around.” It’s a big reason he gets to play on rodeo’s biggest stage again. His family has supported him, from his wife to his folks, Scott and Julie, to his siblings, Trent, Trey, Emily and Elisabeth. Most have been there from the  Continue Reading »

MIAMI, Texas – Wyatt Casper is a businessman who has no problem with the hard work it takes to succeed. He toils in a profession that requires dedication, time-commitment and travel. He’s pretty good at it. The business? Rodeo. His occupation? Saddle bronc rider. Why does he do it? To best care for his family, and to be one of the best at it, he must follow through on all that it takes to get the job done. Casper left his wife, Lesley, and their children, Cooper and Cheyenne, in mid-June and didn’t return to their Miami home much for more than three months. “I didn’t get home as much as I wanted,” said Casper, 28, who is heading to his fifth straight National Finals Rodeo in December. “I took the family up for Calgary (Alberta) for the rodeo there, but that was pretty much it. I was gone a lot this year, and it was honestly pretty rough.” Casper is a family man, and being a father and husband is his top priority. To take care of them, though, means he has to miss things at home. It’s the nature of being a rodeo cowboy. In order to make a living, he must compete at rodeos across North America. That means he spends many hours traveling the highways and backroads getting from one event to another. Being elite means making sacrifices, but the rewards are great. Casper finished the regular season with $219,784 in earnings and heads to Sin City as the No. 4 bronc rider in the world standings. He’s taking advantage of the sport’s growing popularity and an unprecedented increase in prize money available. There are seven men on bronc-riding money list that have collected more than $200,000 in 2024. “You have to get it while the getting’s good,” he said. “The getting’s pretty good right now, so I want to try to set up to where whenever I’m done riding broncs, I don’t have to be gone or do some regular job as much; I can do whatever I want and hang out with the family so it will be worth it in the end.” The getting might just get better. The NFR features a $12.5 million purse, with winners pocketing nearly $34,000 per round over 10 December nights in Sin City. To get there, though, he had to have finished the regular season among the top 15 on the money list, something he’s done consecutively. He actually earned more money so far in 2024 than he did in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Much of that came with big victories, but no locale has been more beneficial to the Texan than Rapid City, South Dakota, which hosts the annual Xtreme Broncs Finals. Casper has won that title each of the past two seasons, pocketing more than $60,000 in the process. What added to the victory was the fact that he accomplished the feat at an event that features only the top bronc busters in the game. “That sure put some fuel in my tank and a little light to fire me up and get me pretty excited for the last two months of rodeo,” said Casper, who credits part of his success to his sponsors, Cinch, Justin Boots, Priefert, Resistol, Superior Livestock, TD Angus, MVP Exceed 6 Way, Western Hauler and Sawyer Hay & Cube. He also spent considerable time north of the border for the first time in his career. He won three Canadian rodeos in three provinces: Regina, Saskatchewan; Raymond, Alberta; and Williams Lake, British Columbia. That, combined with earnings at other events in the Land of Maple Syrup, helped him qualify for the Canadian Finals Rodeo, where he won the fourth round and placed in three others to earn $31,000. “I was pretty excited to go up there and be at my first Canadian Finals,” he said. “It was an experience, for sure. It was a lot of fun, and I’m glad to finally get a back number from the CFR.” He finished his Canadian season with more than $52,000. Because the exchange rate is down – only 72 cents of the Canadian dollar represents one American dollar – he has maintained an account north of the 49th Parallel. “I’m going to wait until the dollar gets better, but for now I’m just leaving it there,” said Casper, who won the intercollegiate national championship while competing at Clarendon (Texas) College. That’s another decision he’s had to make. That’s part of the equation when the business is rodeo. It would cost him nearly $15,000 to bring his 2024 Canadian earnings home. It wasn’t the only judgment he made, and the proof is another trip to Las Vegas. His biggest key to success? “Staying healthy was mainly the one for me,” he said. “I was also able to draw enough good horses and capitalize on them. I won some pretty cool rodeos, and that all made it fun.” Injuries hampered Casper each of the previous two years. He spent extended time on injured reserve, but unlike other professional sports, he had no guaranteed salary to fall back on while he was recuperating. If he wasn’t riding, he wasn’t winning money. While the extended time at home was beneficial to his morale, the rewards of staying on the road were just as great. “The best part of my job would be when my family gets to go and experience all of this with me,” Casper said. “I also get to be around a bunch of really good people and have a lot of fun. I don’t know what I’m going to do whenever I’m done riding broncs, so I’m going to try to make the most of it while I can.” That includes those magical 10 days in the Nevada desert. He can more than double his earnings so far with a good run of luck and capitalize on what the City of Lights has to offer professional rodeo cowboys. “I’m pretty excited for my  Continue Reading »

CLARENDON, Texas – At just 23 years of age, Cole Franks has accomplished a great deal in the world of rodeo. Three seasons ago, he won the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association’s bareback riding and all-around championships while helping Clarendon College to the men’s team national title. He then became the Resistol Bareback Riding Rookie of the Year, advancing to the National Finals Rodeo for the first time. He finished third in the 2021 world standings. A year later, he was back in Las Vegas, where he finished fourth on the money list. He returns to the NFR for the third time in four years this December with a lot of goals on his mind, but there’s one that sticks out. “I want to be at the South Point after the first round,” Franks said, referring to the casino and resort that hosts the nightly Montana Silversmiths Go-Round Buckle Presentation. “I want to be at the buckle ceremony getting that buckle.” That’s one of the things that has alluded him; he’s been close, but he has yet to stake his claim to a round win in Sin City. He’s competed 20, earned almost $300,000 in two trips the ProRodeo’s grand finale, but there are more things he wants to accomplish. Go-round winners not only earn a shiny new buckle and a bottle of Pendleton Whisky, they also collect the lion’s share of the nightly payout. All those things add up, and when dollars are piled on top of one another, the ultimate goal is the world championship. That is earned by the contestants in each event who conclude the 10-day championship with the most money won through the season. There are 135 cowboys and cowgirls who will challenge for rodeo’s gold in Las Vegas, and only a handful will grab it. For Franks, just making it back to the NFR is a case of redemption. He finished the regular season with $139,556, good enough for eighth in the bareback riding world standings – only the top 15 on the money list advance to the Nevada desert. This comes a year after earning nearly $110,000 and finishing 17th. “This year has been a little bit about revenge,” said Franks, who still lives in Clarendon. “I almost feel like I’m going to my first NFR again. I’m a little amped up. I’m excited o be going back.” He should be. He won close to $150,000 in each of his previous trips, so he understands the opportunities that sit before him over 10 December nights. “I didn’t want to be sitting on the sidelines watching the finals again,” said Franks, the son of Darla and Bret Franks, the latter of whom qualified for the NFR three times in saddle bronc riding and is the rodeo coach at Clarendon College. “I want to be behind the chutes watching, getting ready to ride. I did a lot of stuff different this year to make it happen “Not being there last year was the key to me being there this year. I was not going to miss out. I don’t want what happened last year to happen again, so you got to see a lot more fire in me, or at least I tried to have more fire.” He made sure it showed by finding the pay window a lot. While he didn’t have a lot of victories, several of the titles he won came at big stops. He considers his biggest to have been at Salinas, California, where he won nearly $15,000. It was just the starting point to a mid-July week that paid him more than $22,000 and propelled him up the standings. It was just part of a transition season for the young bareback rider. After kicking off his career with world champions Tim O’Connell and Jess Pope, Franks adjusted his traveling posse to 25-year-old Louisianan Waylon Bourgeois and 20-year-old Texas firecracker Rocker Steiner, a three-time NFR qualifier who leads the world standings heading into this year’s championship. The key ingredient for all is seeing a progression in their talents. “I feel like my riding has changed quite a bit, even from this past winter until now,” said Franks, who credits a big part of his success to his sponsors, Cinch, Pete Carr Pro Rodeo, Western Legacy Co., 287 Ag, Eliason Trucking and KN Double Cone Ranch. “I feel like my riding always has to change. Every year, we’ve got these new guys coming in, so everybody’s changing. “Everybody’s faster. I know for sure I was a lot more conservative at my first NFR, and now, I feel like I can flash it up a little bit better than I used to be able to do.” That’s important. Bareback riding is judged on a 100-point scale, with half the score coming from the animal. If a cowboy can help the horse earn more points, then the overall score will be better. The difference between first and second in Las Vegas can be half a point, and but the pay contrast is thousands of dollars. He sits in the middle of the pack in the standings, but there’s not much difference between him and Richmond Champion, the 15th-ranked bareback rider in the field. There is a big gap between Steiner, who has earned more than $233,000, and Franks. Once they all arrive in Las Vegas, though, all that is out the window. Franks can catch Steiner in less than four nights if everything goes his way. “I’m a little more jittery going into this one, like I was when I went the first time,” Franks said. “That first year, I was just so excited to be there, and I really didn’t know what to expect. I was so nervous I don’t even remember the first round. I feel like once I get there and once everything starts going, it’ll kind of be back to how it was my second year. “Of course, if you’re not nervous doing this, there’s something wrong with you, especially  Continue Reading »

ALVA, Okla. – Home may be where the heart is, but it’s often the most difficult place to play. The Northwestern Oklahoma State University rodeo teams hosted the Central Plains Region teams this past weekend at the Alva Dome, and while there was some rough-sledding, there were a handful of Rangers who found success. “That was our hometown rodeo, but it’s also a pretty tough place to compete because of the way it’s set up,” said Dale Lee Forman, a junior from Highmore, South Dakota, who placed in the championship round and the aggregate race “It’s where you want to do well, but everybody has trouble in that pen.” Forman started off with a 7.0-second run in the opening round to earn a spot among the top 12 goat-tiers in the short-go. Once in the finale, she stopped the clock in 6.5 seconds to finish fourth in the round and fifth in the average with a two-run cumulative time of 13.5 seconds. “I just had it in my head that this is my hometown event and that I don’t want to freak out,” she said. “I was just more relaxed, and I think that really helped me out.” So did Dee Dee, a horse she’s had for several years. The bay mare has made for a solid partner, and that helped Forman find her comfort zone. “She started out as my barrel horse and just as the years went on, she became my goat horse,” Forman said. “She’s been my goat horse since I was a sophomore in high school, so we’ve been together a long time. She’s not your typical college goat horse. She’s really little and not as strong as a lot of other horses, but she’s as solid as she can be. We’ve just come a long way together.” Forman was one of three Rangers women in the short round, joined by breakaway roper Jaci Traul of Fort Scott, Kansas, and barrel racer Stormi Hopkins of Claremore, Oklahoma, the latter of whom finished third in the first go and fifth overall. “I think our team has a lot of talented people on it, and I know everyone has worked super hard this semester,” said Forman, who also competes in barrel racing. “I’d say we just need to keep grinding in the practice pen and be confident. When something goes wrong, go on to the next one and try again. Don’t let one bad rodeo wreck the rest of them.” That’s sound advice, and it’s something steer wrestler Logan Mullin has kept in mind all season. He had his best finish at the Alva rodeo, sharing the first-round victory after posting a 4.2-second run. He was 6.4 seconds to finish fifth in the championship round, and his two-run cumulative time of 10.2 seconds as good enough for second overall. “I knew we had good steers, but I also knew it was going to be a fast start, so we had to take an aggressive start,” said Mullin, a senior from Clay Center, Kansas. “I had a good horse under me and a good hazer, and that helped a bunch.” The horse? It’s a 12-year-old bay gelding Mullin owns and calls Easy. Teammate Emmett Edler of State Center, Iowa, leads the Central Plains’ bulldogging standings and has been riding Easy all season; while Mullin hazes for Edler and three to four others at every rodeo, Edler was his hazer while riding Bullfrog, a hazing horse owned by the Swayze family in Freedom, Oklahoma. “Easy is the horse Emmett and I hauled all summer, so he’s been good for us,” said Mullin, who acquired the horse a few years ago and has been competing on the bay ever since. “He was pretty green when I first got him, but he’s been great. He’s finished now, and like his name says, he’s super easy.” Mullin led the way for the Northwestern men, which featured eight cowboys in the final go-round, four of whom were bulldoggers. Jacob Haren, a graduate student from Callaway, Nebraska, placed in both rounds and finished third in the average; Edler finished second in the short round and placed fourth overall; and Scout Cutsinger of Claremore finished sixth in the long round. Tie-down roper Hazen Sparks of Talihina, Oklahoma, earned a third-place finish in the first round with a 10.2-second run, and Rhett Murray of Alma, Kansas, also advanced to the final go-round. The team roping tandem of Kyler Altmiller of Canadian, Texas, and Sage Bader of Kim, Colorado, also roped in the short round. The Alva rodeo was the final event of the fall portion of the Central Plains season, and the teams will return to competition in four months. The final five rodeos will decide which teams and which individuals will advance to the College National Finals Rodeo, where the champions will be crowned. “I just want to try to keep the ball rolling,” Mullin said. “I want to make the runs I need to make. I had a very slow fall, so this is a great way to wrap it up and remind myself that, yeah, I can bulldog at these college rodeos.”