Bareback riding world champion Dean Thompson will try to defend his Montana Silversmiths gold buckle during his third qualification to the sport’s Super Bowl, the National Finals Rodeo. Thompson won the average championship in 2024, which catapulted him to the top of the bareback riding mountain.
(PRCA PHOTO BY ALEXIS CADY)

 

ALTAMONT, Utah – Inside a home in this quaint community of 250 people, a cherished trophy rests on a mantel.

It’s a Montana Silversmiths buckle, the one Dean Thompson earned 11 months ago. It’s made to be worn, and Thompson does attach it some, but its rightful place is on the home’s centerpiece, a shelf that holds the symbol of a year’s worth of effort, challenges and overcoming all odds to win rodeo gold.

“It’s something I’m going to continue looking at,” said Thompson, 23, the reigning world champion bareback rider from Altamont. “It’s just been a shock to the system in a way. It’s crazy to think that all you’ve ever wanted to do is win the world title in bareback riding, and it comes true.”

He’s not pinching himself. His dream became a reality, and he’s spent most of the 2025 regular season reimagining every stage of that magical year. He has been recognized at rodeos across the country for his status. His likeness will adorn the program at this year’s National Finals Rodeo, and one night of tickets to the sport’s championship event will feature his image.

It comes with the territory of winning a world championship, but so does defending that title. Thompson will get his shot at this year’s NFR, set for Dec. 4-13 at Las Vegas. It marks his third straight qualification to the grand finale, and he will arrive in Sin City eighth in the world standings with $166,536 in season earnings.

So, why doesn’t he just wear the buckle that brings him so much pride?

“I have, and I’m planning on having a belt made for it, one that makes it worthwhile on really special occasions,” he said. “I’ll maybe wear it to one of my buddies’ weddings or take it to church on the weekends. It’s something that’s for the really meaningful events, but it’s got to have a belt of its own.”

There’s something else.

“I’ve been wearing my (NFR) average buckle for quite a while, and one day I looked down, and it was tarnished,” said Thompson, who credits a big part of his success to his partners, Sabey Trucking, Rock & Roll Denim, Dan’s Tire Service, Beddy’s Beds, War Bonnet Hats and Kings Peak Ready Mix. “I’d only been wearing it for a month, and I thought, ‘My gold buckle is never getting tarnished.’

“I might wear my second one, but that first one’s got to stay up on the mantel.”

It’s a special trophy, for certain, especially for a cowboy who achieved it during his sophomore campaign in ProRodeo. Not only did Thompson earn a spot in the elite NFR field of 15 bareback riders in 2023, he finished third in the race to be the Rookie of the Year.

He just kept building in Season No. 2. What happens this year remains to be seen, but there have been many positives that led him back to the Entertainment Capital of the World.

“If you look at it like a building, I feel like it’s been a steep staircase climb over the last three years,” he said. “In November 2023, I knew Vegas would be hard, and I think part of the problem was that I’d heard it was going to be. I made it almost too big in my brain where I made it harder than it needed to be. It felt like I was trying too hard, and I was just so tight. It made me slow.

“In 2024, I went there and said, ‘Win or lose, I don’t really care. I made it to Vegas, and I’m one of the top riders in the world. I’m going to make the best spur rides I could and see what happens.’ ”

What happened was a spectacular display of talent in a field of talented athletes. Thompson won the aggregate championship by having the best 10-ride cumulative score, which paid him more than $86,000. In all, the Utah cowboy cashed in for $239,924. He finished the year with $412,121.

He then utilized that momentum into the 2025 campaign. He was steady and strong from the winter months to the fall, a consistent string of success that he hopes to build on when he returns to the City of Lights.

“This year I realize that my good spur rides are going to lead to wins,” Thompson said. “Maybe when I roll into Vegas, it’ll be more of me letting my riding speak for itself. Right now, it feels like I’m ready to take the world by storm.”

A winning formula comes from a winning mindset. Thompson realized that a year ago, when he redirected his approach to the game. He maintained a strong mental game throughout the regular season, able to overcome the challenges that arise in the midst of riding broncs for a living.

“I think one of the things that comes with maturity – and it may be one of the hardest things – is just swallowing your ego, being willing to change,” he said. “You need to be critical of your riding style, seeing the real flaws. The game is also always evolving, and what the judges like, they like. If they don’t like what you’re doing, it’s time to change something.

“My wife also went with me quite a bit. She’s my social media manager, my videographer and does all my media stuff. She’s also way more positive than I am, so it’s good to have that with you. It’s so critical to remail positive. She’s a great traveling partner, and it makes leaving the house a lot less difficult.”

It’s a nice transition for the couple that just shared its one-year wedding anniversary. He can have family on the road with him. She works remotely, so she can handle her day-to-day duties on the drives between rodeos or at a small café in rural South Dakota.

He is the youngest of four sons raised by Chris and Kristie Thompson, joined by Blake, Derrik and Danny. Having a sense of home while in the heat of the summer allows for comfort. It also provides a bit of motivation.

“It feels like my house is on the road,” Dean Thompson said. “That’s an amazing thing, because it no longer becomes a work-life balance. It becomes work-life integration. The only way that you ever become the very best at what you do is that you eat, sleep, breath, love and dream it. Not having to think about going home all the time has made it so that I can live on the road riding bucking horses, and I don’t feel like I’m missing anything.”

With his gold buckle come new obligations. More people want autographs, and every rodeo wants to highlight the achievement. It’s a lot for a 23-year-old man from a small Utah town to even consider, much less grasp, but he’s doing it.

“You become a face for the game, which is crazy to look at like that, but it’s also extremely motivating,” he said. “I think to myself, ‘If I had kids, what kind of person would I want them looking up to as a world champion?’ It blows me away, and I hope I live up to that, not only for myself, but for everyone around me: My community, my family, my friends, everyone.

“I just want to be the best I can be.”