Kade Sonnier – seen celebrating at the end of his Round 4 ride – was all smiles after placing again with an 87.75-point ride during Monday’s fifth round of the National Finals Rodeo.
(PRCA PHOTO BY MALLORY BEINBORN)

 

LAS VEGAS – The smile on Kade Sonnier’s face was infectious.

He’d just completed an 87.75-point ride on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Night Flight, and he was excited. He celebrated with about 17,000 fans inside the Thomas & Mack Center as he took the bareback riding lead during Monday’s fifth round of the National Finals Rodeo.

“I was really happy until the last few guys went,” Sonnier said with a grin.

Sonnier was the eighth man to compete in the round, and he had every reason to be happy. Night Flight is one of the best horses in the business, and taking the lead in the NFR’s elite field is a big deal. But three of the men who went after him surpassed his score, and he dropped to fourth in the round.

It was still worth $15,377, a payday rarely seen during the regular rodeo season. At the NFR, it’s a far cry from the nearly $37,000 earned by Texan Rocker Steiner, who scored 89 points to win the night.

“That’s just a great set of bareback horses,” said Sonnier, 26, of Carencro, Louisiana, now competing at ProRodeo’s grand finale for the second time in his three-year career. “There are a lot of guys that would love to get on the horses we all got on, and we get to do that twice.”

There are five pens of horses set in bareback riding: The hoppers, which are the easiest to ride; the souped-up hoppers, which offer a little more action; the rank pen, which are more powerful and throw some tricks; the eliminators, which are the toughest to tangle with; and the TV pen, so named because they are the best horses in the game and provide a lot of action and electricity.

That’s the group of broncs that are out in the fifth and 10th round, so named because there was a time when only the final round of the NFR was broadcast. Those are the horses that cowboys win on all year and post huge scores doing so.

“There were a lot of great horses out tonight,” he said. “This is one of the nights at the finals we all look forward to, because those are the horses you want to get on all year.”

Despite a few early struggles – he didn’t place on Nights 1 and 3 and settled for a $5,000 check in the second round – Sonnier is having a good time in Las Vegas. He realized after Saturday night that he needed a mindset adjustment, and he focused on enjoying the experience. It’s paying off in the playing field.

He finished second, collecting nearly $29,000, and gathered another big payday Monday. He has ridden five broncs for a cumulative score of 422.75 points and is fifth in the aggregate race. He’s also pocketed $59,482 in Sin City. That’s bound to make anyone happy. Of course, he’s also enjoying the experience and the fellowship he has with the 14 other bareback riders in the locker room.

“A lot of people talk about how tight-knit the bulldoggers are, but there’s a lot of comradery in our locker room,” Sonnier said. “We support each other a lot. It’s not really us against each other; it’s us against the horses we have that night.”

After he was done with his work, Sonnier spent the next seven rides as a cheerleader, rooting for the other men behind them. He watched as others dropped him down on list.

“Yes, you want to win, and there’s some frustration that you don’t win,” he said. “You want everybody to do good, too, and you don’t wish anything bad on any of them.”

Competition at a world-class level brings out the best in elite athletes, and Sonnier is ready to show his best side. That’s what champions do, whether they win or not.