With veteran Matt Reeves hazing on trusty Kirk, left, J.D. Struxness placed again with a 4.0-second run during Monday’s fifth round of the National Finals Rodeo.
(PRCA PHOTO BY KATHRYN COLEMAN)

 

LAS VEGAS – The National Finals Rodeo arena inside the Thomas & Mack Center is tiny. It’s dimensions pale to most complexes.

Think basketball court or hockey rink, then add dirt. Timed-event cowboys know they need to be fast if they want to make money at ProRodeo’s premier championship.

Steer wrestler J.D. Struxness is now in Las Vegas for the seventh time in his career. The 31-year-old is a veteran, not only of the game but of playing on the sport’s biggest stage. A year ago, he took advantage of that and battled his way to a world championship.

He’s well on his way again. Struxness stopped the clock in 4.0 seconds to finish fourth in Monday’s fifth round, cashing in to the tune of $15,377. Over the first half of the 10-day championship, he has a cumulative time of 30.5 seconds – with a third of that coming from a 10-second penalty in Round 4 for not allowing the steer an appropriate head start – and still sits third in the average race.

“We made a change to Kirk on the hazing side,” he said of the sorrel gelding, owned by Savannah Reeves and ridden by her husband, veteran hazer Matt Reeves. “My horse, Jenny, was getting a little sore, and with it being her first time here, we didn’t want to ruin her confidence for this building, because she has a lot of years left.

“He’s only 6. She had a decent experience here, and we didn’t want to let that little injury affect her. So, we switched over to Kirk, the old trusty. We had a plan to have old trusty here in case we needed him.”

Kirk will likely get the call the rest of the week. Struxness has earned $62,833 in five nights, and half the rodeo remains. He is just a half-second behind second place in the aggregate, and there’s momentum on which to build.

“(Sunday) night was just a little mishap,” he said. “We didn’t do anything wrong; we just got unlucky. We were right on the barrier and just on the wrong side of great. (On Monday), we blew the barrier out and were able to place again. We left just a little bit cleaner, and that was the difference between great and a broken barrier.”

Jenny isn’t the only young horse in the mix at Las Vegas. Struxness’ bulldogging mount, Ice, is 7, but the athletic gray gelding has been on top of his game.

“It’s fun, because it’s getting pretty easy to get that start on him now, and he has his confidence up. He’s really running through there now, so we’re looking forward to the next five rounds.”

A key ingredient is taking care of the animals. All athletes need to be in top form to compete at a championship event, and that includes the equines.

“We feed him Unbeetable Feeds, which is a great company based out of Minnesota,” said Struxness of Milan, Minnesota. “It’s been an awesome partnership for me, and we’ve been really happy with their feeds. They are doing things left and right to keep up their game and upgrading their feeds, putting science behind it and getting it out there. They’re getting to see real results now.”

So is Struxness, who has increased his season earnings to $201,505; he is fifth in the world standings. With go-rounds paying nearly $37,000, he has plenty of opportunity left to cash in big. Placing in the aggregate would be nice, too. If he remains third, he will add another $60,000 to his coffers Saturday night; If he moves up a spot, it’s a $16,000 increase.

“When you get here, we all play to just knock it out of the park, but it’s not a disappointing NFR by no means,” he said. I think we’ve got everybody’s confidence built now, and we’re going to go ahead and let it rip the second five rounds.”