Garrett Shadbolt had to wait out some tense moments but secured a big-money payday after his 84-point ride on Championship Pro Rodeo’s Big Show to finish in a tie for third place in Friday’s second round of the National Finals Rodeo.
(PHOTO BY GREG WESTFALL)

 

LAS VEGAS – Garrett Shadbolt had reserved himself to his fate.

Scoring 84 points just doesn’t win much at the National Finals Rodeo, and he knows that from experience. This is his fourth qualification to the sport’s Super Bowl, and he’s seen it before.

“I was thinking, ‘There’s no freaking way I’m going to win a check out of this round,” said Shadbolt, 29, a bareback rider from Merriman, Nebraska. “I was proud of my ride.

“That’s a good horse, but I didn’t know if he was usually good enough here. I was keeping my head up, and then the next guy was 83.75. then it was 81.5 and another 83.75. I had not won a check in 12 rounds and in a couple of years. Last year’s NFR was so brutal.”

It had been since the ninth round of the 2022 championship since Shadbolt had cashed in, but he made things work with Championship Pro Rodeo’s Big Show, finishing in a tie for third place on the second night of this year’s festival, pocketing $18,630. With that, he pushed his season earnings to $196,891 and sits seventh in the world standings with eight nights remaining in the 2025 season.

“I celebrated (Thursday’s first round ride) just like I’d won money, because I was so proud of that ride,” he said of another 84, which resulted in an 11th-place finish. “My spirits are high. I knew I was riding good, but I’ve also been here where you just never know what’s going to happen.

“I was on the back of the bucking chutes, and more and more guys were underneath me. I think I started hyperventilating a little bit, because I was like, ‘I might win a check out of this thing.’ ”

He did, and a big sigh of relief followed. It comes from a man on a mission, a man who has had a sour taste in his mouth for 12 months after a disappointing 2024 championship in which he failed to reach the pay window in any of the 10 rounds.

“You’ve got to build yourself all the way back up again,” said Shadbolt, who first qualified for the NFR in 2021. “You get knocked down in this game, and you’ve got to get yourself back up and go back out there and do it again.”

That meant getting on the biggest and baddest bucking horses in rodeo for Saturday night. The NFR roughstock competition is broken down into five styles of bucking horses, and the third round features the “eliminator pen,” the toughest-to-ride broncs in the business.

“I’m ready for it,” he said. “I’m not scared of anything in that pen.”

Shadbolt will be matched with Powder River Rodeo’s Juice Box, a horse that’s generated high stock scores this year. With judges marking the animal 1-50, officials have marked the bronc 45 points are better on multiple occasions during the 2025 season. For now, though, he’ll cherish another NFR payday.

“It’s even more special, because George and Mavis, my two oldest (children), were at the rodeo and got to watch,” Shadbolt said. “I’m excited to head back up with them and celebrate a big check.

“After two good rides and a big check, my spirits are high, and I’m ready to have a big week.”