Monthly Archives: December 2020

ARLINGTON, Texas – For a young man in the middle of a world-title race, Wyatt Casper isn’t too concerned about the things outside of his control. He’s handling it like a veteran, and that’s a good thing. “Toward the beginning of the week, I had been staying focused on the standings, looking at the money, looking at it all,” said Casper, who rode Calgary Stampede’s Y U R Friskey for 85.5 points to finish in a tie for sixth place in Wednesday’s seventh go-round of the National Finals Rodeo. “I hadn’t had very good luck the last couple nights, so I stopped looking at that. I’m just going to stick to having fun. If it goes our way, it goes our way. There’s not a whole lot I can do about it if I don’t draw the best horses.” While he collected cash – $2,115 for sharing the same score with the No. 2 man, Ryder Wright – it wasn’t what he was hoping for with the Canadian bucking horse. “I’ve been on it at Fort Worth (Texas) this year, and I was 88.5,” Casper said. “It didn’t go quite as good, but he felt a little stronger than what he did the last time. I was pretty lucky to get by him. He kind of got me bucked off by the fourth jump. I got sat back down, and it felt good.” That’s the nature of saddle bronc riding. There’s nothing but stirrups and a rein that holds a cowboy down on the animal as it jumps, bucks and kicks, and matching that with the spurring motion the cowboy tries to make in rhythm with the horse can allow for some wild experiences. Lifting on the rein can help the cowboy more than anything. Another piece of the puzzle is the bronc, which receives half the score. When animals don’t perform up to par, then scores get dropped. Casper was just 82.5 points Tuesday night and finished a few spots out of the money. Still, he’s ridden six of seven horses he’s mounted and sits third in the average race with 520 cumulative points. The men above him in the aggregate have ridden all seven horses. “I felt like that horse (Tuesday) night was probably at the bottom of the pen,” he said regarding the random draw out of the 15 horses that were bucked in the round. “We’re just trying to keep getting horses down. It will fall where it falls. “I feel like I’m riding at the top of my game. We just hope we start running some really good horses under us and pick up a couple more first-place checks.” Casper has earned nearly $91,000 in seven nights of riding at Globe Life Field. He’s still No. 1 in the world standings with $235,946, but Wright has gained ground; Wright is less than $13,000 behind and sits first in the average. “I’m just going to stay focused,” said Casper of Miami, Texas. “I’m going to take it night by night and just stick to the game plan of riding them all as good as I can.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – Richmond Champion has been here before. Through seven nights of the National Finals Rodeo, he sits in contention for the prize he most covets: a world championship. To look at him, there is no worry or trepidation. He’s a man on a business trip, and his work involves riding bareback horses. He’s pretty good at it, too, having qualified for ProRodeo’s grand finale six times in seven years – the only year he missed was 2015, and injuries left him on the sidelines a little too long to put him into the top 15 when the regular season ended. At this year’s NFR, he’s placed in just four rounds so far, but he’s snagged some nice paychecks. He won the opening round last Thursday, then placed again on the third and fourth nights. He earned another payout Wednesday, when he rode Big Stone Rodeo’s Mayhem for 81.5 points to place fifth, worth $6,769. Still, he’s ridden consistently each night, and it shows. He is tied for first in the average race with 594 cumulative points on seven rides. That could be a big bonus in the end, but he’s already clinched $62,321. “It’s a marathon,” said Champion, who grew up in The Woodlands, Texas, and now lives in Stevensville, Montana, with his, Paige. “You’ve got to take the good with the bad. I feel like I’ve done a good job of placing on horses that normally don’t get placed on, taking advantage when they give me a chance. “The last two nights were a little bit of a lull, but I feel like I was riding good through those two rides, so I just tried to focus on that.” He’s got three more nights remaining in his 2020 campaign to see where it all takes him. If he remains at or near the top of the aggregate race, then he’s looking at a substantial bonus when the NFR ends Saturday night. “Three rounds are a long time,” he said. “My goal tonight was to just stay focused, don’t worry about the average, don’t worry about the world standings. I wanted to win some money, and we did that.” After the third cowboy to ride Wednesday night, Champion knew his chances of winning the round had been diminished. Canadian Orin Larsen scored 90 points on a Calgary Stampede bucking horse named Yippee Kibitz to win the round. After seeing that ride happen knew he and Mayhem had a big uphill climb. It was Mayhem’s second trip at this year’s NFR; he bucked off Jake Brown in the second round last Friday. “We have to take horses back a second time, and sometimes they’re not as good the second time,” Champion said. “After I watched Orin’s ride, I looked down at Mayhem in the chute and said, ‘Let’s just do our best today.’ “That’s a great little horse. He’s ranch-raised by Bruce Sundstrom (of Big Stone Rodeo), and I’ve seen him a lot. He didn’t have his best day, but it was still fun.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – John Aus isn’t new to this bareback riding thing; he was a pretty handy cowboy about three decades ago, but he’ll be the first to say good things about his son. Tanner Aus is at the National Finals Rodeo for the fifth time in his career. John never played on a stage this big, though he was a circuit champion in his time – that’s still quite a feat. His son is now 30, and he is an annual contender for the biggest prize in the game, the Montana Silversmiths gold buckle awarded to the world champion. “He is always quick with a reminder,” Tanner Aus said of his dad, just moments after posting an 83.5-point ride on Sankey Pro Rodeo & Phenom Genetics’ Irish Eyes to finish in a tie for third place in Wednesday’s seventh round of the National Finals Rodeo. “He’s a big proponent of fundamentals, too. If I am ever struggling with something, he can pick it out in a heartbeat because it’s just something that I’m not doing. He can give me a simple reminder on those fundamentals, and it usually sticks. That’s the way we carry-on.” It’s often helpful. For his work Wednesday, Aus pocketed $13,327 and pushed his NFR earnings to $67,750. He is third in the world standings with $129,476 and is a contender for the world title with three nights remaining in the 2020 season. Irish Eyes was just the right horse to get him back to the pay window for just the third time, but he’s making big money each time he places. “Some pens of horses are more fun than others,” he said. “The thing that carries a guy through is your fundamentals. The tougher the horse, the closer you’ve got to stick to those fundamentals. It’s not always pretty, but that is the way you’ve got to approach it.” He will be tested in Thursday’s eighth round, which features the second coming of the “Eliminator Pen.” He will be matched with Calgary Stampede’s Soap Bubbles, which bucked off Winn Ratliff in the third round. By definition, the eliminators are the hardest-to-ride horses in the game. He’ll utilize everything he knows about horses to master one of the nasty animals in ProRodeo. “You’ve got to keep your composure, especially when you’re in the chute,” Aus said. “If you’re calm, the horse is typically going to be calm. We know these horses good enough. If you don’t know what it is, you can ask somebody else, and they can tell you what your horse is going to be like in the chute, in the arena and what they’re going to feel like.” Any advantage a competitor can get can be helpful, especially when the foe is a 1,200-pound bucking beast.

ARLINGTON, Texas – It’s taken three nights for Jess Pope to find his way back to the pay window at the National Finals Rodeo. It’s part of being one of the 15 best bareback riders in rodeo; there are 14 other guys chasing those same dollars, and everyone is riding like it. “I feel like I’m riding better than I ever have,” said Pope, 22, of Waverly, Kansas. “I’m just not worried about the money too much. I’m riding bucking horses and living the dream. When you go to focusing on the money, it’s going to affect your riding. I’m just taking care of my job. “They pay me to ride them. They don’t pay me to write the scores down. I’m really happy with how my finals is going. I’m riding very consistent, strong, and I’m ready for these last three just to see how it pans out.” On Wednesday night, he rode Beutler & Son Rodeo’s Bar Talk for 83.5 points to finish in a tie for third place in the seventh go-round. It was worth $13,327 and pushed his NFR earnings to $56,186. He now sits 10th in the world standings with $105,798, but there’s a kicker: He’s third in the average race with 592 cumulative points on seven rides. Should he remain in that position through the final night, he’ll add a bonus of $43,154 to his NFR paycheck. He just needs to stay as consistent as he has been to collect the money in the average. If he keeps matching up against animals of Bar Talk’s caliber. “I’ve seen that horse go quite a bit,” he said, noting that he hadn’t been on that particular Bennie Beutler bronc. “All of Bennie’s horses buck, but they ride good. I was excited to see my name beside him. Tim (O’Connell) won Burwell (Nebraska) on him two years ago, and I saw Blaine Kaufman win Burwell on him this year.” Beutler horses are well known for how hard they buck, but that doesn’t seem to bother the Kansas cowboy. “They’re up and down, but they’re bucking horses,” Pope said. “You just bury your chin, keep your shoulders back and let them hit you in the back (with their rumps as they buck). As long as you’re hitting them back, it’s fine. “I like getting on those horses. It was a good horse, and it felt good for me.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – No matter what happened during the first six nights of the National Finals Rodeo, Tanner Brunner kept his head in the game. There were three nights when his time was too long for him to cash in. He also suffered a broken barrier, which added a 10-second penalty to an otherwise solid run, and he had two no-times. Each night, though, he’d erase his memory of them and focus on the tasks at hand. It paid off, and he stopped the clock in 3.8 seconds Wednesday night to finish third in the seventh go-round. That was worth $15,654 and was his first paycheck of this year’s finale. “It can be trying at times,” said Brunner of Ramona, Kansas. “You just have to stay consistent, believe in the system, that you belong here and you have done the work and everything necessary to win. You’ve worked all year and past years to get here, and you belong here. “I had a great steer tonight and was glad to manage that and use him.” Times have been fast at this NFR. There were eight men who posted runs of 4.0 seconds or faster, and they all earned money – three cowboys finished in a tie for sixth place to extend the payout a bit, but those three pocketed less than 10 percent of Brunner’s nightly wage. But Brunner hasn’t always had the best opportunities. He had to take some chanced with less-than-ideal cattle, and he took the consequences that came with it. “That’s rodeo,” he said, referring to how cowboys are matched with their animals by random draw. “When it’s your turn, you will get a good one. You just have to stay ready. When it’s your turn, you need to capitalize on it.” Brunner pushed his season earnings to $72,539 and sits 13th in the world standings, but that also is a testament to how tough the competition has been. He has just three more nights to add to his bank account. “You’ve got the best bulldoggers in the world here,” Brunner said. “The stock is great. We’ve got all the atmosphere and everything. It just turned out to be a good bulldogging tonight. And he was right in the middle of it.

ARLINGTON, Texas – On the eve of Canada Night at the National Finals Rodeo, bareback rider Orin Larsen and a Calgary Stampede bucking horse decided to celebrate early. “I’ve been on that horse in 2018 in the short round of Pendleton (Oregon), and I actually ended up winning Pendleton on him,” said Larsen, who rode Yippee Kibitz for 90 points to win Wednesday’s seventh go-round. “All these Calgary horses have had all this time off with no rodeos up in Canada. They are fresh, and they are all really wanting to do their job. “I knew when I had a Calgary horse by my name that I definitely had a shot.” Yes, he did, and he still needs it. Larsen entered this year’s championship No. 3 in the standings, but after missing the pay window for the first five rounds, he dropped as low as ninth. After making good in Rounds 6 and 7, the Inglis, Manitoba, cowboy has shot back up to fifth with $128,622. In just two nights’ work, he has pocketed $37,231 at the NFR. “I’m just happy to get a check at this point,” he said, showcasing a wide grin that indicated as much. “I take full responsibility on the calls I’ve made. We all took great horses to the NFR, and everybody is riding outstanding. To say it has come down to a drawing contest at the NFR is unheard of, but that’s what it’s come down to. “They are great horses, but everyone is just riding good.” On Wednesday, nobody rode better than Larsen, who now lives in Gering, Nebraska. He and the other 118 contestants are competing at Globe Life Field – home of the Texas Rangers baseball team – for the first time because the global pandemic forced the event to move away from Las Vegas this year. That’s an adjustment for everyone, including the bucking horses. “I think it’s affecting a lot of horses this year,” said Larsen, who earned $26,231 for his round victory. “Compared to smaller rodeos and smaller arenas, a lot of these horses are never in and out of your kind of Globe Life Field, which is just gigantic. It will play on a horse. “Those older horses that buck and are really good … they will do their job every time, but the younger horses that don’t quite have it figured out, well, it might toy on them. It didn’t bother Yippee Kibitz.” It’s showing in the scores. Wednesday’s featured fairly low totals for a typical NFR. Most years, it takes at least 85 points to earn a check in bareback riding; two Utah cowboys, Mason Clements and Kaycee Feild, finished tied for sixth place with 80.5-point rides, while an 85.5 from Winn Ratliff was second. Through his trials and tribulations and a delayed kickstart to his NFR, Larsen has maintained a positive outlook. “This is still the NFR,” he said. “We are getting on great horses with your pals for good money, and that’s pretty hard to beat. I’m still having fun. This makes it a little more special and enjoyable.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – The competition featured at the National Finals Rodeo brings out the greatest from the elite field of contestants. That’s especially true in steer wrestling, where most of the field of 15 cowboys still has a chance to win the 2020 world championship. Each dollar makes a difference, but so does each run. Bridger Anderson of Carrington, North Dakota, is making every run count. “We’re super excited for how we’ve been doing,” said Anderson, who bulldogged his steer to the ground in 3.7 seconds to finish in a tie for fourth place in Tuesday’s fourth go-round. “We haven’t got caught up in the world standings or the average, but the world championship race is definitely on my mind.” It should be. With his run, Anderson added $8,885 and pushed his NFR earnings to $60,558 and is fifth in the world standings with $104,434, less than $22,000 behind the leader, Texan Matt Reeves. While that may seem like a big sum, he can make up that ground in one night – go-round winners pocket $26,231 each night. “We just need to be smooth and do our job,” Anderson said. “As long as we’re doing our job, we’ll let the rest of it play out.” He sits third in the NFR average race with a cumulative time of 27.2 seconds on six runs. Should he remain in that spot through the end, he would collect a bonus of $43,154. Of course, he’d like to move up that list; the contestant with the best aggregate score when the 10th round is complete will add $67,269. That could make all the difference in who claims the Montana Silversmiths gold buckle. Anderson has been solid. He earned a share of the second-round victory, then placed again the following night. In rounds he hasn’t cashed in, he’s still maintained a solid standing. “It’s been good, but we had a few things we had to get around,” he said. “We drew a steer we didn’t necessarily like, but we got him laid down. We’ve missed the barrier, and that set us back in the round a bit. We had a good one (Tuesday). I got close to the barrier. It was a tough round. I’m happy to be amongst the money-earners in a really good pen of steers like that.” Anderson split fourth place with South Dakotan Jace Melvin, and the two have a bit of history. During the final two months of the 2020 regular season, Anderson traveled with Melvin, Cody Devers and Jule Hazen, the latter of whom is also an NFR qualifier and who also placed Tuesday; Hazen was 3.6 to finish third. “It was really awesome that we were all having some luck,” he said, noting that Northwestern Oklahoma State University alumnus Jacob Edler shared the round victory with Stetson Jorgensen with a lightning-fast 3.3-second run. “I was really pumped for ‘Eddy’ and Stetson. Eddy and I have been practicing together. It’s also neat that all four (NFR) rookies got a go-round buckle this week.” In fact, no cowboy has won more than one go-round through six nights of competition. In all, 11 men have earned at least a share of a go-round victory. “The bulldogging is definitely tight this year, and almost everyone is getting a piece of it and everyone is in the race,” Anderson said. “The steers are good and the barrier’s fast. There’s a lot of things happening, and it looks to be a fight to the finish. There are so many contenders for the world title right now that it’s crazy. “We’ll see how we get separated over the final four nights, but it really looks like it’s gong to be a tight race.” That makes it fun for the fans and the contestants alike. When he’s not bulldogging, he is watching it. He celebrates the good runs anyone makes, but that’s one of the things that makes rodeo different than other professional sports: The comradery between the combatants is next to none, especially in steer wrestling, where riding someone else’s horse is the norm. In Anderson’s case, he’s got a pretty solid mount in Whiskers, which guided him to the national championship at the 2019 College National Finals Rodeo and also got him to his first NFR. “Whiskers likes a straight by,” he said, explaining that his equine partner prefers to take a direct shot at the steer. “If I’m not doing my jobs, he’ll sometimes let me know. For the most part, he lets me get away with a lot. His pattern is right up the steer’s back. He keeps everything in control He makes my job pretty easy. All I have to do is drop down there. It makes the situation a lot more controlled. “Stockton (Graves) is also doing a great job of hazing, and he’s putting everything into my wheelhouse. Between Whiskers underneath me and Stockton beside me, I’m kind of set up.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – Like all elite athletes, there are some bucking horses that expel all their energy the first time they perform. At the National Finals Rodeo, most are bucked twice over the 10-day championship, and they may not be quite as special on their second time out of the chutes. Bareback rider Tim O’Connell knew that was a possibility with J Bar J Rodeo’s Blessed Assurance, who guided Richmond Champion to the first-round win last Thursday. “She was pretty stinking good for her second trip in five days with Richie being on her and me being on her,” said O’Connell, who marked 85.5 points to finish in a tie for fifth place in Tuesday’s sixth go-round. “I feel like I got everything out of her I could.” He did, and he collected $5,500 in the process. He pushed his NFR earnings to $68,526 and still leads the world standings with $191,453. It all comes down to being a cowboy. “I think you have to have a little bit of horsemanship knowing what a horse is going to do and adjusting how you spur,” he said. “You can show these horses. If you (spur) these horses too hard, they can give up. You can’t have them give up and give a point away a round. One point separated me from $5,500 to $18,000. “You’ve got to help them be the best they can be.” It’s paying off, and he has four days left in the 2020 ProRodeo season to cash in on his fourth world championship in five years. He holds a lead of just less than $20,000 over the No. 2 man, four-time world champion Kaycee Feild. “I do think about the average, and I look at it,” said O’Connell, who won the average three times (2016-18), the same years he won Montana Silversmiths gold buckles. “The way I see it, if you don’t know where you’re at and what you’re doing, you’re probably not in a world title race. That’s my mindset. “I look at the average; I look at the standings. I look at my horses, and I’m strategic about how I do this. When I was nine points back in the average coming into Round 4, you know you’re going to have to do something.” He did. He won the fourth round and has placed in the two rounds since. He’s also doing it with a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder, which occurred in the first go-round. Though he doesn’t feel pain when he rides, he makes sure to go through the Justin Sportsmedicine team to ensure his free arm works as well as possible when it’s time. “Those guys are taking care of me,” said O’Connell of Zwingle, Iowa, now living in Marshall, Missouri. “Once the 10th round is over, then we’ll move on. As of right now, I’ve only thought of the here and now.” A big reason is because of massage therapist Benny Vaughn, who helped O’Connell rehabilitate his riding-arm shoulder after surgery nearly two years ago. “Benny has come over and ends up being in with the sports medicine team, so I see him every day,” O’Connell said. “I call him my ‘Magic Man.’ We’ve got a team of three that works on me. I can’t express enough how important the Justin Sports Medicine team is.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – The proverbial monkey that was on Jace Melvin’s back has left Globe Life Arena, and the South Dakota steer wrestler now living in Stephenville, Texas, is having a ball at this year’s National Finals Rodeo. Being a first-timer on ProRodeo’s grandest stage can be a big nerve-wracking, even if the contestants don’t want to admit it. The change in Melvin’s approach actually came after a penalty-induced run in Sunday’s fourth round. “When I broke the barrier and was 3.3, that changed everything,” he said, noting that the broken barrier for not allowing the steer the appropriate head start provided a 10-second penalty, making his overall time 13.3. “I was like, ‘I can do this; just take the start.’ “I was trying too hard possibly. After (Monday) night, I realized I just need to go bulldog.” Melvin won Monday’s fifth round, then followed it Tuesday with a 3.7-second run, which was good enough to tie for fourth place, worth $8,885. He tied with Bridger Anderson, who spent the last two months of this season traveling with Melvin, Cody Devers and Jule Hazen, the latter of whom also made the NFR and placed Tuesday. “This was a good pen of steers,” Melvin said, noting that Dakota Eldridge finished in sixth place with a 3.8, which has won rounds. “You better bear down if you’re going to win first. I was glad to win what I did, but I had a good steer. “Honestly, I wish it was a two-header tonight. I could have run a couple. Winning that round took a little monkey off my back. I’m excited to go forward.” He even celebrated, which really wasn’t in the original game plan when he arrived. Contestants have been tested for COVID-19 before and during this NFR, and a positive test would result in a disqualification. Already, two qualifiers didn’t get to make their runs because they had positive tests before the event began. Because of that, they were replaced. “Winning the round and what we did after was a blast,” Melvin said. “We have been taking the bubble pretty serious. We let down our hair a little bit (Monday) night. I got to see Mom and Dad, my brothers-in-law and my sisters. It was a lot of fun. You only win your first round one time.” Of course, he has four rounds remaining on this season, so he hopes there may be more victory laps in his future; if not, he’d still like to walk away with as much NFR cash as he can and possibly with a Montana Silversmiths gold buckle awarded to world champions. “It’s a good bulldogging,” he said. “It’s insane to watch.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – The Wrangler National Finals Rodeo features the 100 best bucking horses and bulls in the game, but there are still some that are better than others. Out of six nights to open this year’s championship, bareback rider Tanner Aus of Granite Falls, Minnesota, has drawn toward the bottom end four times. The two times he’s had a solid chance to cash in, he’s done so in fine fashion. “That is part of rodeo,” said Aus, who matched moves with Calgary Stampede’s Zulu Warrior for 86.5 points to finish in a tie for second place in Tuesday’s sixth round, worth $18,192. “You want to draw the best one in the pen every night when you’re at the NFR, but it doesn’t work out like that. I just try to keep doing my job. “We’re having fun. This place is amazing. They have done a lot to accommodate us, and they are making it work. It has been awesome.” The NFR is taking place inside Globe Life Field, home of the Texas Rangers, instead of its typical home in Las Vegas because of the pandemic. It’s a big change, and there are safety measures in place to help keep everyone in good shape through a recent explosion of COVID-19. “We’ve been trying to be pretty careful; we want to stay healthy through the end of this deal,” said Aus, who has earned more than $54,000 in the two rounds in which he’s placed, which includes the second-round victory last Friday. “My mom, dad and my wife, my kids … we are all staying in a house we rented. “There’s a park right down there, so we can go run off a little energy. The time we’ve got to spend with my folks and my kids during this week and a half has been pretty good. It’s not Vegas wild, but that’s to be expected.” The wild times are happening in the ballpark. Having a horse like Zulu Warrior is a big part of why he had so much success. “It has been a little quiet for me, but it has been good,” Aus said. “I have been getting on good horses, and I’m healthy. Zulu Warrior is an awesome horse, and I was happy to have that. To get a check and be able to place is great, and hopefully we keep it rolling now.” He has four nights remaining on this ProRodeo season, and he hopes the right horses can help him cash in even more during this NFR, his fifth in six years. If not, the Minnesota cowboy will just keep a brilliant smile on his face and handle what comes his way “You can’t ever hang your head here; that’s the bottom line,” he said. “If there is one performance left, you’ve got a big rodeo to go to. Just keep on charging. I always say that, but it is just one horse at a time. It is just doing the same things that got you here.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – The first time Chad Rutherford rode J Bar J Rodeo’s Yum Bugs, he got just a taste of what the bucking horse could be. “I just got on her in Darby (Montana) at the Riggin’ Ralley in the first round, and she fell on me,” said Rutherford, a bareback rider from Hillsboro, Texas, making his first appearance at the National Finals Rodeo, and it just happens to be an hour from his house at Globe Life Field in Arlington. “I was still 84 points on her, even with her falling. I got on a re-ride horse, and that horse earned me a lot of money that got me here.” On Tuesday night, he and Yum Bugs matched moves for 85.5 points to finish in a tie for fifth place, worth $5,500. “I figured if I got her picked up today,” he said, referring to a spurring procedure that helps a horse buck a little harder, “she would be outstanding, and she was. “Both times I’ve been on her, she has been outstanding, and that’s all you can really say about her. She gets a lot of air underneath her, a lot of kick and a lot of stuff going on with her. She is real flashy and showy, and I just do what I’ve got to do.” With that, he pushed his season earnings to $77,874, with more than half coming at the NFR. He’s placed in three rounds and pocketed $40,462. Better yet, he still has four more nights to cash in. “We’re just going to go to the next jump,” Rutherford said, referring to each ride in a very specific way he handles each ride and each day. “After that, we are just going to go to the next jump after that. I’m not going to look ahead at the next few rounds, the average or any of that. I’m just looking for the next jump. That’s all that matters at this point.” His routine is quite different than most bareback riders in this field that stay in the Arlington area to spend their days before competing each night. He and his family travel home to tend to things there. “For us, we try to get to bed as soon as we can and get some rest,” he said. “As soon as the sun comes up every morning, we are heading down the road to take care of our animals in the morning, then I’m in the gym for about an hour or so, just working out some soreness from the previous night and get some blood flowing for the night coming. “This is in our back yard, so it’s an everyday deal for me, except I get on a bucking horse at the end of the day at the NFR.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – That breeze that blew through Inglis, Manitoba, was actually a huge sigh of relief from Globe Life Field in Arlington. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint,” said Orin Larsen of Inglis, who earned his first paycheck of this year’s National Finals Rodeo during Tuesday’s sixth round with an 86-point ride on The Cervi Brothers’ Ain’t No Angel for fourth place, which was worth $11,000. “I’m just trying to work my way back into contention if that’s possible. If not, then I’m just here enjoying myself. That’s all I can really do.” Larsen has had a rough start to his NFR. For whatever reason the horses underneath him haven’t performed to the optimum level, but that’s part of the game. He understands that as well as anyone, now competing in his sixth straight championship. But it doesn’t make it easy, especially with a payout this big. Go-round winners are earning $26,231 each night, and to go without anything for five straight nights can drive a competitor nearly mad. That’s just not Larsen’s style. “I think a lot of dealing with it is the power of prayer and keeping strong in my faith and knowing everything is going to be OK,” said Larsen, who now lives in Gering, Nebraska. “No matter what happens, God has a plan. This might not be my year this year, or it still might be, I don’t know, but we’ll figure that out. “My wife has kept me positive. A lot of friends and family are behind me, and I am really grateful for all them.” He knew exactly what to expect out of the Cervi horse. Ain’t No Angel has been a top bronc for many years. Mason Clements rode the powerful roan for 87 points in the opening round last Thursday. “I was wanting to get on that one,” Larsen said. “I’ve been on that one quite a few times, and I’ve always had luck on him and made money. I knew it was just a matter of time for me to draw something good, something that will work for my style. It feels good just to get a check finally, and we can only go up from here.” That’s true. Actually, the Canadian cowboy has been in this boat before. At the 2016 NFR, he suffered separated ribs and didn’t cash a check until the sixth night after he learned how to ride through the pain. The only injury this year has been to his ego, but his confidence remains high. He has been riding well and just needed a good shot to make it happen. He would like it to continue. “As far as making money, I’m not worried about it,” he said. “I still need to try like hell. Everybody is riding good, and the horses are working well. It’s going to be a grind, but it’s going to be exciting just to keep going.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – It turns out that Mabel was just the right fit for Jacob Edler to make a significant change. Garrett Henry’s 9-year-old sorrel mare replaced Ditto – the horse Edler had ridden through the first five rounds of this year’s National Finals Rodeo – in the lineup, and it was a home run Tuesday during the sixth round at Globe Life Field. Mabel guided both Edler and Stetson Jorgensen to 3.3-second runs to post the fastest times of this year’s NFR and win on Night 6 of ProRodeo’s grand championship. It was worth $23,481 to each man. “I was very fortunate,” said Edler, 26, of State Center, Iowa. “That horse, Ditto, is an amazing horse. She’s the horse the got me to my first NFR. I rode her in the first five rounds and had some success. “Throughout the week, it seemed like I was getting a little bit more separation each night from that steer. I asked Stetson right away if I could get on Mabel, because I’d had some success on her in the past. Without hesitation, he said yes.” During Monday’s fifth round, in which the Iowa cowboy placed, Ditto veered away from the steer just as Edler was about to transition to the steer. That meant he had to actually jump out of his stirrups to secure the catch. Mabel didn’t allow any space to happen for either of her cowboys, which is why they shared the spotlight Tuesday. “It obviously worked out,” said Edler, who has earned just shy of $60,000 in six nights in Arlington and pushed his season earnings to $104,472. “I got slicked up that steers back, and I was able to do my deal on the ground and win the round. It was awesome.” The proof came in his celebration. He ignited the crowd inside Globe Life Field, the temporary home of the NFR because of COVID-19 restrictions in Nevada. It was the type of dance that might make highlight reels for years to come. Edler moved up seven spots to fourth in the world standings. He’s also second in the average race with a cumulative time of 26.8 seconds on six runs. He sits just two-tenths of a second behind Jorgensen for the average title race. The top eight times in the aggregate will earn a bonus at the NFR’s conclusion, with the winner pocketing $67,269. “Winning this round is very important,” he said. “It was one of my goals to leave with at least one go-round buckle. I’ve dreamed about what that experience would feel like. That feeling never really came until it actually happened right there. That is the best feeling I’ve ever had.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – Steer wrestler Jacob Edler is quietly having a solid run at the National Finals Rodeo. He’d like to make a little more noise. Through the first five rounds, the State Center, Iowa, cowboy has placed three times and earned $35,385 at Globe life Field in Arlington. Part of that came after his 4.1-second run during Monday’s fifth go-round, where he finished fourth. That was worth $11,000. He has five nights remaining in the 2020 season, and he’d like to add to that total considerably. “I feel great with my bulldogging,” said Edler, who attended Western Oklahoma State College and Northwestern Oklahoma State University on rodeo scholarships. “I feel really good about the starts I’m getting, but it seems like the mare I’m riding is starting not to find cattle. I’m going to make a horse change.” That begins Tuesday. He will mount Mabel, a 9-year-old sorrel mare owned by fellow bulldogger Garrett Henry. Fellow NFR competitor Stetson Jorgensen has been riding the red rocket and has earned nearly $50,000. Jorgensen also leads the aggregate race with a cumulative time of 23.3 seconds on five runs. It’s a solid move for Edler, who finished as the runner-up to his national champion teammate, J.D. Struxness, at the 2016 College National Finals Rodeo while competing for Northwestern. He is tied for second place in the average with Bridger Anderson, a senior at the Alva, Oklahoma, university. “I just need to be a little tighter to the steer,” Edler said. “It seems I’ve been jumping at steers the past few days. I know a guy doesn’t want to think about the average right now, but I’m dang sure going to have the mentality to go after the go-rounds. I also want to have no doubts that I’m able to get my hands on all five of the steers I have left.” Monday’s paycheck was his biggest so far, but in terms of the NFR payout, he’s nickel-and-diming his way toward the top. Go-round winners pocket $26,231 each night, and rodeo is all about crowning the champions with the biggest bank account; dollars equal points, and the contestants with the most money won at the conclusion of the season will earn the Montana Silversmiths gold buckles. “Throughout the year, you’ve got to consistently win checks,” he said. “When there’s an opportunity to win a check, you need to do your job and consistently keep plucking your way. When go-round chances come your way, you need to take advantage. “There’s way too much money up every single night to back off and really think about the average. In bulldogging, everything starts off with the kind of start you get. I plan on blowing the barrier out every night and being fast. The average pays a lot of money, but the go-rounds do, too, and every dollar counts toward that gold buckle.” He’s in the hunt for it, along with Anderson, who has enlisted Ranger rodeo coach Stockton Graves to be his hazer. “This is all pretty neat and it’s been fun practicing with Bridger and Stockton leading up to this and getting to be around them all this week,” Edler said. “We’re going to represent Northwestern all the way through.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – This is the Tim O’Connell know about. With a somewhat hard-to-track bucking horse, the three-time world champion proved why he owns so many Montana Silversmiths gold buckles by matching move for move with Brookman Rodeo’s Famous Dex for 87 points to finish fourth in Monday’s fifth round of the National Finals Rodeo. “I figured he would throw those moves at me,” said O’Connell of Zwingle, Iowa. “I didn’t open up, because I didn’t want to expose myself too much and get into trouble. I watched it back, and it looked a lot better than it felt.” The ride earned him $11,000 and extended his lead in the world standings by $32,000 over the No. 2 man, four-time world champion Kaycee Feild. O’Connell has pocketed $63,036 through five nights of this year’s NFR, the second highest total among bareback riders. Of course, some of that comes with being a veteran of the game. This is his seventh straight NFR. He took a solid game plan into his fifth-round ride, and it paid off. By staying close to the vest and not exposing himself, O’Connell allowed the horse and the spur ride to be solid. “I didn’t know where the next jump was going to be with him,” he said. “I thought he was going to turn back just by the way he felt, but he never did. This was way better than when I him in Deadwood (South Dakota). “I feel like I made a good, aggressive ride. I don’t normally get to mad at myself for making mistakes, but I made one mistake in the end. I tell my traveling partners to never get mad about spurring over one’s neck, because you’re being aggressive. For everything that was going on in that ride, when you have a horse like that and you’re trying to make the best ride you can, making that kind of a mistake is understandable. For me to make only one mistake and it was at the end of the ride, I’m super pleased with that.” He should be. He’s also sitting second in the average race with 427.5 cumulative points on five rides. He’s won the NFR average three times – the same three years he won world titles in 2016-18 – and finished second last year. The aggregate champion will earn $67,269 when Saturday’s 10th round concludes; second place is worth $54,577. He will have another shot to cash in and increase his average chances Tuesday night, where he will be matched with J Bar J Rodeo’s Blessed Assurance, the horse that led Richmond Champion to the first-round victory last Thursday. “I’m really excited,” O’Connell said. “I’ve been wanting to get on that horse for a long time. She’s a veteran, I’m a veteran; it’s just time.” Yes, it is.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Chad Rutherford had a bit of history with Frontier Rodeo’s Gun Fire, a powerful horse that’s been prolific for high scores and wild buckoffs. In July, Rutherford and Gun Fire matched together for 90.5 points to win the Cody (Wyoming) Stampede, one of the many rodeos that helped propel the Hillsboro, Texas, cowboy to his first appearance to the National Finals Rodeo. It seems to be a match made in rodeo heaven. The two joined together again Monday for another magical score, as Rutherford scored 88 points to finish second in Monday’s fifth round of the NFR.  It was worth $20,731 and pushed his earnings to $72,374 for the year, nearly $35,000 of which has come over the opening five nights of ProRodeo’s grand championship. “I was just tickled to death when I saw I had him again,” he said. “That’s a strong, great bucking horse. I had this bad habit that whenever I get on a horse that I’ve been on before and done really well on, I relax and don’t do quite what I should or I don’t ride them as strong as I should or as I did the first time. “All I thought today was, ‘Bucker, bucker, bucker.’ Right before I was nodding my head, I was thinking the same thing. He was exactly what I imagined him to be in my head. The ride went exactly how I imagined it, too.” It doesn’t take much imagination when he stairs down the powerful body of one of the best horses in the game. In 2020, the horse from Oklahoma-based Frontier Rodeo was named one of the top five bareback horses in the game. “I like to think of my riding style as aggressive,” Rutherford said. “When I start to feel my feet come back (to the rigging), all I can think about is sending my feet back as hard as I possibly can. On a horse like that, it is exactly what you want to do, because if you don’t, they may get away from you.” This was just his second paycheck of the week so far. He failed to finish among the top six in the second, third and fourth rounds, and was treated quite harshly by Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s San Angelo Sam during his 66.5-point ride in Saturday’s third round. He hasn’t let it bother him, because he understands that’s part of the game. “I’ve become a stronger Christian this year than I ever have in my life,” he said. “This year weas just a great testament to what my life has been like. When I’ve had a weakness or an outcome that has been slightly less than desirable, all I’ve got to think about is the great opportunities God has given me. “I just want to give it to Him and trust that God will be my vindicator for the rest.” With faith like that, Rutherford knows he has five more nights of opportunities.

ARLINGTON, Texas – The burn has been slow, but things are starting to heat up for tie-down roper Ryan Jarrett. The Georgia-born cowboy had missed paychecks in each of the first three rounds of this year’s Wrangler National Finals Rodeo at Globe Life Field in Arlington, but he’s starting to find his place. On Monday night, he put together his best run of the week, stopping the clock in 8.2 seconds. With that, he finished third in the fifth round and pocketed $15,654 in the process. He also placed the night before, with an 8.4-second run that pushed him into a tie for fifth place on the night. Through five nights at this year’s championship, he has earned $31,154. “You kind of have to get in the groove, and I’m not ever known to get with the groove right off the bat,” said Jarrett, a 13-time NFR qualifier from Comanche, Oklahoma. “There’s a lot of prize money left. We are going to chip away and get some of it and take it back to Comanche.” In fact, he and his family – wife Shy-Anne and daughter Junree – make the 280-mile round trip home every night for the 10-round championship. It allows him the opportunity to take care of business and sleep in his own bed. “The first couple of nights, I stayed because we were preparing calves the following morning,” he said. “The last few nights, I have gone home; I can get a half day’s work done in the mornings before I come back down, so there’s no need wasting it.” Sometimes being a rodeo cowboy means taking care of cowboy things at home, even while competing at ProRodeo’s grand finale. Each night he arrives in Arlington, his mind is on his business. “The run still didn’t go as good as I wanted,” said Jarrett, the 2005 all-around world champion. “It just kind of worked out. It wasn’t a flawless run. I think my horse needs to work a little better. I need to get a little closer so I can handle my slack a little better to be faster.” His horse is Snoopy, a solid sorrel Jarrett has ridden the last few years. Each night after the rodeo, he drops Snoopy off at Outlaw Equine in nearby Decatur, Texas, and allows the horse to get a little treatment before returning to action the next night. “When we get him here, he’s got his game face on,” he said. “To me, it has been a little easier getting to go home, thinking about something else. Whereas in Vegas, there’s nothing else to think about but rodeo. You go home and refresh, rejuvenate and be ready to win something the following night.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – Bret Franks is a three-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier who coached Wyatt Casper to Clarendon (Texas) College’s first national championship when Casper won the saddle bronc riding title in 2016. Even after graduating, Casper is still receiving lessons from Franks, and they’re just a little part of the mix in the younger cowboy’s success in ProRodeo. Sitting No. 1 in the world standings, Casper rode Korkow Rodeos’ Onion Ring for 90.5 points to win Monday’s fifth round of the NFR at Globe Life Field. “After last night, I really needed today,” said Casper, who was bucked off Bar T Rodeo’s Lady Vain on Sunday. “Onion Ring is an incredible horse. I got on him earlier this year at The American and it pretty well felt exactly like he did today. He takes the perfect amount of rein. He goes out there, he is honest and he bucks hard. He just gives you all the time to spur him. “He’s an awesome horse.” It’s his first round title at his first NFR, and he pushed his season earnings to $233,830, nearly $89,000 of which has come over the last five nights. His ride Monday was worth $26,231. Bigger yet, the No. 2 man in the standings, Utah cowboy Ryder Wright, finished out of the money, so Casper extended his lead to nearly $39,000. How big are the stakes for Casper? Because he bucked off Sunday, he sits fifth in the average race with 352 points on four rides; if he stays in that spot through the final five nights of the NFR, he will earn a $22,846 bonus. Wright, who is No. 1 in the average, would pocket $67,269 for winning the aggregate title. That’s actually about the same amount of money Franks won the entire 2000 season. The money in ProRodeo has changed dramatically, for the betterment of the contestants that make a living in this game. “Bret texted me the other day after I got on Miss Valley (Friday),” Casper said of Franks. “He said, ‘Make sure you’re getting a little quicker on your markout on your next one.’ “I was a little late getting to her, and it worked out, but it was just by a hair.” Globe Life Field is the new home to the Texas Rangers and it has a retractable crown that can allow for natural air to flow in on nice days. The powers that be may need to open it, though, if things keep going Casper’s way. “My confidence is through the roof,” he said. “Everything feels really good. We’re just hoping we draw really good horses and keep that confidence up.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – Maybe Jace Melvin has found the secret to his success. On the eve of this year’s National Finals Rodeo, the Stephenville, Texas, steer wrestler originally from Fort Pierre, South Dakota, slept in his own bed. He got up the next morning and practiced at home before making the commute to Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. He placed in the opening round. Since then, he just missed out on the money in Round 2, then struggled in Rounds 3-4. He went back home Sunday night, then hit the practice pen Monday morning. Again, it paid off, but even better this time with a 3.9-second run to earn a share of the fifth-round title at Globe Life Field. “I’m super excited,” said Melvin, who split the round with Texan Matt Reeves. “I drew good. That’s the key part of doing good is drawing right. I drew a great steer, took my start and got a great start tonight. “I’m happy to win anything but real happy to win first.” With that, he pocketed $23,481 and pushed his NFR earnings to $37,712. More importantly, it’s a good way to kick off the final six nights of the 2020 ProRodeo season. “Today was just a great day, and I felt really good,” he said. “I was a little bit more relaxed tonight. I broke a couple of barriers, and I think I was a little worked up about that. I just let it go today. I’ve just got to have fun take the start and live with it. You’re either on the right side or the wrong side of it, but that’s all right.” A key part of being a competitor is letting go of failures. They come with playing a game, especially one as rugged as this one. Throughout the season, big wins are oftentimes followed by runs that don’t work out. There’s typically no time to stew about it; the next run is not far away. “I feel like I got back to that today,” Melvin said. “Everywhere you go, you have to take a starat, and there’s not room for error. I think I was overthinking it the first few rounds. I just need to try to be relaxed and have fun. I went in there and took the start, and it worked out great. I set up my run, and it allowed me to win something.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – In a match-ups of world champions, they both came out on top. Reigning bareback riding titlist Clayton Biglow put together a powerful section of spur licks on Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Top Flight, the 2020 Bareback Horse of the Year, for 89 points to win Sunday’s fifth round of the National Finals Rodeo. “She has a couple different trips, but tonight she felt like a Cadillac,” said Biglow, 24, of Clements, California. “I’m shooting for go-rounds and top money every night. Placing would be good, too, but I’m wanting to win every night. The first half of the rodeo was a little shaky, but we’re getting to the second half. “I guess you can call me a second-half guy.” A year ago, he placed in the first and third rounds, while missing the mark in Round 2 and 4. He won at least a share of five round titles over the final six nights of the season. He ended the campaign with an NFR earnings record. Whatever the case, he added $26,231 to his bank account and has pushed his NFR earnings to $58,442. He is now in third place in the world standings with $129,415. And, of course, he was able to take a victory lap inside Globe Life Field for the first time. “It is different than the Thomas & Mack,” Biglow said, referring to the Las Vegas arena that is the permanent home of the NFR. “Winning first is awesome every time. I hate to lose. I’m a terrible loser. It doesn’t matter where we are at; I want to win first.” Top Flight has been one of the top horses for the past decade. The fifth and 10th rounds feature the greatest bucking animals that year, and the electric bay athlete has been part of that field every year. “That’s the fourth time I’ve been on her,” Biglow said. “She is a great horse. She’s 16 now, and she’s had a great career. She’s got to have more money won on her back than any other horse here. She’s not the rank-pen kind of horse. “She is so consistent; they are dang near 90 points every time she is out. I told Cullin (Pickett), ‘When you retire her, I want her, but I don’t think that’s going to happen.’ ” Top Flight is one of 27 horses at this year’s NFR genetics from the great Night Jacket. In fact, two of her own colts were part of Sunday’s go-round, meaning they, too, are considered one of the greatest of 2020. “Cullen said there are some Top Flight babies that are coming up, and they are wicked,” he said. When champions are matched together, great things happen. Since has virtually no chance to win big money in the average race, he knows how important it is to continue riding this hot streak. “My job now is to put the best spur ride together and go for go-rounds,” Biglow said. “I mean business when I showed up, and I am really mad. If you don’t get rid of it off your shoulders, it’s just going to be a long week. I’m shooting for the second half.” That’s what second-half guys do.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Most of the time, roller coasters are more fun when the highs are matched with the lows. That’s not the case with reigning bareback riding world champion Clayton Biglow. Twelve months ago, he was riding the highest of highs at the National Finals Rodeo, which culminated in his first Montana Silversmiths gold buckle and a rodeo-best $243,891 in earnings over 10 days of ProRodeo’s premier event. “I like it way better when the roller coaster is going up,” Biglow said with a smile Sunday after riding Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Night Star for 86.5 points to finish in a tie for third place in the fifth round, worth $13,327. It was just his second paycheck so far at Globe Life Field in Arlington. He bucked off Sankey’s Prairie Rose in the second round, then was manhandled Stace Smith Pro Rodeo’s Mr. Harry on Saturday night, scoring just 68 points. “You’ve just got to brush it off your shoulder and forget about it,” he said. “That ride tonight feels good. I got a lot of confidence off that, and I’m ready for more.” After two rank rounds of bucking horses, the cowboys were offered the opportunity to show off a bit. The “hoppers,” as they’re called, are the easiest-to-ride horses at the NFR. The degree of difficulty isn’t quite as extreme as the “eliminator pen,” which is featured in Rounds 3 and 8. That’s where Night Star comes in. “I really didn’t know a whole lot about him, but it’s a Pickett horse,” Biglow said. “Whenever you draw a Pickett horse, you’ve got to be happy.” Just a few days shy of his 25th birthday, the Clements, California, cowboy is still a young gun, but this year’s field of NFR bareback riders features five first-timers. It’s a bright spot in the most rugged events in rodeo. “Those guys are wicked, and they’ve got one heck of a future in front of them,” he said. “I’m gad to be part of them, and I’m glad to be riding against them.” One of the keys to Biglow’s success at the 2019 NFR was establishing an earnings record and shattering the record for the best 10-ride cumulative score with 886.5 points. With a no-score and a low score on the board, he won’t be able to repeat as the average champion, but he knows there are still opportunities to cash in. “It’s a pressure that you don’t want off, but the pressure is off,” Biglow said. “Now, we are just going for go-rounds, and there is no holding back. Like I did (Sunday), it is, ‘Just have fun and make the best spur ride you can.’ “It’s going to be a spurring contest for me. I’m going for every point I can get. I’ve had hell the last three rounds. I had some equipment malfunctions for the last three rounds, and I switched back to my old rigging. It feels way better. I’ve got some confidence in my hand and in my equipment.” It showed Sunday night.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Tim O’Connell knew the 2020 National Finals Rodeo was going to be a battle. Tough bucking horses and 15 great bareback riders are part of the show, and that means every jump out of the chute can be big time for just about anybody. After faltering a bit in the third round, the three-time world champion rebounded with a 90.5-point ride on Fettig Pro Rodeo’s Pop A Top to win Sunday’s Round 5. “(Saturday) night wasn’t near what I wanted to do,” said O’Connell, 29, of Zwingle, Iowa. “I had a great horse underneath me (Sunday). It gave me an opportunity to show off and show out, and that’s exactly what I wanted. We’re in this thing. “I’ve had this No. 1 spot in the world all year, and I don’t ever plan to give it up.” He entered the NFR atop the world standings, but four-time world champion Kaycee Feild had gained ground after Round 3 – Feild pulled to within $1,900 prior to Sunday’s round. By collecting the $26,231 first-place payout, O’Connell extended his lead. There are six rounds remaining to decide this year’s world championship. “Kaycee and I are going to have a slugfest, but he’s not the only one in this thing,” said O’Connell, the 2015 national champion bareback riding champion at Missouri Valley College who earned world titles in 2016-18. “There are a lot of guys in this, and people forget it. There are four or five guys that are real players in tis race, and we’re not even to the halfway point. “I feel confident in my riding; I feel confident in my mind. I’ve got my joy back riding bucking horses, and we’re ready to roll.” It helped to have a horse like Pop A Top, one of the few horses that are at the NFR that O’Connell hasn’t ridden. “I knew he was going to be a shot, especially when I saw him,” he said. “He’s a really built, thicker stud with a shorter back and a little bit smaller. I’d seen him buck, and he’s so electric. He really gave it to me that first jump out of the chute. He fed it right back to me, and I fed it right back to him. “After about that second spur stroke, I knew he was going to take the spur stroke I was going to put to him, so I just let it go after that.” It was a veteran move, but it’s also why O’Connell is on track for his fourth Montana Silversmiths gold buckle.

ARLINGTON, Texas – Jess Pope was just glad to show off a little. He’s on the biggest stage in rodeo, and Sunday’s group of horses allowed the bareback riders to show every bit of their ability. Pope rode Three Hills Rodeo’s Devil’s Advocate for 85 points to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place in the fourth round of the National Finals Rodeo. “I’ve been on him twice now,” said Pope, 22, of Waverly, Kansas, a senior at Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Missouri. “I won a round on him at the (Great Lakes) Circuit Finals. I got on her in Carson, Iowa, this summer, and she fell down on me; it was a bad deal. I got on a re-ride, but I really like that horse. “She’s just a good one to get on. I’m excited to see her by my name every time it is.” He may be a newcomer to the NFR, but he doesn’t look like it. Pope earned $3,667 for his Sunday finish, pushing his NFR earnings to nearly $43,000. He sits eighth in the world standings with $92,471. “(Saturday) night with those eliminators, you’ve got to stay close” to the horse during the spur stroke, he said. “With these horses, they don’t have the drop (out of the air), and they aren’t going to whack you in the back nearly as hard. You can really expose yourself and let it all air out. They are just the fun ones to get on. Everybody just loves getting on those horses.” Pope also got a bonus, with traveling partner and three-time world champion Tim O’Connell winning the fourth round. Between them, they added nearly $30,000 to the “rig.” “Our goal is to come in here and one-two this deal every night, whether it be me or him,” Pope said. “Both of us won money, and I’m super happy for him. He has been struggling a little bit, and I’m happy to see him get that round win. Now I can watch him take that back over and get that confidence in him, because he is a bad son-of-a-buck.” Pope has been receiving quite the rodeo education. He’s studying communication, but he’s learning just as much about the business of riding bucking horses. Of course, nodding his head alongside the greatest bareback riders in the game provides the perfect classroom. “Everybody here rides just as good as everybody else,” he said. “When you’ve got the best horses paired up against everybody, it is a pure riding contest and a bit of a drawing contest. You’ve got to be able to draw the right ones to be able to place, but you’ve got to do your part and ride the best. Everybody is really good. It is pretty tough, honestly. “It is awesome. It’s a fight every time you get on. That’s the way it should be.”

ARLINGTON, Texas – Richmond Champion has a pretty nice history of collecting cash in north Texas. Raised in The Woodlands, Texas, and educated at Tarleton State University in nearby Stephenville, Texas, he was the first bareback riding champion at The American in 2014, worth $100,000; as the only qualifier to win, he earned the $1 million side pot. He keeps adding Arlington money during the 2020 National Finals Rodeo. On Sunday night, he matched moves with Wayne Vold Rodeo’s True Grit for 85 points to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place in the fourth go-round. “That is a great little horse out of one of my father-in-law’s studs back in the day,” said Champion of Stevensville, Montana. “He raised her, then another guy bought her, then ended up owning her and selling her to Wayne. “I won Stathmore (Alberta) on her twice. I’ve been on her one other time in Canada, and it went really well. I was looking forward to it all day.” His wife is the former Paige Lawrence, a retired Olympic figure skater from Saskatchewan whose father is a Canadian stock contractor. That’s just another reason why having the opportunity to ride True Grit at the NFR was special. Through four nights of ProRodeo’s grand finale, Champion has placed three times and earned $55,551. He has increased his season earnings to $119,700 and sits fourth in the world standings with six nights remaining in the season. Of course, he added just $3,667 Sunday night by finishing with the same score as two newcomers, Jess Pope and Cole Reiner. It was a close race to the finish, with five of the top seven scores being within a point and a half of each other. “We do our best job to pick even horses,” Champion said, referring to the process of selecting the top 100 horses to perform at the NFR, then breaking them down into five pens to make for the most even matches possible. “We put them together and give guys an even shot. The guys did their jobs, and the judges have to decipher, within a half point sometimes. “It’s all good stuff, and we got some money won. As long as you’re winning money here, it’s good.” Sunday’s group of horses was set to allow a bit of a break for the cowboys after facing the toughest-to-ride horses in the game Saturday. Now the bareback riders will face the most electric horses in rodeo for Monday’s fifth round. “That’s our TV pen, so let’s do it,” Champion said. “There’s not a bad one in there. The part that gets me is that we’re almost already halfway done, and I feel like we just got here. It doesn’t matter where you are – in Las Vegas or in Arlington – the NFR just flies by.”