Monthly Archives: December 2021

LAS VEGAS – Not everyone clocks in to work the way Jess Pope does. Most blue-collar workers punch a time clock, labor for eight hours and collect a paycheck at the end of the week. Pope rides bucking horses, and he takes his job seriously. He’s competing this week at the National Finals Rodeo as one of the elite bareback riders in ProRodeo, and he’s doing very well. Pope has placed in six of the first seven rounds, including three go-round wins. He is No. 1 in the seven-ride aggregate with a cumulative score of 615 points, and he’s pocketed just shy of $130,000. That’s a heck of a payday for a week of work in the Nevada desert. “There are 15 guys here that ride bucking horses outstanding,” said Pope of Waverly, Kansas. “My job is to show up every day and take it one at a time. That’s what I’ve done. It’s a separate rodeo all 10 nights. Tomorrow I’ll show up for one, and once it’s over, it’s over. I’m excited to see what the rest of the week is going to bring and see what happens.” What has happened so far has been magnificent. On Wednesday night, he rode J Bar J’s All Pink for 88.5 points to win the seventh round and collect $26,997. He has pushed his 2021 annual salary to $239,913 and is second in the world standings. He trails the leader, five-time champ Kaycee Feild, by just $11,550. “I was really excited to have that horse,” Pope said. “She used to be a TV-penner, so I knew she was going to be really good for this round. I was tickled pink to have her.” The “TV Pen” features the most electric bucking horses in rodeo, and it’s dubbed that way because of how the NFR was broadcast years ago – it was only shown during the 10th round. The TV Pen bucks in the fifth and 10th rounds still. “These horses were the buckers,” he said. “Our pens are so close together, and they dang sure buck. There are a couple in there you can consider eliminators. Our TV Pen is pretty much buckers that get a little more up in the air.” Pope won the aggregate title a year ago during the championship’s one year in Arlington, Texas, because of COVID restrictions in Nevada. While he’s a two-time qualifier, this is his first venture to the NFR in Las Vegas. “I’ve had a lot of fun,” Pope said. “Texas is a whole lot different than Vegas. There is a whole lot more electricity. It is compact and it is fast. I really like it. It doesn’t give me much time to think about what is actually happening; you just have to react to it. “There are 17,000 people in the stands that pay a ticket to get in here; I want to make sure they get the best show that they possibly can.”   He takes a blue-collar work ethic with him in the arena, but he also recognizes the showmanship that happens when big-time bucking horses are matched with the world’s greatest bronc busters.

LAS VEGAS – Truth be told, Jess Pope may have had a bit of revenge on his mind during Tuesday’s sixth round of the National Finals Rodeo. He was matched with Irish Eyes of the Sankey Pro Rodeo and Phenom Genetics firm, and the two combatants had a bit of history. “I was excited to have her,” said Pope of Waverly, Kansas. “That horse is actually what broke my ribs in Filer, Idaho, last year. It made making the NFR really tough last year. I really had to battle through stuff, and it actually made me a better bareback rider today because I had to grit through a lot of stuff I didn’t want to. “I’ve been wanting to get my vengeance over that for a while and give her something back. She is strong and heavy. She really makes you work for it, but it was a lot of fun.” Pope and Irish Eyes matched up for 87.5 points to finish second in the round. That pushed his six-ride aggregate total to 526.5 points, and he leads the average race with four nights left in the ProRodeo season. He has a 2.5-second lead over Kaycee Feild, the five-time and reigning world champion who leads the world standings. With that ride, Pope pushed his NFR earnings to $102,893. He is second in the standings with $212,917. “I’m here to try to win as much money as I can and see where God is going to put us at the end of the week,” he said. “He is making it interesting. It’s a cool story to watch it unfold, and I’m excited for it. There are four days left, and we are going to see what happens.” His faith is what drives him on a daily basis, whether it’s working cattle back home or riding the best bucking horses in rodeo. This can be a humbling sport at times, and even at 23, he understands that as well as anything. “You’ve just got to smile whether it’s good or bad,” Pope said. “That’s what I’ve learned coming here. Some days are roses, and some days are rain clouds. This is one of those rose days. The (previous) two days had been more so rain clouds. Just smile and push through it. You get rewarded for what you put into it.” He qualified for his second NFR, but he’s also playing on ProRodeo’s biggest stage with his traveling partners, Tim O’Connell and Cole Franks. All three got a piece of the pie Tuesday, collecting more than $44,000 altogether. “You have to keep looking forward,” he said. “The windshield is bigger than the rearview. It is awesome to see our rig in there winning a lot of money. That’s what our goal is all year long. It’s fun to feed off each other. I’m excited to see what the last half has in store.”

LAS VEGAS – Cole Franks entered his first National Finals Rodeo as a rookie. If things continue to go as well as they have, he’ll leave Las Vegas as one of bareback riding’s top players. He rode J Bar J’s Yum Bugs for 85.5 points to finish in a three-way tie for third place during Tuesday’s sixth round of the National Finals Rodeo. He pocketed $11,466 and pushed his Sin City earnings to $70,562. “It’s awesome,” Franks said after his ride. “It helps with the average. It helps with everything really. It is awesome to be able to come in here the first time and be able to hang with all the big dogs.” It was a good day for the 20-year-old cowboy from Clarendon, Texas, now a junior at Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Missouri. He was also recognized twice Tuesday as the Bareback Riding Rookie of the Year, first at a luncheon, then during a break in the action at the Thomas & Mack Center. He sits third in the aggregate race with having a six-ride cumulative score of 516 points, and he’s moved up three spots to ninth in the world standings with $147,955. “I’m just taking it one horse at a time,” he said. “You worry about what you’re getting on that night. Don’t worry about what is coming up. Don’t worry about what happened last night or anything else. Just focus on what you have to do that night. If it doesn’t work it, so bit it; you’ve still got the next day. “One thing (world champions) Mark Gomes and Jeff Collins have always told me was to use the KISS method: Keep It Simple Stupid; just try to keep it as simple as you can, just one at a time.” That last horse worked out well. He’d seen fellow bareback rider Garrett Shadbolt try to ride the bronc during the first round, but it didn’t fair very well. “I knew he would be a little wild at the start, so I wanted to hold my feet through it,” he said, talking about the spur stroke from the animal’s neck to the rigging in rhythm with the horse. “Garrett let them fly, and that’s what messed him up. There’s a lot of stuff going on with that horse, so you just have to hold your feet through it and wait for him to line out a little bit. It feels really good after that.” Through six nights of ProRodeo’s finale, he has placed five times. His rookie status has evaporated in a flurry of spur strokes on the best horses the sport had to offer through the 2021 season. He has four more nights to continue to cash in. “This is going very fast,” Franks said. “I was just hanging around, feeling groggy just ready to do, and the next thing you know is it’s over. It just seems like the other day we were starting it out, so it goes by very fast.”

LAS VEGAS – There’s a storm brewing in Las Vegas, and three-time world champion bareback rider Tim O’Connell is in the middle of it. After a slow start to this year’s National Finals Rodeo, he started to heat up in Monday’s fifth go-round and continued to simmer on Night 6. He rode the Cervi Brothers Ain’t No Angel for 85.5 points to finish in a three-way tie for third place, worth $11,466. “That was a huge check back in my rookie year (at the NFR),” said O’Connell, who first qualified in 2014. “It was a big deal.” It still is, especially for the Iowa cowboy now living in Marshall, Missouri. It was the third time in six nights that he’s captured a payday, and he’s gaining momentum with every ride. “I had won a round on that horse in 2018 in the ninth round,” O’Connell said. “I was pretty tickled to have him. He didn’t have the same trip, but it was pretty close. He normally goes three or four (jumps), then circles left. He went down the wall with me a little bit to me, but I got a little opened up by the end.” With his spot among the top, he pushed his NFR earnings to $35,400. He’s dropped two spots to fourth in the world standings with $191,456. Meanwhile, his traveling posse of Jess Pope and Cole Franks have stayed hot. Both men have placed in five of six rounds. On Tuesday, Franks tied O’Connell with 85.5; Pope did one better, finishing second in the round with an 87.5 “I don’t mind it,” O’Connell said. “I’d rather be the guy on top, but I don’t mind it when the other guys that are beating me are my traveling partners. If I’m going to get beat by my friends, I want to get beat by my real good friends. I spend a lot of time with Cole and Jess.” He’s made a few changes in his riding style this week, and it’s paying off. He admitted a couple days ago that he’d been pressing, trying to do too much, and it didn’t work. “I was just trying to win here,” he said. “I don’t feel like I’m making these anxious mistakes anymore. I’m going at them. I’m not leaving anything on the table. At this point, it is what it is. I’m going out fighting. If I’m going to go down, I’m going to go down swinging.” The mindset change came during the fifth round, when he rode Pete Carr’s Good Time Charlie to place. “Charlie really turned my week around; he really turned my mind around,” O’Connell said. “I feel good. I feel relaxed on the back of the bucking chutes. I feel at home right now. I was pretty happy with how all phases of the ride went. You can’t be too upset when you are trying to win against these guys; it’s tough. “There are four rounds left. Don’t get me hot in Vegas, because I will take it all. If you run four really good horses underneath me, that will play ball back with me, you’re going to see me with a gold buckle at the end of this thing. I am coming, and I mean that in the most respectful way possible. I’m ready to be a four-time world champion. I will leave it all out there.” Game on.

LAS VEGAS – Even in terms of bareback riders, Garrett Shadbolt is diminutive. He’s of a shorter build and weighs just 125 pounds. He’s strapping himself to 1,200 pounds of bucking dynamite every night of this National Finals Rodeo. His riding arm’s a bit sore, but that comes after six nights of ProRodeo’s grand finale. He’s still smiling and still excited to be part of this elite field of cowboys for the first time in his career. It certainly doesn’t hurt that he’s placed in half the go-rounds so far, with the most recent being an 85.5-point ride on Flying U Rodeo’s Lil Red Hawk to finish in a three-way tie for third place Tuesday night. That was worth $11,466. So far in six days – including the $10,000 bonus he earned by qualifying for the NFR – Shadbolt has pocketed $52,491. He is sixth in the average race and has moved up two spots to 10th in the world with $148,504 in season earnings. “I’ve seen Lil Red Hawk; the first night, Kaycee Feild had her,” said Shadbolt of Merriman, Nebraska. “She didn’t kick over her head every jump. I was hoping she would do a little more for me, and I felt like she really did. About the third jump, I was straight up and down, looking straight down. “Honestly, she was kind of a lot. I think people think that horse is (really rider-friendly), but today felt like she really bucked. She didn’t have any big moves, but she was kicking hard.” The NFR is a tough stretch for every rodeo athlete. It’s a 10-day marathon, especially for bareback riders, who strap their riggings tightly to the horse. They wear specially designed gloves with binds that are wedged into the riggings. They are locked onto the broncs they ride. Even the most rider-friendly mount can cause damage to hands, wrists, elbows, shoulders and necks. “Everything is feeling really healthy,” he said. “My riding arm is getting sore, but that’s part of it. I’ve got some ice, a little bit of a preventative. I will be good as gold tomorrow.” Years ago, cowboys were as wild and crazy as the brands for which they rode. These days, though, cowboys are more athletically prepared. They train and prepare their bodies for battle. When one makes a living eight seconds at a time, it’s imperative. “I’ve been warming up a little at 3 o’clock (in the afternoon), trying to get a lot of sleep and eating good. I’ve jumped into a really icy pool a couple of mornings. Maybe it makes a difference; maybe it just makes me feel tough.” He laughed a little. “It’s pretty cold out here in Vegas to be swimming. I haven’t been doing anything too crazy, just getting the blood pumping and stretch out in the mornings and before I come to the Thomas & Mack.” It’s working.

LAS VEGAS – Tanner Aus arrives at the Thomas & Mack Center every night with the best of intentions. He rides bucking horses for a living, and he knows there are many variables to go into his sport. His plan is to win each night and, if not, at least cash big checks during his 10-day stay in Las Vegas. Through the first six nights of the National Finals Rodeo, things haven’t quite gone his way. He’s placed just twice and pocketed just $4,354 in that time. While that may seem like a lot for a week’s worth of work, it’s not so much at ProRodeo’s grand finale, where go-round winners pocket nearly $27,000 per night. Still, Aus runs his hand into his bareback riding rigging and gives it a shot. On Tuesday night, he rode Calgary Stampede’s You See Me for 85 points to finish in a tie for sixth place in Round 6. He earned $2,177. He also finished the second round in a tie for sixth place. “Every night is important,” said Aus, 31, of Granite Falls, Minnesota, who also collected a $10,000 bonus for qualifying for the NFR. “Money’s money. “I just keep trying to ride one horse at a time. I’ve got for to go and good bucking horses coming up.” There are so many variables when it comes to riding bulls. It’s not just the cowboy’s performance that’s judged; half the score comes from how well the bucking horse operates. “You never know the performance you are going to get when you get here, contestants and horses alike,” he said. “I feel like I could sharpen up a little bit, but I always feel like that no matter where I am or how many points I am. There is already something I can work on. “I’m just doing my best to try and stand out and place in rounds. It’s very tough here. Everyone is charged up and great. It’s hard to stand out. I’m healthy, and I’m grateful for that. I’m just going to keep aiming for the fence.” He’s not about to let a few tough rounds keep him down. “The season has its ups and downs; the finals has its ups and downs,” Aus said. “You just keep on sticking to your routine, stay focused, take care of yourself and be there come the 10th round, and it usually pays off.”

LAS VEGAS – Orin Larsen would love to get off to a faster start at the National Finals Rodeo. He’d prefer to not wait until the sixth round to start earning Vegas cash. He’ll take it, though. Larsen rode Pickett Pro Rodeo’s Night Gazer for 91 points to win Tuesday’s sixth go-round, collecting $26,997 in the process. It was his first payday of this year’s championship. How did he handle the five rounds of trouble? “I’ve got a really good support system behind me, and I pray a lot,” he said. “My wife and my mentors help keep me positive when I’m feeling low. Without them, I’d be pretty well done.” Instead, he refocused and found the perfect dance partner, even though he knew nothing about Night Gazer before the ride. “I guess I thought he was coming out there and hop around a little bit, but he did a little more than that,” said Larsen, 30, of Inglis, Manitoba, now living in in Gering, Nebraska. “He caught me off guard. I think it cost me a little bit of riding more my style, but I’m not complaining by any means. It felt great. It felt awesome.” So did finally cashing in an NFR paycheck. He’s hoping the trouble is over and he can stay on a roll for the final four nights of the ProRodeo season. “I think it was the drawing a little,” he said of how the random draw matches cowboy with bucking horse. “Ultimately it was me. I was getting too worked up, getting too excited and trying to do too much. I was trying to be 95 when I can only be 85. I will put the blame on me.” It’s part of the process. He’s not the first and won’t be the last to try to do too much. Even veterans can struggle with it. Sometimes it takes a little retraining of the mind to fix the issue. “I plan on having a year when I can find that out in Round 1,” he said with a laugh, noting that he’s waited until the sixth round to earn a paycheck three times in his seven years competing at the NFR. “Then I can roll through it. It’s not failure by any means; it is a learning curve. “You can learn something every day about rodeo, the NFR, anything.  The day you think you’re done learning is the day you should hang it up.” He’s dropped two spots to 11th in the world standings since the start of the NFR six nights ago, but he’s pushed his season earnings to $134,840. He still has four more nights to collect more cash. He relies on that support system that’s been so beneficial to help him get through each day. “I just get some family time, going out with my wife and folks and just spending a lot of time with them,” Larsen said. “At night, I go to bed and get some decent sleep. I’ll get up and stretch and do whatever responsibilities I have during the day. When I get done with that, I’ll go to the room, do some stretching, have a little snack, then it’s game time.” The game is on from here on out.

LAS VEGAS – An equipment change is coming for Clayton Biglow. Even after earning just his second paycheck of this year’s National Finals Rodeo, the 2019 bareback riding world champion knows there’s something funky going on. “My rigging is feeling a little bit dead right now,” Biglow said after Monday’s 86.5-point ride on Harper & Morgan Rodeo Co.’s Sippin’ Firewater to earn $1,451. “When things aren’t working, you have to change something. “I feel like I’m riding good. My confidence is fine. My body feels good.  I just believe my rigging is getting a little worn. I just need to line some things out.” The past five days haven’t been typical for Biglow, who set records in winning that Montana Silversmiths gold buckle two seasons ago. He’s earned just $20,596 in five days, and part of that came with a $10,000 bonus for qualifying for the NFR. He was just glad to scratch out a check in the fifth round. “I thought the horse was pretty good, but a little on the weaker end,” he said. “I made a couple of bobbles, so I’m going to try to change things up a little bit and just keep plugging away. “I didn’t know anything about the horse. When I got the draw, I looked it up, and it’s only a 6-year-old. It’s cool that they brought a young one that they put in the “TV Pen,” so it’s going to be real good someday.” The fifth- and 10th-round horses are the most electric in rodeo, and high scores are the norm. For Biglow to collect a money score – he finished in a three-way tie for sixth place – says something about his ability as a bareback rider. Now in his sixth straight year playing on ProRodeo’s biggest stage, he understands the things that happen over 10 December nights in the Nevada desert. “I need to get a lot more big checks,” he said. “I need to win every round from here on out if I want a chance to win the world title. “Last year aught me a lot concerning how to keep my mind right. I’m riding better than I did last year. You have to roll with the punches; there’s no sense in digging yourself in hole because you’re frustrated. You’ve got the next day and another horse. There are five more rounds left and a lot of money left. I’ve been in this same position before, so I feel pretty good for the second half of the NFR.”   

LAS VEGAS – With every nod of is head at this year’s National Finals Rodeo, saddle bronc rider Wyatt Casper is gaining confidence. He rode Korkow Rodeo’s Onion Ring for 88.5 points during Monday’s tough fifth round. That score would win most rodeos, but not the “TV Pen” of bucking horses at the NFR; Casper settled for sixth place and a paycheck worth $4,354. “It was a crazy round of bronc riding tonight,” said Casper of Miami, Texas. “It was a crowd-pleaser. Being the fourth man out at 88.5 and winning it, then getting bumped down to sixth, the last hole (for payouts) … it hit the heart pretty good. Every time I’ve been on him, I have won first, The American and at the NFR last year.” Onion Ring is pretty special. He was named the 2021 PRCA Saddle Bronc of the Year, an honor selected by the cowboys that ride them. But two-time world champion Ryder Wright was 91 points to win it, and his brother, Stetson Wright, was 90.5 to finish second. It’s no wonder Casper and Onion Ring were pushed to the bottom spot among all placers. “He is what every bronc rider dreams of getting on,” Casper said of the South Dakota horse. “He does his job every time.  He was honest. He is a good-built horse. I just like him.” Through five nights of ProRodeo’s grand championship, he has earned $35,691, the biggest portion of which came with Sunday’s second-place finish. He’s pushed his season earnings to $120,638 and sits eighth in the world standings. He started slow, but he’s heating up at just the right time. “I feel like, most importantly, the thing about getting focused is having good rides,” he said. “I feel like in these last two rides, everything has felt good, and we are just trying to build on that. “We are just going to keep hoping we draw good. I’m just going to try to keep riding good and let it all come together in the end. I don’t want to mess with anything, and I want to keep moving forward.” This is Casper’s second straight NFR but his first time competing in it at Las Vegas. Still, he and his family built a routine a year ago in Arlington, Texas, that he’s continued this year. After all, no cowboy earns his way to the City of Lights without a supportive team behind him. “My parents come all 10 nights; my wife and kids come all 10 nights,” Casper said “Every night before the round, we go out there and take a picture. We are just building memories. It’s kind of a tradition, I guess.” So is winning money, whether it’s first place or sixth place. That’s what rolling the dice in Las Vegas is all about.

LAS VEGAS – How good has the first five days of the National Finals Rodeo gone for bareback rider Jess Pope? He finished out on the money Sunday, then took his smallest paycheck of the week by finishing in a three-way tie for sixth place during Monday’s fifth round. Yet, he’s still smiling. He knows he’s riding well and taking the opportunities as they come. On Monday night, he rode Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Organic Outlaw for 86.5 points, pocketing $1,451. “Money is money,” said Pope, 23, of Waverly, Kansas. “I just had to make due with what I had drawn. I didn’t even figure I’d win a check tonight. There were just a lot of great horses. I just did my job, and the horse did more than I what I thought he was going to do. It worked out good. “Every dime you win out here is better than nothing.” He’s done his fair share of winning. He’s placed in four of five rounds and has earned $81,556 so far. He is third in the world standings and still has the second half of the NFR ahead of him. “You just have to take it one horse at a time,” he said. “You can’t beat the draw. I don’t think I’ve drawn worth a (darn) the last two days. The horse (Sunday) was weaker than anyone else’s in the pen. My horse (Monday) was great, but when you look down the list and compare it to the Pickett and Calgary horses, it was a little step below what everything else was. “It’s part of it. My job is to ride bucking horses. I didn’t get here accidentally. There are five more rounds, and anything can happen.” Life’s a bit different in Las Vegas than they are back home in rural eastern Kansas. He’s adjusting, and he’s got his support system to help through every step. His parents, Bret and Jennifer Pope, are staying at a campground in Sin City, and they’re at ever, performance cheering on their son each night. “It’s nice to have my whole family out here,” Pope said. “I get to hang out with them whenever I can. If I have a spare minute, I can run out there to the campground. It makes it feel more homey. There’s really not a lot of homey feelings living in a hotel room in Las Vegas, Nevada. Honking horns, sirens going 24/7 … that’s not what I’m used to. It’s nice to get away and just hang out and get away from all this.” It’s helping Pope find success in a big way at ProRodeo’s grand finale. He has pushed his season earnings to more than $190,000 and has five more nights to add to it. That’s why he’s in Las Vegas this week. It’s why he straps himself to a bucking horse and rides for eight seconds at a time. This is his way to hit a jackpot in Nevada, and he’s doing a bang-up job of making everything happen.

LAS VEGAS – It took a 19-year-old bucking horse to get things lined out for three-time bareback riding world champion Tim O’Connell. “Thank God for that old man, because I needed him to get this thing rolling,” said O’Connell of Zwingle, Iowa, now living in Marshall, Missouri. “It was starting to get very frustrating. I’ve been on four horses, and they took all four horses and put them straight into the re-ride pens for the next rounds. The frustration has been an understatement.” There are 20 horses set for each of the first five nights of the National Finals Rodeo, and only 15 buck each night. The five remaining are the re-ride opportunities, then they will rotate into the mix the second time that pen of horses is out. The bottom five horses from the first time each pen of horses is out are put into the re-ride pen for their second trips. O’Connell has drawn horses that fit into the latter category. That’s likely not the case with Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Good Time Charlie, a horse that is bucking at the NFR for the 14th time. O’Connell rode the hard-bucking, sorrel gelding for 87.5 points to place fifth in Monday’s fifth go-round. It was just the second time he has placed so far at the NFR. “I knew Good Time Charlie,” said O’Connell, who won Montana Silversmiths gold buckles in 2016-18. “He is automatic, and he is great at what he does, even at 19 years old. He goes out there and jumps hard, kicks hard and he hit me in the face at some point. He just gives you his whole heart and whole body every time. “He allows you to really show off and give it back to him. The more times you give it to him, the harder he gives it back. To have him in my corner tonight … I was very excited. For the first time at this NFR, I was pretty excited to come over here.” Good Time Charlie has been highly decorated in his career. He’s been selected as one of the best bareback horses at the NFR, and this past season, he bucked four times, and cowboys were at least 88 points three of those rides. “We owe a lot to that bucking horse,” O’Connell said. “I don’t know how many hundreds of thousands of dollars have been won on his back. He’s done so much for bareback riders.” O’Connell earned just $6,967, but each dollar is vital. He has earned just shy of $24,000 through five rounds; that’s not a typical NFR for the cowboy, but he also realizes he hasn’t had much opportunity to show off his skills. “This ain’t over,” he said. “They might think this is one man’s race or another man’s race, but I am right here, and I am hungry. I’m not happy with how things are going. I’m going to ride better from here on out. There are five more rounds left. There is a lot of money up for grabs, and I am coming for every dollar. “This was, by far, my best ride. Because I’ve drawn on the bottom end of the pen, I’ve been trying to do way too much. I’ve been making dumb mistakes. I’ve been over-antsy. I’ve caused mistakes that I shouldn’t make. (Monday) night I relaxed; I had some fun. I went off the feeling of the horse, and it resulted in my best ride.”  

LAS VEGAS – It’s 920 miles from Cole Franks’ place in tiny Clarendon, Texas, to the bright lights of Las Vegas, but he’s feeling very much at home during this year’s National Finals Rodeo. He’s placed in four of five bareback riding rounds and was just a spur stroke away from winning Monday’s fifth round, scoring 90 points on Calgary Stampede’s Xplosive Skies to finish second. He pocketed $21,336 for his eight seconds of work. “That horse is all there for sure,” Franks said of Xplosive Skies the 2021 PRCA Bareback Horse of the Year. “He blows out of there really hard. He leaves like a train and hits you like a train. You don’t have time to think. It’s going 100 miles an hour, and it’s all directed at you.” It was a very energetic ride, with each side throwing punch after punch. The young cowboy came out the winner in the end, pushing his NFR earnings to $59,095. He sits 10th in the world standings with $136,489. “Looking back on it, I would call that one fun,” he said. “It was a little bit different (than the ‘Eliminator Pen’ on Saturday night). It was a totally different kind of feeling than any other kind of horse. I was having fun knowing what I was doing (Monday) night. It was just bare down and let the past year’s work take over.” The fifth round featured the most electric bucking horses in bareback riding. When he saw the draw after Sunday’s fourth round, Franks knew he had a good shot to earn big points on Xplosive Skies. “When I saw the draw, I kind of teared up a little bit because of the excitement of it all,” Franks said. “I didn’t sleep a whole lot last night, just imagining riding that one. It was just pure excitement, ready to get it going.” He’s the rookie of the year, but he looks like anything but a newcomer to ProRodeo’s grand championship. Each ride has provided him with superior experience. Moreover, each money-making score provides more confidence. “(Doing this well) pumps you up a little more,” he said. “The last four rounds have been pumping me up for this, and this pumps me up for the next five rounds. It’s just a big balloon getting inflated. Just as he would if he were working at home, he has his entire family around to keep him motivated and focused. That’s big for the young cowboy, but it’s something he’s experienced for a long time. “My family is super supportive of everything I’ve done, from playing Little League baseball to this,” Franks said. It’s awesome having them here, knowing they’re sitting in the stands. I can look up and wave at them when I’m putting my rigging on or doing something on the back of the chutes, so that’s awesome.” 

LAS VEGAS – Cole Franks seems to be a young man on a mission. Still two months away from his 21st birthday, the bareback rider from Clarendon, Texas, has placed in three of the first four rounds of the National Finals Rodeo and pocketed $37,759. On Sunday night during the fourth round, he rode J-Bar-J’s Blessed Assurance for 86 points to finish in a four-way tie for third place, worth just shy of $10,000. “They’ve placed in every round they’ve been on that horse at the NFR,” Franks said. “He was a good one to get on in this pen.” He’s had some good fortunate, but he’s also earned his money eight seconds at a time. Riding bareback horses is no easy task. The riggings are cinched tightly to the animal’s back, and the cowboys wear specially designed riding gloves with binds, then wedge their hands into the rigging. They are virtually locked onto the horse. It can take a toll on the body, even on the easier to ride broncs. That’s what the bareback riders faced in the fourth round, the “Hopper Pen.” Unlike the “Eliminator Pen” they face in the third and eighth rounds, the horses out Sunday night were more user-friendly. It was a spurring contest, and it was difficult to judge the rides for the ProRodeo officials, which is why there were four cowboys tied for third. “I just have to keep it going, just keep rolling,” said Franks, a second-generation NFR cowboy whose father was a three-time qualifier in saddle bronc riding. “It’s awesome to keep picking up checks. It makes you feel like you belong here a little more with all these guys.” He’s actually one of three cowboys competing at ProRodeo’s grand finale that were part of the Clarendon College rodeo team coached by Franks’ father, Bret. Cole Franks and saddle bronc riders Wyatt Casper and Tegan Smith have all been in the money. Smith won the third round, and that set off a spark in the others. “I went to the buckle presentation for Tegan (Saturday) night, and it made me think like, ‘I’m going to be here at the South Point for this,’ ” Franks said. “I was shooting for it today, but it didn’t quite work out. Just seeing those guys come in here and compete, it is just as awesome as coming in here and doing it by myself.”

LAS VEGAS – Garrett Shadbolt had a pretty good idea of what to expect during his first trip to Las Vegas for the National Finals Rodeo. Now, he’s hoping it continues to pay off. He’s placed in two of the first four rounds, most recently riding Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Guardian Angel for 86 points to finish in a tie for third place in Sunday’s fourth round. That was worth $9,688. At the world’s richest rodeo, it’s important to cash in on as many opportunities as possible. “I feel like I’m really starting to find my stride,” said Shadbolt, 25, of Merriman, Nebraska. “The nerves are getting good, solid. I’m not feeling the pressure like I was the first couple of nights. I’ve got some money in my pocket now, and my foot in the door. I’m starting to get it figured out how it’s going to be here. “I was just happy to get to dress up that horse, show some things I’ve worked on this year that’s gotten me to this point. I did that that horse (Sunday).” The ride pushed his NFR earnings to $41,025 and his annual salary to $137,038; he is ninth in the world standings. With a purse of more than $10 million, he has six more nights on the season to earn as much money as possible. That’s important. In rodeo, dollars equal points, and the contestants in each event with the most money earned when the season comes to a close Saturday night will b e crowned world champions. “This is what I expected as far as the amazing amount of horsepower,” he said. “I haven’t been on a lot of these horses, but I’ve seen a lot of them bucked. Everything you get is something. If you got one at a rodeo, you’d be like, ‘I’m going to win this rodeo.’ “With that mentality, it is a little bit intimidating to try to dress something up, whereas if I was at a rodeo and had that horse, I could probably make a cut-and-dried spur ride and be confident winning. But here, I’m trying to lay it all out on the line and be right up there with the best. I think I did that (Sunday).” He’ll need to continue that. He’s among the top 15 bareback riders in ProRodeo, and this is the sport’s biggest stage. Some of the biggest lessons Shadbolt has learned have come from behind the scenes inside the Thomas & Mack Center. “The bareback riding locker room is the place to be,” Shadbolt said. “I think we are just a great group of guys. I’m proud to say these guys are my friends. It’s kind of a brotherhood; we watch out for each other, the jokes fly and it’s an amazing experience. “I’m just really happy and proud to be part of that.”

LAS VEGAS – In the City of Lights, something finally clicked for saddle bronc rider Wyatt Casper. “I was excited for the first round, and it didn’t go the way I wanted it to go, and neither did two or three,” said Casper, who suffered no-scores in the first three rounds. “I feel like we’ve been in Vegas for a while. Getting this, I think, will spark a light in me.” This was an 89-point ride on Vold Rodeo’s Sun Glow to finish second in Sunday’s fourth go-round of the National Finals Rodeo. That paid $21,336. It was a great way to get on the roll he needs at ProRodeo’s grand finale. “I knew by having that horse, I was plenty capable to win the round today,” he said. “I’m tickled with 89.” He wasn’t so tickled in the first three nights. He was bucked off his first and third horses, and he was flagged with not making his markout – securing the heels of his boots over the breaks of his horse’s shoulders – in the second round. It all added up to no scores and no money. “It’s hard,” said Casper, the 2016 college national champion from Miami, Texas. “It feels like everyone might think you forgot how to ride broncs. I’ve just not been looking at all the negativity, just put it in the back of my head and forget about it. “I just needed to remember how I got here, and that’s riding every horse the best I can every time. That’s what I tried to do tonight, and it worked.” This is Casper’s second straight NFR qualification. He finished the 2020 season as the reserve world champion. Still, this is his first time to compete at the championship in its typical home in Las Vegas. “This experience is really cool,” he said. “This is what I always dreamed of, riding here in Vegas. To finally come true, it is awesome. The crowd is energetic. It feels like they are right on top of you, and they pretty much are. There is a lot more pressure in this arena. “I just go into each night … I feel the dirt. It feels like any dirt in any other arena.” It’s also a bit different for his wife, Lesley, and their two children, Cooper and Cheyenne. Having them with him during this 10-day championship is a valuable tool for the bronc buster. “They’re good to have here,” Casper said. “They are a good distraction from the rodeo. It’s been good having them around.” They bring normalcy to his life, which is anything but normal in the Nevada desert. They also make him realize that a few no-scores mean very little in the grand scheme of things.

LAS VEGAS – The competition is often brilliant at the National Finals Rodeo, which offers a purse of more than $10 million spread over 10 December night. It’s the combination of both that drives the cowboys. Just ask bareback rider Richmond Champion, a seven-time NFR qualifier from Stevensville, Montana. He rode Calgary Stampede’s Arbitrator Joe for 86 points during Sunday’s fourth round to finish in a four-way tie for third. That was worth $9,688. “We are winning money,” Champion said with a smile. “I don’t care if we have to split it 13 ways; I’ll take it. There wasn’t much gap from first to third, so it doesn’t change the average much. I’m feeling good. I’m just building on it.” Yes, he is. He finished just out of the money in the first two rounds, but he’s made up for it the past two. He’s pushed his NFR earnings to $41,025 and sits eighth in the world standings with $139,970. Of course, having a good horse is a big part of each ride. Judges mark half the score on how well the animal performs, and the other half is marked by how well the cowboy spurs the horse from its neck to his rigging while in rhythm with the animal’s bucking motion. Arbitrator Joe fit the bill well. “I’ve seen him a lot,” Champion said. “Tim (O’Connell) beat me this summer in Calgary (Alberta) on him, and he was 90. I knew it was a big opportunity, especially in this round. All the horses were really nice, but you needed to have something that has a little more to them. There were five or six that really did, and I was happy to have one of them.” Of course, the horse also had a pretty good jockey on its back. He’s been one of the elite bareback riders in the game since he burst onto the stage in 2014. The only thing missing is that Montana Silversmiths gold buckle awarded to a world champion. After battling through the first three days of riding some of the greatest bucking horses in ProRodeo, he was able to work through some of the soreness that comes with being a bareback rider. “I feel great now,” Champion said. “I’ve had a good warm-up, and then I’ll get on another bucking horse. We are on the backside of it now. Come Round 10, I’ll be ready for 10 more. “You can work out all you want, but if you’re not getting on bucking horse every day, there’s no way you can work yourself out this way. I’m just getting b ack into riding shape. I think I’m right on the verge of that, and my confidence is through the roof. I’m just excited to have it rolling early.”

LAS VEGAS – Brothers Bill and Roy Duvall have seen many runs at the Thomas & Mack Center. What they’re seeing on television might be the best they’ve seen in decades. Bill’s grandson, Riley, is having a heck of a time at this year’s National Finals Rodeo. On Sunday night, he stopped the clock in 3.9 seconds to share the Round 4 steer wrestling victory at the National Finals Rodeo. It was the second time in four nights that he’s earned at least a tie for a round win; he also split the first round. “This is crazy,” said Riley, 29, of Checotah, Oklahoma, the Bulldogging Capital of the World. “I’ve won two rounds in three years before this, so it shows what happens when you have a good team behind you, horse-wise, friend-wise and family-wise.” He’s the fifth member of his family to have played on ProRodeo’s biggest stage, following in the footsteps of his father, Sam; uncle, Spud; cousin, Tom; and great-uncle, Roy, a three-time world champion. In fact, Bill Duvall hazed for his brother during most of, if not all, Roy’s 24 qualifications. “No, Roy and Bill said they wouldn’t leave their recliners,” Riley Duvall said with a laugh. “I do have a great support system. My wife is as supportive as she can be. She takes care of the kids all day. I know she’s behind me win or lose. That takes a lot of pressure off. “My family has been out here. They know the pressure I’m under. They have different ways of helping me handle it. My family at home is pulling for me, then next week, a lot of them get to be out here, my cousin Tom, uncle Spud and my little cousins. I’m very excited, and I hope it carries over.” He’s placed in three of four rounds and pocketed $74,444. He’s moved up 10 spots to third in the world standings with $141,165. He is just $13,000 behind the leader, Louisianan Jacob Talley. He also has the help of his longtime friend and traveling partner, Shane Frey. They’ve been on the trail since 2012, so their relationship has some history to it. “He’s never hazed for me out here,” Duvall said. “Things have never fallen right. I just rode different horses or had my dad haze. Shane deserved to be out here. He deserved a chance, and, man, it’s went good. He’s having fun. I can hear him screaming after I throw one.” He has six more nights remaining in the ProRodeo season to continue to cash in. It’s Las Vegas, after all, so this is as good a place as any to hit the slot machine that is the NFR.

LAS VEGAS – Tim O’Connell was in a bit of a different situation at the National Finals Rodeo; he didn’t earn any money in the opening two rounds of this year’s championship. A three-time world champion who has battled for that coveted Montana Silversmiths gold buckle for most of his seven previous qualifications to ProRodeo’s grand finale, he knows how things roll. “I don’t have much to complain about,” said O’Connell, 30, of Zwingle, Iowa, now living in Marshall, Missouri. “I’ve been riding good; I haven’t been riding great. I’ve been drawing good; I haven’t been drawing great. “It’s been a slow start. It hasn’t been bad, but it’s been a slow one.” Things changed a bit during Saturday’s third go-round when he rode Frontier Rodeo’s Ace of Spaces for 85.5 points to finish fifth on the night, pocketing $6,967. It may be just the spark to get his championship engine revving. He pushed his season earnings to $173,023. He’s fourth in the bareback riding standings and has seven more nights to really cash in. “I think I’ve been trying to do a little bit too much and take matters into my own hands instead of just letting things happen, so I’m a little tight, and I take responsibility for that,” he said. “I was a little more freed up (Saturday), and I made a rigging change to something different, and it worked better.” The third round featured the “Eliminator Pen,” the toughest-to-ride bareback horses at the NFR, and Ace of Spades proved to be perfect for the night. “I didn’t now much about her, other than she’s been around forever and might be older than I am,” O’Connell said with a laugh. “She’s a small, black horse and bucked a lot harder than what I gave her credit for. She was good and fired out of there. I could have handled her better off the wall, but I was pretty happy overall with the performance. “It’s also my first check of the week, so I’m pretty happy about it. I’ve just been quiet, unfortunately. I’d rather be a lot louder out here than I am, but the well finally opened up and it’s time to drink. There are still seven rounds to this thing.” While the first couple of rounds were slow, it’s starting to heat up. The days go by faster in the Nevada desert over the next week of competition, and O’Connell hopes to be plugging right into the electricity that builds in Las Vegas. “This is honestly where the finals start flying by,” he said. “You get past the first eliminator pen, then it starts over and the fun ones come back around. It starts back over, and the next thing you know is it’s gone.” Added to that was the fact that Saturday’s ride marked just the seventh time he’s been on a bucking horse since August. He suffered an injury that sidelined him for the final two months of the regular season, and he didn’t return to action until mid-November. While some of the top 15 bareback riders are sore after three rounds of riding, he is as strong as ever. “I went to sports medicine to do some maintenance, but other than that, I feel pretty dang good,” O’Connell said. “I had a four-month break. I feel like I’m still getting back into form and, unfortunately, it’s at the finals. We’re coming back now.”

LAS VEGAS – Jess Pope has a new title; he’s the No. 1 bareback rider in the world standings. He’s not satisfied with it. “That’s where I wanted to be all year,” said Pope, 23, of Waverly, Kansas. “It’s all in God’s plan. I’m here to do my job for 10 days. It’s out of my control. I can’t out-do the draw; if everyone else draws better than me, I can’t control that. If I show up and do my job, it will work out at the end of the week the way it’s supposed to.” He’s earned his spot high on the mountain so far at the National Finals Rodeo. After winning the first two go-rounds, Pope matched moves with Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s San Angelo Sam for 88 points during Saturday’s third go-round to add another $16,111 to his NFR earnings. In just three nights, he’s pocketed $80,105 and pushed his season earnings to $190,129. He owns an $11,000 lead over the No. 2 man, five-time and reigning world champion Kaycee Feild. “That horse felt really strong,” Pope said. “He had a lot of moves in his head. He’s built a lot different than other horses, and my rigging was a bit further back on him than most horses. When he throws his head back, it’s a lot stronger than most horses, and he whacks you in the back a lot stronger than other horses. That’s why he’s really hard to get by.” He not only got by the big paint horse, he posted the third best score of the night. By doing that and by placing in the first three nights, the Kansas cowboy who competed in rodeo at Missouri Valley College has plenty of confidence for the seven nights remaining in the ProRodeo campaign. “I know how to ride bucking horses, so I’m here to do my job,” he said. “All 15 of us ride bucking horses great; that’s why we’re here. If I can just do my job, if I can stay focused on what I’m supposed to do, it’ll be good. “I do this all year long. It’s what I do for a living so I can do what I’m here for.” After winning the second round Friday, Pope took family and his rodeo coach, Ken Mason, on stage at the South Point for the Montana Silversmiths Go-Round Buckle Presentation. After Pope left the stage, he handed that buckle to Mason as thanks for all the coach has done for the young cowboy. “He deserves that; he’s the best bareback riding coach there is,” Pope said. “It was emotional.  I hope he enjoys it.”

LAS VEGAS – Instead of feeling frustrated that he’d finished just out of the money in the first two nights of the National Finals Rodeo, Richmond Champion relaxed and realized he was still in a good position. He also knew the random draw would work in his favor through the 10 rounds of ProRodeo’s grand championship, so he bided his time and enjoyed being on the biggest stage in the sport. His time came during Saturday night’s third go-round on the toughest-to-ride horses in bareback riding. Champion rode Stace Smith Pro Rodeo’s Mr. Harry for 88.5 points to finish in second place in the “Eliminator Pen,” pocketing $21,336 in the process. “When you pride yourself on being a rank-horse rider and can do it on the biggest stage, it just solidifies things,” said Champion, 28, of Stevensville, Montana. “(Sunday) is the hoppers, so if you can do it on the buckers, you can do it on those, too.” The “Hopper Pen” features the easiest horses to ride, and the winner will likely be the cowboy that puts together the best spur stroke, moving the heels of their boots from the horse’s neck to their rigging and back to the neck in rhythm with the animal’s bucking motion. “You don’t take those horses any lighter, mindset-wise,” he said. “You definitely have to have the confidence that you can do this, that you’re primed and the chili is hot.” Confidence is the key, and momentum plays a role in that. Sometimes the heat of the moment just continues on for several days, and that’s going to be the key for Champion to battle for the coveted Montana Silversmiths gold buckle awarded to each year’s world champions. “I think things have been rolling,” Champion said. “I’ve been out here to win the first go-round, and then it goes cold, and I’ve been out here when you don’t win anything, then your turn it on and don’t stop winning checks. It’s just Vegas; I’m not worried, and tonight didn’t change my game plan because I hadn’t won anything. “I love the eliminator pens; just as much as I hat them, I love then and know I thrive in them. When I got the stock list (Friday) night and saw I had Mr. Harry, I was jacked. That is just so solid, and I know that I believe in myself and my style.” It worked, but Champion has been rather successful at the NFR over the years. Now in his seventh qualification, he’s gained enough experience to know what he needs to do during the day to be prepared for battle every evening. “I’ve learned to say no to all the Vegas things that you can get involved in, the things that where you can wear yourself out,” he said. “I cook my own food, I make time to take a nap, and I relax. I’m on the road to the arena by 3:30 (p.m.), and all of the sudden it’s time to put our riggings on our horses.” With his Saturday night special, Champion has pushed his season earnings to $130,282. More importantly, he’s built on his positive mindset to push through the final seven nights of the season. “I’m out here to ride bucking horses, have fun and win money,” Champion said. “As long as I stay focused on that, everything will fall into place.”

LAS VEGAS – To most men, the thought of entering the ring with the greatest heavyweight fighters in the world wouldn’t be considered. Bareback riders aren’t like most men. They don’t mind a prize fight, and Saturday’s third round at the National Finals Rodeo was a 15-round bout. It was Cole Franks’ first foray in the NFR’s “Eliminator Pen,” and he matched up just fine. “It’s really nerve-wracking,” said Franks, 20, an NFR newcomer from Clarendon, Texas. “When I was waiting on the draw last night, I was getting really anxious and couldn’t sit still.” By the time he nodded his head, Franks was ready. He rode Four Star Rodeo’s Deep Springs for 85 points to finish sixth in the round, worth $4,352. He has pushed his NFR earnings to $28,071. “I got really lucky that I drew one I had been on before, which worked out the jitters since I knew what to expect more,” he said. “I hadn’t been on any of these other horses before.” This was the first night the toughest-to-ride horses in the world are scheduled to be out at this year’s NFR. They will return next Thursday for the eighth round, and they definitely earned their moniker by being true eliminators. High scores were hard to come by, and a couple of cowboys hit the Thomas & Mack Center dirt hard after being bucked off. Franks had ridden Deep Springs for 82 points in Pendleton, Oregon, this past September, and that allowed him a bit more confidence when it came to trying to spur the strong animal. “It was definitely a dog fight both times I had him,” Franks said. “he’s real strong and pumps his head, and the rigging drops out of there. He’s just real big and strong.” The bareback riders get a bit of a break heading into the next two nights. Sunday’s fourth round will feature the “Hopper Pen” of bucking horses, the animals that are supposed to be the easiest to ride. Monday’s fifth round will expose the “TV Pen,” which will showcase the most electric bucking horses in bareback riding. “I’m going to have to let it all hang out, because it’s going to be a spurring contest,” he said, referring to the cowboys spurring from the horse’s neck back to the rigging in rhythm with the animal’s bucking motion. “Really the only way you’re going to get rewarded (Sunday) night is if you make the perfect ride.” Of course, as one of the top 15 bareback riders in ProRodeo, he knew it was going to be a battle over 10 December nights to decide this year’s world championship. “It’s awesome to be part of this field,” Franks said. Everyone here makes you bring your best, too. Everybody here wants you to win just as badly as you want to win, and they’re going to push you to try and beat them.”

LAS VEGAS – With age comes wisdom. Even at age 25, Clayton Biglow is mature beyond his years. He proved it Friday night, riding Bridwell Pro Rodeos’ Meat Sweats for 85 points to finish in a tie for fourth place in the second round of the National Finals Rodeo. It was sweet justice after suffering a low score on opening night to find himself at the pay window worth $9,144. “When things don’t go your way in Round 1, you realize you’ve got nine more rounds,” said Biglow, the 2019 world champion bareback rider from Clements, California. “You’ve just got to forget about it. If you get so down on yourself, it’s going to be a long week.” With experience comes wisdom. Biglow has learned a great deal over time. This is his sixth straight NFR, and he’s seen the highs and lows that come with competing in a humbling sport. Two Decembers ago, he left Las Vegas with nearly $250,000 earned in just 10 days and a Montana Silversmiths gold buckle. Last year in Arlington, Texas, he won the fifth round and placed just three other nights. “Last year taught me a lot,” he said. “You just learn to keep going at them like nothing’s going wrong.” He did that on Meat Sweats, which comes from the Bridwell outfit based in Red Bluff, California. “I know a lot about that horse,” said Biglow, who sits No. 4 in the world standings with eight nights remaining in the ProRodeo campaign. “I’ve seen him a whole lot, but I’ve never been on him. He’s pretty hard to ride and has a lot of direction changes. He was dang sure a good one to have in any pen. He’s pretty “It felt good. It wasn’t like I had fun on him, but it felt good to be 85 and get a check.” It was also a good warm-up for Saturday night’s “Eliminator Pen,” which features the toughest-to-ride broncs in bareback riding. Biglow is matched up with Showstopper, a big, bay gelding from Frontier Rodeo. The two matched up for 90 points to win Round 8 of the 2019 NFR. It will be the fourth time the two titans have been matched together in Biglow’s career. “I plan to repeat that last time when we won the round together,” he said. “This is the pen of bucking horses that separates the boys from the men.” A season ago, the NFR moved to Texas because of the pandemic restrictions. It’s return to Las Vegas has been heralded by many in rodeo, including the young California cowboy. “It feels great to be back,” Biglow said. “Being in Texas was awesome and they treated us great, but it’s pretty hard to beat Vegas. Every contestant that’s here today has probably grown up watching the NFR at the Thomas & Mack. “It feels good to be back to our roots.”

LAS VEGAS – The pressure that Riley Duvall usually feels when he arrives at the National Finals Rodeo disappeared. Heck, it may have been gone before he even arrived. His pressure-packed runs in Salinas, California, on the final weekend of the ProRodeo season in August gave him free reign when it came time to compete inside the Thomas & Mack Center. It’s proving to be rather valuable. After sharing the opening-round win, Duvall stopped the clock in 3.6 seconds Friday night to finish third in the second round of the National Finals Rodeo, earning an additional $16,111. He’s pushed his NFR earnings to $50,278 and his season earnings to nearly $117,000. Oh, and he’s moved up from 13th to fourth in the world standings in just two days’ work. “I usually don’t have this much until by the ninth round, so we’re a little bit ahead of schedule,” he said with a laugh. “It’s awesome. “I (placed) third in the average my second NFR (in 2018), was second in the average in 2019, and I won a couple rounds my first year. Hopefully this year we can put both those factors together and get round and average money.” He’s doing pretty well so far. Only Dirk Tavenner of Rigby, Idaho, has had a better finals in bulldogging; he and Duvall split the first round, then Tavenner posted the fastest run of Friday’s second round. What’s the difference this year than Duvall’s previous three trips to the City of Lights? I’m finally getting a good start,” he said. “The horses are working great, and I’m just going at it every night with almost a reckless abandonment. I’m just trying to run at the barrier, and if I break it, oh well.” His trip to the Nevada desert almost wasn’t. He had to make a huge rally late in the season, taking advantage of the ProRodeo Tour Finale in Salinas to secure his place among the top 15 in the world standings in order to compete at the NFR. His focused approach of going all out has worked so far, and it’s paid off for others in the past. “I’d like to have $100,000 and then some won before the 10th round starts, then who cares what happens,” Duvall said. “You want to win everything, but if you’ve got $100,000 won, obviously there’s a lot less pressure.” It doesn’t hurt that the random draw has matched him up with steers. “These first two pens of steers fit my style,” he said. “This is a fast set-up tis year. In years past, 4.4 (seconds) or 4.5 would place. I’m from Oklahoma, and we call it ‘rat slopping,’ and we like ‘rat slopping’ a little better.” Any varmint will do, it seems.

LAS VEGAS – The National Finals Rodeo is always a testament to great athletes with a strong will. Every cowboy in the mix has earned the right to compete at ProRodeo’s grand championship. Once they arrive in Las Vegas for the most popular 10 nights of the year, there are more challenges that come their way. In bareback riding, that comes with being matched with one of the 100 best bucking horses in the game this year. “It’s as tough as it’s ever been here,” said Tanner Aus, 31, a six-time NFR qualifier from Granite Falls, Minnesota. The guys are ready to ride, and the horses are looking good. “I think I’ve drawn well, and I feel good.  It’s just a matter of putting it together at this point.” Aus earned his first payday of the 2021 NFR by riding Calgary Stampede’s Zig Zag Cherry for 84.5 points to share a sixth-place tie with Louisianan Taylor Broussard. They each pocketed $2,177. It was a good way to start a big week of big-money opportunities in Las Vegas, home to the finale since 1985. A year ago, however, Aus competed at the NFR in Arlington, Texas, which hosted the championship because of pandemic restrictions. This is a great challenge, but that’s not news to Aus, the 2012 intercollegiate bareback riding champion while competing at Missouri Valley College in Marshall, Missouri. “It’s supposed to be this way,” he said. “I’ll g et to come through the draw here soon that’s going to compliment my style a little more. That’s just the way it is. I’ll get one soon that’s going to come along and help me out.” Aus just missed out on placing on Night 1 after posting an 83-point ride on Powder River Rodeo’s Two Buck Chuck. He’s been consistent, and he has the fifth-best two-ride cumulative score of 167.5 points. It’s a long 10 days in Sin City, but he knows not to get overhyped about one move or another. “There are some tough young guys coming up that have never been here before, and it’s charged up the locker room,” Aus said. “It’s as fun as it’s ever been. It’s the best place to be this time of year. “The horse I got on (Friday) was a big, strong Calgary horse, and our (Saturday) pen is really tough with the (eliminator) pen of horses. I’m healthy leading into tomorrow night. I’m ready to go.”