Archives for December 2024

By Ted Harbin, TwisTed Rodeo

LAS VEGAS – For 10 minutes after his Saturday night ride during the third round of the National Finals Rodeo, Cole Franks felt amazing.

On Minute 11, he started to feel the affects of being in a Las Vegas prize fight, the after-effects of a battle with one of the rankest bucking horses in ProRodeo. Franks rode Duane Kesler’s Hot Shot for 87 points to finish third on the night, collecting $20,104.

“You’ve got to ride as close to the same as you can on the buckers like that, but I was in kill mode for sure,” said Franks, who increased his NFR earnings to $62,885 through three nights of the sport’s grand championship. “You just bear down and get back down to the neck (with your spurs). That was definitely a kick fight.

“We were trading hits for sure. She hit me a couple good ones, and I think I hit her a couple good ones.”

That’s what happens in the “eliminator pen” of bucking horses, who can deal a heavy blow. Bareback riders wear thick neck braces to help protect them from the beatings they take; they wear specially designed gloves with binds on the edges of the hands to lock themselves onto their riggings, which are strapped tightly to the animal’s back. Every jump the horse makes can land on the rider’s arms, shoulders and necks.

When they ride the toughest horses in the world, the impact is greater, but Franks battled through it. He’s placed in all three rounds at this year’s NFR and has a cumulative score of 257 points, the best of the 15 men in the field. He’s also pushed his season earnings to more than $202,000 and is sixth on the money list.

“I was a little sore today before we got on, but I’m definitely going to be more sore tomorrow,” said Franks, 23, of Clarendon, Texas. “I’m more sore than I probably should be, and I got a (neck) stinger tonight. She hit me pretty hard.

“I’ll go in and get some dry needling, some ice, whatever they’ll let me get. I’ll let them torture me for a little bit. It’s what I signed up for, so I can’t complain about it.”

Despite the pain. Franks loves riding bucking horses. It’s how he won both the bareback riding and all-around intercollegiate championships in 2021 while competing for his hometown college and why he was later named the Bareback Riding Rookie of the Year in ProRodeo. It’s why he’s playing for the biggest pay in the game for the third time in four years.

“You don’t really feel the pain until once everything floods over,” he said. “It’s a lot of fun when you get off and you know you just slayed a dragon.”

By Ted Harbin, TwisTed Rodeo

LAS VEGAS – Athletes watch game film to find the tendencies of their opponents.

Bronc busters are using technology in a similar fashion. Take saddle bronc rider Wyatt Casper, who was matched with Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Stockyards Babe during Sunday’s “eliminator pen” round during the fourth night of the National Finals Rodeo. He checked over the notes and recalled some things about the powerful paint horse.

“I talked to quite a few guys about him and watched probably seven or eight videos,” said Casper of Miami, Texas. “I’ve seen him a couple of times, both with Brody Cress, and he made pretty easy work of Brody. I went with a different game plan than everybody else did.”

It paid off. Casper rode Stockyards Babe for 87.5 points to finish second in the round, worth $26,624, and it marked his third straight paycheck. He’s earned $62,342 at the NFR, and most of that has come in Rounds 2-4. He has pushed his season earnings to $282,125 and is fourth in the world standings, $44,000 behind the leader, Utah cowboy Ryder Wright, a two-time world champion.

Casper’s move was to adjust his rein in its placement on the horse’s halter. While many of the cowboys placed the braided rope on the bottom of the leather, Casper moved his to what is known as the throat latch. It might be something other cowboys attempt in the future.

“(She) felt pretty dadgum good for an ‘eliminator,’ ” he said.

That homework paid dividends. It’s something technology has allowed for men who are carrying on a bit of Americana through the Western way of life.

“I go on our stock stats that ProRodeo puts together for us, and you can see all the outs it had this year,” said Casper, the 2016 bronc riding intercollegiate champion while competing for Clarendon College. “I usually talk to my buddies. I call Jake Clark or talk to Kade Bruno about him, seeing if they’ve seen the horse or know anything about it.

“I talk with some people and see what they’ve done, see what I can do better.”

Monday’s fifth round marks the halfway point of this year’s championship. Rodeo can be grueling, especially getting on the best horses from the year during this 10 days in the Nevada desert.

“I feel pretty good,” he said. “I figured I’d be a little more sore than I am. I don’t know if it’s because I’ve been sitting in the hot tub every day or just getting on good horses, but it’s working out pretty good.”

It also might be the preparation he’s done to get his mind and body ready for the NFR. He trains horses and ropes, and all that can contribute to being in the right place physically when it comes time to ride bucking broncs. His horsemanship skills come into play at the right times.

“You’ve got to have some horsemanship being a bronc rider,” Casper said. “You’ve got to notice some stuff that will help some horses out. I think being a horseman dang sure helps you, because more than half your score is on how good you can get that horse.”

It’s working in Las Vegas.