Bucking horses, bulls proving themselves before returning to Idaho
GOODING, Idaho – The excellence that’s found at the Gooding Pro Rodeo is also found across North America.
“We believe we bring in the best stock contractors in rodeo, and they have some incredible bucking animals that are featured at a lot of rodeos,” said Don Gill, the fair and rodeo’s manager. “We have three livestock producers that have excellent athletes in their herds, which is one of the big reasons why our rodeo is so popular among the cowboys.”
That’s true. Hundreds of contestants will make their way to southern Idaho for this year’s Gooding Pro Rodeo, set for Thursday, Aug. 15-Saturday, Aug. 17, with a special “Beauty and the Beast” performance set for Wednesday, Aug. 14. All performances take place at 8 p.m. at Andy James Arena.
“All three of our contractors had multiple animals at last year’s NFR for a reason,” Gill said of Wyoming-based Summit Pro Rodeo, South Dakota-based Korkow Rodeos and Alberta-based Macza Pro Rodeo. “When the cowboys see the kind of animals we have bucking in Gooding, they definitely want to be here.
Maybe the biggest win came last week when bareback rider Clay Jorgenson scored 90 points on Summit’s Game Trail to win the Cheyenne (Wyoming) Frontier Days. That was the biggest victory of Jorgenson’s young career and shot him up to several spots to 25th in the world standings.
“That thing bails in the air and kicks out so hard, it gives you every opportunity to win,” Jorgenson said of Game Trail during an interview in Cheyenne. “Thanks to another Summit horse that got me through the semifinals, they were paired up well with me.”
But there were other recent success stories:
Two-time world champion Ryder Wright won the sixth performance of saddle bronc riding in Cheyenne on Summit’s Wondering Witch; bull rider Lane Vaughan matched moves with Macza’s Wreckonciled for 86 points to win nearly $11,000 in Joseph, Oregon; bareback rider Richmond Champion won the first round of Pool B of the Calgary Stampede on Macza’s Grit Your Teeth; bull rider Wyatt Gleeson won the third round of Pool B on Macza’s Red Rocker; and Idaho saddle bronc rider Kade Bruno rode Korkow’s 443 for 87.5 points to share the victory in Ogden, Utah.
“We made a purposeful decision to have three stock contractors in Gooding,” Gill said. “We’re going to get the best horses and the best bulls these guys have to offer. That makes our rodeo better and gives our outstanding crowd plenty of things that they can find to be ‘Beer Worthy.’ ”