CALDWELL, Idaho – As he has matured, Jacob Lees has learned what it takes to excel as a professional bareback rider.
“I feel like I’m really consistent, and I know how to handle a lot of different horses now,” said Lees, 28, originally from Caldwell but now living in Boyd, Texas, with his wife of two y ears, Chelsea. “I used to struggle a lot with some horses, and now I feel like I don’t struggle with them as much. I definitely have horses I like to get on more, but I don’t worry when I draw one I know I won’t care for.”
That’s one of the reasons he is returning for the second straight year to the National Finals Rodeo, the sport’s grand finale that takes place Dec. 5-15 at Las Vegas. He earned $138,363 through the rigors of ProRodeo’s regular season and is 10th in the world standings.
“I think the biggest thing for me was keeping strong in my faith and continue training and thinking about doing well even when I wasn’t doing well,” said Lees, an Arroyo Grande (California) High School graduate who attended West Hills (California) Community College and Western Texas College on rodeo scholarships.
“It’s important to keep a good mindset when you’re not drawing well, because it takes two to tango. You can only focus on what you can do, and that’s riding as well as you can.”
Maintaining a positive attitude is vital, and he has proven himself an elite bronc buster because of it. While he had some big victories in 2024, the bulk of his income was based on finishing among the leaders at most of the rodeos in which he competed. Every paycheck counts, whether it came from finishing first or placing sixth.
“I wouldn’t say I won an overtly amount of rodeos, but I hung with them and made money pretty much everywhere I went,” he said. “Staying consistent is what matters most.”
Familiarity helps, but there are different styles of bareback horses. The cowboys recognize that, which is why there are five sets of animals for the NFR. The qualifiers select the top 100 animals from the regular season, then identify them into bunches of 20. They range from the “hoppers,” the ones that are the easiest to ride, to the “eliminators,” the rankest broncs in the bunch.
“I think I’m just more experienced going up and down the road than I was last year, getting on more horses, picking and choosing what I get on a little bit,” said Lees, who credits part of his success to his sponsors, Toste Construction, ProHats, Double-J Quarter Horses, Bet Hesa Boon, Servi Quarter Horses, Fenoglio Boots, Gentry Custom Cowboy Shop, Kifaru, Cutters Stabilizers, Hampton Pro Rodeo and Top O Texas Outfitters.
“With that, I know where to go and more of what to do.”
It added up to a spectacular season. While he collected nearly $140,000 in ProRodeo, he added to his coffers through other events that weren’t part of the PRCA. He began the year with nice earnings, some at rodeos that count toward his NFR qualification and others at events that didn’t. It helped. Every penny is valuable, especially for men and women who make their livings in rodeo.
There was an added benefit to competing in multiple associations. Lees learned this year that his Native American ancestry was enough to qualify him to compete at rodeos for others like him. He earned his first qualification to the Indian National Finals Rodeo, which took place in late October at Las Vegas. He finished the 2024 season as the Indian world champion bareback rider.
“I didn’t know it was even an association until Jayco (Roper) brought it up to me when we first started traveling together,” he said of the Oklahoma cowboy, who earned his first NFR bid in 2023. “He told me that if we had proven ancestry that I’d be able to rodeo in that association. I just knew I had that stuff from my mom’s side of the family, so I had her gather it up.
“I went to enough Indian rodeos to qualify for the finals. Jayco and I went out there and did really well. I won the world, and he got reserve world champion.”
Lees had a varied experience as a youngster. Born in Caldwell, he and his family moved to California before he started kindergarten. He spent most of his youth between California and Alaska, the latter of which is his mother’s home state. He finished his secondary education in Arroyo Grande and started college in California before transitioning to Texas, but his home will always be western Idaho.
“We spent about six or seven years in Alaska, and it was good to be around my mom’s half of the family and get to know everyone there,” he said. “When we were living in California, we had a couple thousand-acre lease pretty much right on the beach. It was really one of the coolest places I ever lived.”
The lessons gained in handling livestock have paid off for a man who rides broncs. He learned important values, because cows don’t always do what humans want them to do.
“It almost seems like they know what you don’t want them to do, and they do that,” Lees said with a laugh. “It teaches you patience and to work hard, because you’ve got to work for something bigger than yourself. Their lives are in your hands.”
The cows also showed him the way to rodeo. He had dreamed of being a bull rider, then learned about bareback riding just before he began high school after listening to songs by former bareback riding world champion and country artist Chris LeDoux. While he still rode bulls through college, competing on bucking horses flipped a switch, which is why he still does it professionally.
“I got into that and never looked back,” he said. “I rode bulls for a long time but never really picked it up like I did bareback riding, which has brought me a long way.”
Lees and Roper spent most of the season traveling North America with another bareback rider, Dean Thompson. All three made their first NFRs in 2023, and Thompson will join Lees back at Las Vegas in December; the Utah cowboy sits fourth in the world standings with more than $170,000 in earnings. They also picked up Kashton Ford, an 18-year-old South Dakota cowboy.
“It was fun having a new guy in the group and help show him the ropes,” Lees said. “Having Dean back at the finals is awesome. Dean is one of my best friends. We go elk hunting every year, and when I’m on the road, I pretty much just live at his house because it’s more centrally located for those Northwest rodeos. His family treats me like family, and I consider them family.”
Both will now battle over 10 December nights in the City of Lights for the most coveted prize in ProRodeo, a world champion’s gold buckle. They will take the experiences they gained a year ago with them and test their talents against some of the sport’s greatest bucking horses.
“I really wanted to make it back this year, because there are a lot of guys that only made it once,” Lees said. “It always felt in the back of my mind that if I only made it once that it was just a fluke. It’s not easy, but I feel like I put in the work. Now that I’ve made it happen twice, I feel like I was meant to be there.”
He certainly is.