LAS VEGAS – If the National Finals Rodeo was a class, Dean Thompson would be a straight-A student.
He’s not just in town to ride bucking horses; he’s paying attention to all the details. This is the sport’s championship event, and he understands the business that goes into it isn’t just spurring broncs. He didn’t know much about the horse he had drawn for Thursday’s eighth round, so he began the work necessary.
“I haven’t been on that horse, but I’ve been doing some studying, though,” said Thompson, who won the round on Pete Carr Pro Rodeo’s Dusty Roads with an 88-point ride, worth $33,687. “I saw Bradlee (Miller) go 86 on it, I saw Tanner (Aus) go 83 on it, I saw Rocker (Steiner) go 84 on it and I saw Orin (Larsen) get bucked off.
“When Orin bucked off that thing, I knew I had a real chance because it was bucking.”
It certainly was in Las Vegas. With half the score coming from the animal, Thompson needed some help to post a marking like that, especially in the grouping of horses the cowboys call the “eliminator pen.” Many of the bronc busters fret the toughest-to-ride horses, but Thompson has figured out how to make it all work.
“Last year it was definitely a restless night,” said Thompson of Altamont, Utah. “I probably didn’t sleep 30 minutes last year during the ‘E pen,’ but this year, I have changed my attitude, and it’s changed the amount of nerves I feel going on to a ride. I walk in there with zero expectations.”
He placed each of the first five nights, including a share of the Round 5 win. He missed the pay window two nights in a row, then returned with a vengeance. He has ridden eight horses for a cumulative score of 680.5 points and is second in the aggregate race, a point and a half behind Cole Franks. Thompson has earned $121,746 over eight nights and sits fourth in the world standings with $293,672.
“That Dusty Roads is a great horse,” he said. “That was a top-five pick for me, so to get a round win on that thing is just awesome. If I would have let my expectations get ahold of me, they would have said, ‘You shouldn’t place more than fifth on that horse,’ and they might have held me back.
“I try to drop my expectations completely, go in there and give it all I’ve got. I just want to make great spur rides. You expect it to be difficult, especially in the “eliminator” round. That’s the only expectation you can have, so you have to try really hard and basically flex every single muscle in your body.”
He entered the first round of the NFR with great confidence, and it hasn’t diminished, but he’s hoping it will continue to build toward a crescendo come Saturday night. The bareback riders will go from the toughest horses to the ones considered the easiest, so it should be a spurring contest on Night 9.
“It’s going to be fantastic,” Thompson said. “The only thing you can do wrong is underestimate those horses, and that’s an easy thing to do. I’m going to expect my horse to buck, and the rest I’ll take care of myself.”