O'connell lands winning ride on Black Feathers
Tim O'connell knew he had a great chance to win big at the Calgary Stampede rodeo on Monday.
When he drew Black Feathers in the bareback event on Day 4 of the competition, his eyes lit up.
“I was pretty excited to have that horse before I got to nod my head on it,” said O'connell, of Zwingle, Iowa, who had a great ride and earned a score of 91.5 points from the judges. “He's just been outstanding this last week and a half, honestly. I watched Kaycee Feild be 91 on her at Livingston, Montana. Two days later, Clayton Bigalow was 90 on her in Cody, Wyoming.”
Needless to say, O'connell was stoked to get his chance to score in the 90s aboard Black Feathers.
“For her to take a big bus ride up here to Calgary and to do her thing again and be 91.5, that just goes to show how great that animal is,” said O'connell, who also finished first in bareback action on Friday thanks to a 91-point ride atop Arbitrator Joe.
For his efforts on Monday, O'connell won $5,500 to boost his earnings during the four days of action in Pool A to $16,000. That also earned him a spot directly into Showdown Sunday, when he'll have a chance to go for the top prize of $50,000.
Fellow American Richmond Champion, of Stevensville, Mont., finished second on Monday thanks to an 88-point ride atop Make Up Face. Champion, who took home Stampede titles in 2017 and 2018, finished second in Pool A with $13,500 in earnings to advance directly to the finals on Sunday as did Cole Franks ($12,500), of Claredon, Tex., and Dantan Bertsch ($9,500) of Eastend, Sask.
For O'connell, he wasn't even sure how well he would fare in Calgary considering he injured his ribs while competing at a rodeo in Belle Fourche on July 3 when he fell forward and hit his rigging during his ride.
“I had a flank strap wrapped around me ... and it actually pulled me down very hard, so my chest hit that rawhide handle — and that's really hard rawhide that we hold on to,” he said. “It's basically like taking a steel bat to the chest.”
O'connell credited the sports medicine team in Calgary for taking good care of him and making sure he was ready for competition.
“I came up here pretty banged up,” he said. “I took a rigging to my chest. We're not quite sure what's all wrong with my ribs, but they're pretty sore. They've gone above and beyond to make sure that I'm the healthiest I can be every day to go out there and do my job.
“I know I've put the work in at home to be my very best. Bareback rides, they're brutal. It's a brutal sport.” Due to COVID-19 restrictions, O'connell won't be travelling to any other rodeos between now and Saturday, but that's fine with him.
“I'm going to rest,” he said. “I'm going to come over here when they let me, get treated by sports med and continue to keep my body ready and sound to go on Championship Sunday.”
He's hoping he won't be in as much pain on Sunday.
“It's an injury that's pretty close to untreatable because there's just not much you can do for your ribs,” he said. “There's so much G-force that goes through your body straining on your ribs, so every time that horse jumps and kicks, I feel my ribs trying to pull apart, so it's just not a very fun feeling, to be honest with you.”
In the meantime, he'll watch the next four days of action closely as his travelling partner Jess Pope, of Waverly, Kan., attempts to also earn a spot to vie for the big money.
“We have a TV set up out there (in Strathmore) where we can watch Pool B,” O'connell said.