The buck stops
Cowboys hanging on until rodeos start up again
On the back of a bucking bronco, bareback rider Jamie Howlett tries his best to hang on for eight fierce seconds.
That’s how the cowboy from Australia feels at the moment. Only in this case, there’s no horn to signal an end.
Howlett and the rest of the rodeo riders remain in a holding pattern with events from Florida to Canada to Texas to California on pause due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Constantly on the road, Howlett doesn’t have a home. So he’s bunking at his buddy’s ranch in Rapid City, South Dakota. He doesn’t have a side job, either (besides helping his friend to earn his keep).
Howlett is rodeo dependent. In a typical season, he logs about 55,000 miles (88,514 km) along dusty roads to compete in as many as 100 events and hopefully earn enough to break even (about $45,000).
Cowboys like Howlett are trying to hang tough as best they can until they can climb back into the saddle. Here’s a look at how different riders are dealing with the downtime: From a star (reigning six-time bullriding world champion Sage Kimzey) to the grinder (Howlett) to the weekend wrangler (gym teacher/track coach Eric Fabian ).
The star
On his 10-acre property in Salado, Texas, the 25-year-old Kimzey stays plenty busy by clearing trees and building a garden for his fiancee.
This is strange territory. He’s rarely home this long.
Kimzey is a household name on the circuit — the headliner who everyone watches because he makes bull riding look so effortless. In 2016, he became the youngest millionaire in Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association history at just over 22 years old.
Last season, Kimzey won his sixth straight world title to tie Jim Shoulders’ PRCA record for consecutive bull-riding world championships (1954-59).
“My heart goes out to everybody who’s struggling right now,” said Kimzey, who has deep rodeo roots, with his dad a longtime barrelman/clown and his mother, sister and brother professional trick riders. “It’s definitely hard times.”
Kimzey has got lucrative sponsors (Wrangler, Polaris) and a nest egg (his career earnings are more than $2 million). He knows he’s fortunate with more and more events being postponed, rescheduled or in some cases canceled. Several rodeo events in May are listed as “planned” — for now, anyway.
“I tell everybody right now in these uncertain times: Just keep the faith and remain hopeful,” said Kimzey, who’s healing from recent ankle surgery. “Because without any pressure, diamonds can’t be made.”