Stock contractors and bronc riders from across the country gathered in Kiowa, Colorado Saturday, September 9th for the 2023 Big Time Bucking Horse Futurity.
Kelly Lynch | September 11, 2023
Ken Real Bird’s champion yearling filly (left) and Mac Tooke’s yearling filly (right) in the dummy bucking division in Kiowa, CO | Photos courtesy of Casey St Blanc on Facebook
Stock contractors and bronc riders from across the nation all gathered in small town Kiowa, Colorado Saturday for The Big Time Bucking Horse Futurity. It was a thrilling competition that showcased future champion bucking horses and up-and-coming bronc riders alike. Professional saddle bronc riders such as Isaac Diaz, Cort Scheer, and Shorty Garrett have all climbed into the chutes in Kiowa alluding to what a testament this event is to the bronc riding world.
Saturday morning began with the dummy bucking competition broken into three different classes – the yearling broncs, two-year-olds and three-year-olds. In this event, a weighted device is placed on the horse’s back to imitate a riggin or saddle and is used to help evaluate how well each horse bucks.
Stock contractors from states such as Iowa, North Dakota, and Texas all congregated to put their best broncs up against the nearly 100 total competing. Ken Real Bird left Kiowa in high spirits taking home both the yearling and 3-year-old division champion title with his young broncs. In the 2-year-old class, it was the first-timer Austin Travis with Double A Livestock who came out on top.
Austin Travis traveled from southern Illinois, a 15-hour drive, to exhibit his horses. ‘Crooked Money’ his 2-year-old stud horse stood out from the competition earning an 87-point score to come out on top among the group of 27 broncs in his division.
“We bucked him the 1st of August for the first time, and he did pretty well – good enough to come 15 hours but I didn’t think he’d place with as many good horses that are here,” said Travis.
Austin got into the bucking horse business just four years ago in 2019 after buying a stud horse from Kenny Andrews. Although newer to the game, having winning bloodlines in the rodeo is crucial to finding success.
Charlie Thompson on the other hand has been bringing horses to Kiowa, Colorado for seven years and knows firsthand how beneficial bucking horse futurities are to the career of a horse.
“It’s a tremendous help because it gets them used to being handled, teaches them how to hold their balance and coordination when they’re bucking and it just gives them the chance to get started at an earlier age,” explained Thompson. Through his rodeo company C-T, Thompson has been raising bucking horses for many years and in total has had 15 broncs that came from their company’s genetics make it to the National Finals Rodeo.
The first time Charlie came to Kiowa in 2016, his bronc ‘Wagon Boss’ set the current arena record with 93 points and is now owned by C5 Rodeo in Canada. Thompson has had a number of young horses come through the chutes in Kiowa the past seven years and is now getting to see them perform at the height of their careers at Pro Rodeos across the country.
“That’s my biggest thrill when I see a cowboy or an animal at the start of their career and then be at the NFR, it really is neat,” beamed Thompson.
As the sun set in Kiowa, the four and five year old broncs took center stage for the main event where they would be paired up with bronc riders from across the world all vying for the champion title. Within the twenty cowboys competing, Thayne Elshere from South Dakota came out on top to take home the prize. Not only his first time in Kiowa but also competing at his first bucking horse futurity, Elshere was excited for the opportunity.
“Some of those younger horses, they’ll test you a little bit better and sometimes you’ll get a good one, sometimes not, it’s all the luck of the draw.”
It was a winning day for Ken Real Bird, Austin Travis and Thayne Elshere as the last horse bucked in Kiowa, Colorado for 2023. As the cowboys packed up their saddles and the stock contractors loaded their horses, one thing is for sure and that’s the future of the bucking horse industry is ever so strong, and the talent is surely loaded.
