Recovery, avoiding injuries is key for bareback riders

“I found out that I had 70% compression in my spinal cord and didn’t even know it,” he said. “That was a ‘you’re grounded, let’s get the surgeon on the phone’ moment.”

The fusion neck surgery and subsequent rehab claimed the remainder of Champion’s 2022 campaign. It also forced him to miss last year’s “Daddy of ’em All.”

Champion spent the next seven months rehabbing to get back to his peak form. The biggest thing that helped him recover was just being patient.

“Honestly, (it was) just a lot of time to let that bone heal,” Champion said. “Then (it was) really just getting back in and working out on my normal programming. I added in some neck exercises and added a lot of mobility through my shoulders.”

Around the start of November, Champion was cleared to start getting back on horses. Shortly after, he was back rodeoing — albeit with a few self-imposed restrictions.

“I have a bigger neck roll now and more protection that way. I am also a little more selective,” Champion said. “I don’t need to get on everything. Sure, you could win on them, but longevity-wise, is it a good decision? I’ve been doing it for 12 years now, so I’ve got a pretty good feel of what that looks like.

“I try to play it smart, and don’t let all these young guys kick our ass and get in our heads.”

Champion has bounced back from his injury to move into the No. 22 spot in the PRCA’s latest world standings. More recently, he qualified for the semifinals at the 127th anniversary Cheyenne Frontier Days Rodeo, winning the first quarterfinal round of the week with a final score of 85.

He is not the only bareback qualifier at CFD to miss significant time rehabbing a surgery.

Orin Larsen, who currently ranks 11th in the PRCA’s world standings, qualified for his eighth consecutive National Finals Rodeo last season. He had put together an impressive 2022 campaign and was looking to carry it onto one of rodeo’s biggest stages.

His time at the NFR was cut short in the third round. Larsen suffered a broken thumb during his ride, placing him on the shelf for the next four months.

Like Champion, Larsen spent those four months rehabbing from his surgery and, above all, just being patient.

“It was a lot of sitting around,” Larsen said. “I was in a cast, so I couldn’t really do a lot. I obviously had surgery, and it was a lot of rehabbing and whatnot. It was more of a time deal than anything.”

When athletes are forced to take time away from their sport, it can often give them a new perspective on it. Larsen said his time away helped him have more fun again.

“It definitely takes you back to the basics and the minor things that this sport has to offer,” he said. “I am having more fun now than in the past years, and I really think it’s due to that.”

Champion and Larsen’s experiences over the past year serve as a microcosm of what bareback riders put their bodies through. It’s no secret that bareback riders suffer the most injuries of any of the riding disciplines. This is, in part, due to the stress put on the body when riding.

“There is an old saying in rodeo that it’s not a matter of if you’re going to get hurt, it’s a matter of when and how bad,” said bareback rider Kade Sonnier, who won Wednesday’s quarterfinal. “Bareback riding is the most physically demanding sport.

“I’ve got a tweaked groin right now, so you just kind of learn what you can and can’t do, go see sports medicine and do the best you can to stay healthy through the last third of the season. There is a lot of money to be made between now and September, and you just have to stay on the grind.”

For bareback riders, the trick is not just how to properly recover from their injuries, it is also about knowing how to manage injuries — both nagging and serious.

For riders like Buffalo, Wyoming’s Cole Reiner, the key is staying away from smaller rodeos and only going to places where he knows what he is getting with the horses.

“I have been lucky enough and smart enough to stay out of a lot of rodeos,” the PRCA’s fourth-ranked bareback rider said. “If I don’t have a good horse at a good rodeo, I don’t go, basically. I’m healthy right now, and I’m going to go home and take a few more days off and ease around for the rest of the season.”

Reiner is able to do this because of his ranking and knowing he has more or less qualified for the NFR in December. But for other cowboys, particularly those ranked in the 10-25 range, it’s not as simple.

More than ever at this point of the season, it comes down to who is taking care of their body the best, both in the arena and outside of it. But no matter how good riders are at taking care of themselves, bumps, bruises and minor nagging injuries will happen.

Knowing what is just a simple tweak and what is serious is just as important for bareback riders, Jayco Roper said.

“When the national anthem goes off, the adrenaline hits you. You don’t feel it when you get down in the chutes,” Roper said. “If it’s not too big, or it’s little stuff like that, it won’t bother you. It will all go away.”

Regardless of what injuries guys have, the stretch of July through September is extremely important, not only in terms of world standings, but also in terms of money. The month of July alone plays host to three of the biggest rodeos of the year — California Rodeo Salinas, Calgary Stampede and CFD.

Those that are able to manage their injuries and fight through the nagging ones are generally the ones that give themselves the best chance to succeed during the stretch run of the season.

“It comes down to who’s hurt and who’s feeling good and taking care of their body the most,” Roper said. “Staying healthy is a really big part of it, but taking care of your body is a really big part, too.”