ProRodeo Sports News - Feb. 18, 2022

not for me. Something about tying your one free hand down on a bucking animal.” “I knew from the first day I met him,” Christiansen said of that day back when both boys were in second grade. “We were playing on the monkey bars, try to skip over one and he was swinging through them, skipping two and three at a time.” “He always had a way to do it all,” he said. “When he started team roping, and then broncs, getting on the bucking machine, we might have to help him rethink how to do things, like cutting the rope off, wiring the reins to the saddle horn or whatever it was.” Actually, bronc riding was a bit easier than team roping, Christiansen said. “The rest of us have to keep our free arm out of the way,” he joked. Because Urie was born without the left arm, he says he is used to doing things the way he does.

Staying in the Wilderness Circuit, Urie hopes to rodeo much harder this summer. “The beauty of being a schoolteacher is summers off,” he said. Getting back home to Utah will allow him a chance to get on more practice horses. “It’s a bit tougher to do that here in Montana, the closest place is about a four-hour drive,” Urie noted. “Back home, Marty Trapp bucks horses every Monday in Salina, so I went down there a lot.” Guys like Allen Boore were often in attendance as well. “He was a big help to me, to help me tune up my riding,” Urie said. “It’s good to rub shoulders with those type of guys.” Boore, a two-time Wrangler National Final qualifier, remembers the first time he saw Urie in Salina. “At first, I kind of thought, what in the world is he doing?” Boore said. “But from that first practice that I saw, he has come on.” “That kid’s determination is unmatched,” Boore continued. “He’ll take help if he absolutely needs it (in the chutes) but usually he doesn’t.” Boore is impressed with Urie’s work ethic, his effort, and his attitude. “He’s as good a guy as I’ve met, just a true, hardworking cowboy. There’s not too many out there like him.” Christiansen believes his friend will advance as far as he wants in the sport. “Definitely don’t tell him no because he will for sure then,” he joked. “His dedication to whatever he wants to do will take him as far as he wants to go.”

“I’d rather be known as good bronc rider and a tough competitor rather than a bronc rider with one arm,” – NATHAN URIE

Not having the counterbalancing ability that comes with the use of the free arm in bronc riding simply means he has to work harder to compensate. “I struggle some to keep my weight back and my hips pushed forward because I don’t have a free arm,” he said. “Other than that, it’s not too different than anyone.” “I never double grab, so that’s handy,” Urie noted with a laugh. Urie was 15 years old when he attempted his first live bronc at a rodeo. “Those first couple of years were just a lot of buck offs,” he said. “I have to hand it to my parents.

They hauled me to rodeo after rodeo and watched me get slammed until I finally started getting the hang of it.” Tracie andWayne Urie have two boys and five girls. Urie is the second youngest and his brother is the oldest. “We have a whole basketball team of girls and two boys, but my brother was basically gone by the time I got very old, so it was just me and five girls,” he said wryly. “You can imagine, I liked to do anything outside of the house.” Urie notes his parents have always been supportive of his rodeo aspirations, though watching her baby boy get bucked off so many times early on was tough on his mom. “It took a while for her to come around to it,” Urie said. “Well, she’s not totally around to it. But she’s a great videographer.” School Finals Rodeo his senior year and rodeoing for Utah State University for three years, Urie took 2020 to work on his riding. In 2021, he purchased his PRCA permit, competing in a handful of rodeos. He married wife Kylee in July and the couple moved to Montana to pursue job opportunities. Urie is teaching high school ag classes in Turner. He said his students have come up with some creative stories for him to explain his missing appendage. “If you ask my students, it was a table saw accident. A rodeo accident. Sharks, crocodiles, you name it,” he laughed. After qualifying for the National High

Photo courtesy Nathan Urie Nathan Urie and his wife, Kylee share a light moment. The couple was married in July of 2021.

ProRodeo Sports News 2/18/2022

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