ProRodeo Sports News - February 9, 2018

IN HIS OWNWORDS: COLT GORDON

YOUNG BRONC RIDER MAKING EARLY IMPRESSION Colt Gordon finished third in the 2017 Resistol Rookie Standings in saddle bronc riding after earning $22,754. If not for a leg injury in the summer which set him back about a month, Gordon might have finished higher. In Fort Worth, Texas, he placed second in the second round, tied for second in the finals and tied for second in the average. The big score moved him from 35th to sixth in the PRCA World Standings with $14,079 as of Feb. 5. He also qualified for the RAM National Circuit Finals Rodeo, which will be in Kissimmee, Fla., April 5-8. The 20-year-old from Comanche, Okla., is full- time rodeoing this season and wouldn’t have it any other way. I was working at (barrel racer) Jane Melby’s house, riding colts for the Melbys. Her son, Colton, wanted to start riding broncs, too. We got some practice horses and built an arena. Shoot, we’d get on them three times a week until we figured it out. I didn’t care if I fell off or not, I was moving my feet one way or another. One day it just clicked and hasn’t slowed down. Last year, finishing third in the rookie standings was all right. 1/4 page color ad $457 (12mth b/w rate)

I got hurt in the middle of the year and didn’t get to rodeo like I wanted to. I tore some muscles in my left leg. It was midsummer, right around the Fourth of July. It set me back, I took some time off for it, missed about a month. I got some platelet injections at a facility in St. Louis. Going to the RAMPrairie Circuit Finals in Duncan, Okla., and winning the first two rounds there and getting a good start on this year was probably the highlight of my rookie season. It also helped me qualify for the RNCFR. I’m sure I’ll either be going (to Kissimmee) with family or I’ll talk to some guys around here and see where they are going to be coming from and catch a ride with them. I always try to make everything a little bit of a vacation. You’ve got to have fun when you’re going down the road. Next up on the rodeo trail are trips to Jackson, Miss., for the Dixie National Rodeo and Belton, Texas, for the Bell County PRCA Rodeo. Rodeoing is a blast. It doesn’t get better than rodeoing full time. You get to do what you love and party and have fun afterwards and hang out with all your buddies. You can’t beat it. PSN- Pro Rodeo Sports New March 2018

I haven’t been riding broncs near as long as most of these guys. I didn’t start until halfway through my junior year of high school. All I did before was team rope. My whole family ropes. I’ve got an uncle (10-time NFR qualifier Gary Ledford) who’s been to the Finals in the calf roping quite a few times. So, my whole family is big into the roping deal. I kind of got burned out on the team roping. I wasn’t liking it as much. I’ve got a bunch of buddies who ride broncs. I always wanted to do it and I finally hopped on one and said let’s go. The first time didn’t go very well. I got the crap smashed out of me in the chute. It really made me think if I wanted to be a bronc rider or not. I got on another one the next day. It went a little bit better, but not a whole lot better. Then, about halfway through my senior year of high school, I set down and was riding everything they would put underneath me, I just wasn’t spurring them.

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Photo by karenkellyphotography.com

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ProRodeo Sports News 2/9/18

ProRodeo.com

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