ProRodeo Sports News - August 2, 2019

BAREBACK RIDER Larry Peabody Cowboy’s accomplishments racked up in short time BY SCOTT KANIEWSKI L arry Peabody would be the first to admit he didn’t have the longest rodeo career. But now, as a ProRodeo Hall of Famer, the Montana native will never be forgotten as he takes his place among the greatest bareback riders to ever grace the sport. “For me, I think there are better cowboys out

there,” said Peabody, 61. “It’s just an honor to be selected. I didn’t rodeo as long as a lot of people. I really don’t know what to say.” The Montana native made a steady climb in rodeo to his 1984 world title. Within three years of becoming a member, Peabody had qualified for his

first National Finals Rodeo. He went on to make five total, all consecutively, and crowned it with the 1984 bareback riding championship 10 in the years he reached the Finals, finishing ninth, fourth, third, first and eighth, respectively. Peabody also won the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association bareback riding after earning $78,741. He never finished outside the top

QUICK FACTS • Born: Oct. 23, 1957 • World Title: Bareback riding, 1984 • NFR Qualifica- tions: 1981-85

James Fain photo

title in 1981. He won the Montana Pro Rodeo Circuit bareback riding year-end title four times and the all-around once. In 1981, that first NFR trip, he set a then-NFR record with an 89-point ride on Growney’s Dreamboat Annie. He also split the NFR average in 1983 and finished the season in third place. He edged fellowHall of Famer Lewis Feild for the 1984 title by $2,000. The race was so close it came down to the final round of the NFR. Even after he’d been declared the champ, it took a while for Peabody to truly believe it. “I kept thinking they’d re-tally things and call me to say they’d made a mistake,” Peabody told ProRodeo Sports News in May 1985. “It wasn’t until Denver, when I got my buckle, that I really believed I’d won.” His final trip to the NFR came in 1985. After that, he decided he wanted to be at home with his family more. “The last year I went to the Finals I went to like 36 rodeos in ’85,” he said.

“It seemed like after I won the world, I never had the drive to want to rodeo hard again and win it again. I had a family. I wanted to be there. I like cattle, so I started ranching, more or less. Your life changes so you go and do what you think is best at the time.” Peabody has had plenty of time to reminisce about his rodeo days. “It’s emotional because it brings you back to all the things you went through,” he said. “You haven’t thought about them in years. It (being selected to the Hall) brings it back up and how appreciative you are of the road you took.” The only drawback for Peabody about going into the Hall of Fame was having to be in front of a crowd during the induction ceremony. “If you won a rodeo, and I won major rodeos and stuff, you never had to give a speech about it,” he joked. “That probably scares me more than getting on (Reg Kesler’s) Moonshine.”

ProRodeo Sports News 8/2/2019

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