Ride 'em cowboy — Utah County horseman heads for bright lights of Vegas
That wasn't the story last year when the Payson bronc buster made his first ride at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo — the equivalent of a Super Bowl for cowboys.
Sure, he'd dreamed about making it to the national rodeo since he was a junior buckaroo. And, sure, he'd ridden hundreds of horses at hundreds of rodeos across the nation. But Davis had never gone for eight — seconds, that is — in front of such a roaring, screaming crowd.
"I'd been in big rodeos, but not like this," Davis said Saturday in his dad's shed. Davis' riding equipment had been placed on a nearby table, and the season's first snow covered the ground outside. "That's a big place."
Davis is one of six Utah rodeo athletes who are headed to Las Vegas to compete in the 2007 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, which starts Thursday and runs until Dec. 15. Last year, more than $5 million in prize money was given away to the top contestants, and the rodeo drew an estimated crowd of 176,625.
This year, more than $5.5 million will be awarded to the nation's top cowboys and cowgirls who vie for money and bragging rights in such events as bull riding, saddle bronc riding, bareback riding, tie-down roping, team roping, steer wrestling and barrel racing.
If the lights, noise and crowd made Jess Davis antsy, his performance didn't reflect it. He finished in fifth place, earning about $57,800 in prize money. This year, he's going into the national rodeo ranked No. 4 in bareback riding. He's also earned more than $88,000 this year.
The money's nice, Jess Davis says, but the real thrill comes from "making a good ride" on a horse that would like nothing better than to toss a rider off.
Davis started his rodeo career as a junior buckaroo in Salem, a town about 13 miles south of Provo. He competed in a few different events before he tried bareback riding and saddle bronc riding on for size. He made his first ride in 1991, but it must have been less than memorable.
"It was a blur," Davis said, laughing. "Don't even remember if I stayed on for eight or not."
He's improved since, said Rod Davis, with some help from Lewis Feild, an Elk Ridge resident who won three consecutive world championships for all-around cowboy and back-to-back world titles for bareback riding in the mid-1980s.
Rod Davis knows his son thrives on the challenges of rodeo life, as well as the triumphs, as when Jess earned 89 points — a bareback riding score as rare as a hen's tooth — at a rodeo in Ellensburg, Wash.
Recent comments
Regarding my last comment- good luck also to barrel racer Vickie…
Wesley | Dec. 4, 2007 at 10:52 a.m.
Or is it Lewis Field? Anyway, good luck to all the Utah Cowboys.…
Wesley | Dec. 4, 2007 at 10:47 a.m.
The name is Lewis Feild not Feilds.
Bob | Dec. 4, 2007 at 8:43 a.m.
