Bareback Thrill Riding at the Rodeo: This Cowboy Embraces One of the World’s Most Dangerous Sports

Competition at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is fierce. Cowboys and cowgirls do their best under the intense pressure and stadium lights for three weeks — and then they move on. They’re skilled at their sport and at getting in the zone.

That’s especially true of rough-stock competitors, where the cowboy is judged on his performance as well as the livestock’s. They give it their all, with half their score relying on a powerful, unpredictable animal. PaperCity sat down with an adrenaline junkie cowboy to find out what spurs him to dig his spurs into a bucking bronco.

Bareback rider Will Lowe knows a thing or two. The Kansas native has qualified for the WNFR 14 times, and he’s been World Champion three times. But unlike many cowboys competing at RodeoHouston, Lowe doesn’t come from a rodeo family.

He got his start young, but “I didn’t grow up a cowboy. We lived in town,” Lowe tells PaperCity. The cowboy got a taste of the rodeo life at the American Royal Livestock, Horse Show and Rodeo in Kansas City. He fell in love with it.

“I wanted to be a cowboy,” Lowe says. His parents backed him completely. “They didn’t have very many saddles for a saddle bronc riding 7-year-old kid,” Lowe laughs. “So I kind of went to bareback riding and just took off.”

High-Risk Rides

Bareback riding is one of the most physically demanding rodeo events. Coordination, skill and balance are key to success — and safety. The riveting rough stock competition comes with a high risk of injury, with cowboys’ hands rigged tightly. If you get bucked off the side opposite of your rigged hand, you’re likely to get hung up.

“Even the ones that are easy to ride still kind of hurt. They still beat on you a little bit,” Lowe says.

And cowboys can’t go out of style. They have to lean back while spurring in a super stylized manner, one that isn’t actually done in ranch practice. At the first jump out of the chute, the cowboy’s spurs must be above the point of the horse’s shoulders. They must touch the horse on every single jump for the full 8 seconds.

Judges score cowboys based on their spurring technique and control, while horses are evaluated on their agility, speed and power. “If your horse doesn’t perform, you’re kind of out of it already,” Lowe says. “My philosophy is to just go out there and do the best you can each time, and be happy knowing you gave it your all.”

And Lowe always gives it his all. “It’s an extremely dangerous sport, so if you’re not motivated, you’ve got a serious problem.” Lowe can’t say how you push through. In his words, you just do. “It’s just the cowboy way to get your job done,” he says.

As soon as he gets in the chute, Lowe runs through the basics. “When you crawl down in there, you get your hand in the rigging. You’re thinking about your horse standing good, you want him to be able to lead clean and get a good strong mark out,” Lowe says. “Then, it just kind of goes to reaction after that.”

Lowe has gotten the job done in Houston many times over. Two rides truly stand out to the bareback rider. “I’ve had a bunch of really great go’s here. I got to get on Fancy Free one time and Scarlet’s Web one time,” Lowe says. “Those are great horses to ride, big money.”

The cowboy admits he’s an adrenaline junkie, but the rush doesn’t rank as his favorite part of the rodeo. “It’s being able to show everybody the history of what we do,” Lowe says. “Almost everything here in rodeo goes back to ranches, stuff that you still do today. It’s being able to show people that aren’t from Western or agriculture lifestyle how things really work on the ranch.”

His small ranch is a great place to train, “and there’s always a lot of stuff to do there.” Lowe’s two little boys are avid Mutton Busters, with the oldest doing a run at NRG Stadium during the Houston Rodeo. It’s great for all kids, Lowe says. “It’s just fun to watch little kids overcome their fears.”

Lowe will let his sons grow up to be cowboys, or anything else they want to be.

“My parents were just super supportive of whatever I wanted to do,” Lowe says. “If they want to be a baseball player or an engineer, whatever they want to do, we’re behind them.”