Ropers, riders bring a bevy of experience in other sports to the rodeo arena

Matt Bright, of Azle, Texas, scores 79 points on Itchy Bond in the bareback bronc riding Friday at the Caldwell Night Rodeo.

Darin Oswald ? doswald@idahostatesman.com

They?re called steer wrestlers and bareback bronc riders. They?re known as team ropers, bull riders and barrel racers.

But the contestants who have performed at the Caldwell Night Rodeo this week also could be described with one simple word: athletes.

?There?s a lot of really good all-around athletes out here,? said Kaden Richard, who teamed up with Jory Levy for a 6.7 second effort Friday night in the team-roping event.

Richard knows a thing or two about athletics. He was a running back and free safety on his high school football team in Utah. He said he was also drafted by the Chicago White Sox out of high school, and earned a scholarship to play baseball at the College of Eastern Idaho.

And Richard isn?t an anomaly. Many of the cowboys that were vying for Saturday night?s championship round have sports backgrounds.

JR Vezain had the top ride Friday night in the bareback bronc riding event with an 83-point ride. Before he was a professional cowboy, Vezain was a two-time high school wrestling champion from Wyoming.

?I wrestled from when I was 5 years old until I graduated,? Vezain said. ?If I didn?t start rodeoing I would have gone on to college to wrestle. That was my life.?

And all those years of wrestling didn?t go to waste. The sport taught him many lessons that translate to his current job.

?It teaches you how to work out and get to know your body and control your body,? Vezain said. ?It gives you the mental toughness. If you got to a high class of wrestling you know how to win, you know how to bear down and do what you have to do to make it work.?

Oregon cowboy Steven Peebles played both football and baseball at Redmond High School.

?I always grew up around sports,? Peebles said before scoring 78 points on his re-ride in the bareback bronc riding event. ?It makes it a little easier, as far as the coordination part now.?

Peebles? performance in front of the rodeo fans is over in mere seconds, but hours and hours of preparation go into those seconds.

?It?s a lot of work, a lot of training and a lot of healthy eating,? he said. ?Being on the rankest horses that weigh 1,500 pounds and want to throw you off ? you?ve got to be in shape.?

Peebles said the rodeo world has become more and more competitive as cowboys turn to fitness and training.

?I think it?s become a little more serious, and guys just really have to be athletes,? he said. ?Guys are having to change their ways. If you?re body?s not in shape, you?re going to pull muscles and have pinched nerves.?

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