#20 Lane Toon Battles Injuries; Hurst Pro Rodeo Sets CBR Attendance Record
Toon and Hurst Head to Cheyenne inside he Top Twenty
Left handed bull rider Lane Toon, 24, of Lane, Oklahoma one of several 2017 World Finals qualifiers who exploded on the CBR bull riding scene as a rookie in 2014. In 2015 he drove into Cheyenne as the #4 ranked cowboy at the CBR World Finals and left with a #6 ranking for the year and most on the back of chutes agreed he was the second best bull riding prospect from Oklahoma.
What happened next is every rookie’s nightmare. Toon, a Smithville, Oklahoma bull rider who began riding in the CBR Horizon series four years ago had to really amp up his efforts in 2016 to make and stay on the televised tour after a shoulder injury caused him to miss four events.
After returning to the arena in January of 2016, Toon suffered a series of buck offs in the first round of nine events, but when the chips were down and the World Finals qualification on the line, Toon was able to put two rides together in Del Rio and make the list of riders for Cheyenne. He did not have the World Finals he had planned and went home in the #25 position after a disappointing 0 for 3.
With his infectious smile and always upbeat attitude, Toon began the season in Huron and didn’t take long to find his stride. Advancing to the final four Shoot Out Round in Laughlin, Toon had his groove back and found himself in the top ten of the CBR World Standings. The fall run continued to be successful for Toon as he advanced to the final four in Conroe, a highly contested event where the riders were on fire and six riders rode two. He actually got on four bulls in Conroe (reride in round one) and covered three of the four for a third place finish with 176.5 points and his CBR best for this season.
Getting them covered runs in the blood for Toon whose grandfather rode bucking horses and both his uncle and dad rode bucking bulls and horses. Toon gravitated solely to bulls and cites the CBR as a prime place to compete.
Toon heads back to Cheyenne this year in the #20 position as a seasoned rider with two final four Shoot Out Round finishes and five advances to the Semifinal round. He rode in seven events before the injury prone horseback hog hunter was injured in the semifinal round at the Jackson, Tennessee CBR in January.
“I broke my collarbone in October but came back and felt good at the first event in Enid and was sitting seventh in the World Standings, then in Jackson – mid ride on Rawson’s Too Juicy – I heard it pop and my left arm went number, I couldn’t feel anything,” said the always optimistic Southern Oklahoma cowboy.
After a series of healing procedures including shaving muscle and a consistent “come back in 4 weeks” Toon was pronounced healed in March…until he picked up a shot gun to shoot some coyotes and it broke…again. This time a plate and eight screws were put in.
Toon might have been sidelined for most of the year but is busy planning the comeback of the year in Cheyenne as he sets his site on winning the prestigious title of CBR World Finals Champion.
“With the CBR they really don’t care who you are and where you come from. If you give it all you’ve got they’ll keep inviting you back. They’re really good events. Once you get on tour a man can have it made.”
#20 CBR Bull Team Challenge – Hurst Pro Rodeo
The only guy on the back of the chutes that has been to every CBR World Finals since the beginning in 2002 when Mighty Mike White was crowned the first CBR World Champion is Lyndal Hurst, owner-operator of Hurst Pro Rodeo Company.
Hurst Pro Rodeo team was third in Del Rio and fourth in Bossier City winning a total of $21,000.
Founded in Lubbock, Texas, but recently making their home at the former Lufkin Ranch and Rodeo just outside Lufkin, Texas, “skinny” will arrive in Cheyenne with a trailer full of buckers and two bull teams competing for the over $100,000 bonus check, custom Bloomer stock trailer, Hy O Silver buckle, American Hat, and the title of CBR World Champion.
Hurst Pro Rodeo is no stranger to the big stage, he bucks bulls in every corner of the industry and has raised and trained several bull of the year candidates including the 2014 CBR Bull of the Year, Got It. This year Hurst’s unridden bucker, 243 Breaking Bad is on Tuff Hedeman’s coveted list of top buckers for the season.
Breaking Bad will unload off the Hurst Rodeo Ranch trailer in July and with him unloads many years of Lyndal Hurst’s life. 243 is a grandson of Houdini, a bull Lyndal Hurst and Gene Baker bought in 2001 for and unprecedented one hundred thousand dollars, a landmark purchase in the industry. Houdini is the all-time leading sire of bucking bulls that compete in aged events.
Fifteen years after making bucking bull history, Lyndal Hurst heads to Cheyenne with an offspring of the partnership that make him a permanent fixture in any conversation of how the bred to buck programs began.
“Watching a bull being born to winning, that we raised from its first two year old trip to the top of his career, watching him work his way thru the system – that is the most rewarding feeling ever,” said Hurst.
Former editor of the Bucking Stock Magazine, Angie Gentry said it best, “This longtime breeder and renowned bucking bull trainer has played a role in the success of numerous futurity champions and has helped shape the industry’s perception of what a good bucking bull is worth.”
Year to year, CBR enjoys Lyndal Hurst’s great buckers on the Road to Cheyenne. Events have been won and lost on some of his favorite stock such as Mooseknuckle, Jawbreaker, Full Throttle, 2014 CBR Bull of the Year Got It, One Eyed Jack, a son of his sire 2002 Buckers Gold Standard Futurity Champion Lightening Jack, and Palace Station John Doe – just to name a few. He was the first to crack the gate on the 2015 Bull of the Year 050 Gold Buckle before selling him to fund his daughter’s college.
Bucking bulls has been a family affair. There is no doubt Lyndal will be in Cheyenne with his family, wife and partner Leslie Hurst, and daughters Taylor and Payton who are no strangers to the bucking chutes!
Courtesy of CBR