For the Record: Red Bluff Round-Up
By Matt Naber
A rich history in professional rodeo combined with large payouts landed the Red Bluff (Calif.) Round-Up in the ProRodeo Hall of Fame in 2015. Since 1946, the West Coast rodeo has attracted some of the biggest names in ProRodeo as they compete for one of the biggest payouts of the year.
Only the best make Red Bluff Round-Up’s record book.
Fresh off his first trip to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, Royce Ford set the Red Bluff bareback riding record with an 89-point ride on Western Rodeo’s Pitch Black in 2004 just as he was starting a streak of seven consecutive qualifications to the Wrangler NFR (2003-09). His eighth qualification came in 2011.
The 2004 season was a good one for the Colorado cowboy. He finished fourth in the world with $146,390 thanks to picking up $47,789 at the 2004 Wrangler NFR, where he placed fifth in the average. At 22, Ford won the Winter Tour Finale (Las Vegas) and was a semifinalist at the Summer Tour Finale (Omaha, Neb.).
That same year, he also won the Dixie National Rodeo (Jackson, Miss.), Rodeo Austin (Texas) and the Caldwell (Idaho) Night Rodeo.
All told, Ford’s ProRodeo career from 2000 through 2011 was worth more than $1 million in prize money.
Cowboys will have a chance to beat Ford’s 2004 record, and the rest listed below, while earning valuable ProRodeo Tour points April 19-21.
Rodeo records
• Total payout: $273,508, 2018
• All-around: Ryle Smith, $7,051, tie-down roping and steer wrestling, 2017
• Bareback riding: 89 points, Royce Ford, 2004
• Steer wrestling: 3.5 seconds, Anson Thurman, 1965
• Team roping: 4.2 seconds, Blaine Linaweaver/B.J. Campbell, 2004; Wade Wheatley/Britt Bockius, 2007; Riley Minor/Brady Minor, 2015
• Saddle bronc riding: 89 points, Chad Ferley, 2010
• Tie-down roping: 7.2 seconds, Clint Robinson, 2004
• Barrel racing: 16.96 seconds, Fallon Taylor, 1995
• Bull riding: 92 points, Robey Condra, 2003; Cody Buller, 2004; Bobby Waller, 2006; Shawn Proctor, 2007
Courtesy of PRCA