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Jayne Out Indefinitely with Pelvis Injury

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Bareback rider Evan Jayne, who qualified for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in 2015-16, is out indefinitely after breaking his pelvis. The injury occurred during a ride on United Pro Rodeo’s Happy Trails on April 27 at the Ropin’ Dreams Cowboy Fellowship PRCA Rodeo in Jourdanton, Texas.

“I had some issues with my pelvis with tendinitis and it had been bugging me for about a year and I kept rodeoing on it,” Jayne said. “I was hoping it would get better, and I think that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I hit my riggin’ and I felt a pop. I tried to come off my horse and he sent me back against my riggin’ and I felt a second pop. I finally bailed off about five seconds into the ride and I just called somebody to help me get up because I knew I broke my pelvis.”

Jayne also tore some arteries in his pelvis, which caused internal bleeding and resulted in emergency surgery.

“I had to have surgery (April 27) to get the internal bleeding taken care of, and then I had surgery (April 28) to fix my pelvis,” Jayne said. “They put one plate and a screw in my pelvis. The doctors said I will be on crutches for three months because I can’t put any weight on my left leg, and I will be out of action for a year total.”

Jayne was 19th in the April 30 RAM PRCA World Standings with $21,605. The 35-year-old Jayne said he will likely retire following the injury.

“I’m going to try and stay positive and hold on to the positive things in my life,” he said. “I was thinking about retiring after this year or definitely slowing down. But, I have been hurt so much the last 20 years, and bareback riding, you never feel 100 percent. After 20 years of riding bareback horses, I’m just ready to turn the page and try new goals in my life. So, I think this is going to be it for me.”

Jayne and his wife, Kristin, have a daughter, Sienna, 5, and they are expecting a baby boy in August. The couple also moved into a new home in Glen Rose, Texas, last August.

The highlight of Jayne’s rodeo career came in 2015 when he made history as the first European-born competitor at the Wrangler NFR.

The Marseille, France, native saw his first rodeo at age 14, and at 16 he moved to the United States as a foreign-exchange student.

He started off riding bulls in America, but after getting stepped on, decided that bareback riding was the event for him.

Jayne placed ninth in the world standings in 2015 and was 13th in 2016.

“Like any bareback rider, my career was a roller-coaster of emotions,” Jayne said. “It has been great, especially the last few years. I accomplished my goal, which was to make the NFR. Really, one of my goals toward the end of my career was to come out of this being healthy and being able to enjoy the other things I want to do in life. If I just keep pushing so hard on my body I will not be able to enjoy the normal things of being a parent and taking my kids skiing and mountain biking. I’m very active and I want to pass that on to my kids and I want to be able to do that stuff with them. It has become more important to me to be able to do things with my kids than it is for me to ride bareback horses.”

Outside of rodeo, Jayne has been building luxury treehouses, and he would like to build a bed-and-breakfast.

“I love Texas and I love France, and I also started a company where I tour Texas with French people and I tour France with Americans,” Jayne said. “I’ve done a few of those trips and there are a lot of things I’ve been wanting to do that I had to put on the back burner because of rodeo.”

Courtesy of PRCA

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