Texas Bareback Rider Brown Earns Lots of Green
LOGANDALE, Nev. – Once bareback rider Jake Brown got into the April 8-11 Clark County Fair & Rodeo as a replacement, he took full advantage of the opportunity.
The Hillsboro, Texas cowboy had an 85-point ride on Growney Brothers Rodeo’s Redheaded Stepchild to win the event title at this $196,669 Wrangler Million Dollar Silver Tour rodeo.
“I had never been on that horse before,” said Brown, 25, who made his victorious ride on April 10. “It was exciting and it was a fight from the beginning to the end. She bucked hard the whole time and she was a good horse. I had no idea what my score was going to be. I just knew she was bucking.”
The effort of Brown and the Growney Brothers’ horse at the Clark County Fairgrounds allowed Brown to leave Logandale with a $5,288 check. The performance also enabled Brown to increase his 2015 season total to $12,206 which is the third highest total he’s had in six years as a pro (with six months left in the season).
“I got in as a replacement, so winning this rodeo was a very big deal for me,” Brown said. “This is awesome and it is the biggest win of my career.”
Brown, who was a rookie in 2009, had his best season in 2013 when he earned $16,063 and finished 49th in the world. A year ago, he was 65th in the Windham Weaponry High Performance PRCA World Standings with $11,810 in winnings.
“Last year I stayed at home a lot,” Brown said. “This year I’ve already been entering a lot more and rodeoing a lot more. Last year, I think my rodeo count was 25 or something like that, and this year I’m going full time. It also has helped me this year to have a good (traveling partner) in Bill Tutor, and I’m going for it and rodeoing hard.”
After his win in Logandale, Brown knows he must keep things in perspective.
“I just have to stay focused on the task at hand, and keep having fun,” Brown said. “I know it would mean the world to me if I could qualify for the NFR.”
When Brown isn’t on the rodeo trail, he has spent the last three years as an assistant coach for Hill College’s rodeo team in Hillsboro. Brown’s father, Paul Brown, has coached the Rebels rodeo team the past 24 years.
“I’ve been around coaching my whole life,” Jake said. “It has been really fun coaching with my dad. We get along really, really well.”
The younger Brown attended Hill College for two years and then graduated from Sam Houston State (Huntsville, Texas) last spring with a degree in agricultural business.
Other winners in Logandale were all-around cowboy Clayton Hass ($1,292, tie-down roping, steer wrestling and team roping), steer wrestler Dakota Eldridge (10.5 seconds on two head), team ropers Clay Tryan and Jade Corkill (9.4 seconds on two head), saddle bronc rider Rusty Wright (86 points on Sankey Pro Rodeo & Robinson Bulls’ Crow Nation), tie-down roper Marcos Costa (18.2 seconds on two head), barrel racer Jackie Ganter (16.91 seconds) and bull riders Dallee Mason (83 points on Big Stone, Moreno & Growney Rodeo’s Duck Butter) and Elliot Jacoby (83 points on Big Stone, Moreno & Growney Rodeo’s Dr. Lector).
Courtesy of PRCA