After 20 Years, Legend Billy Etbauer Still Atop WNFR Record Book
Billy Etbauer is hanging on for dear life.
The sun has set in Edmond, Okla., dropping temperatures after an unseasonably warm February day. From his recliner, Etbauer needs to get a grip quickly before something breaks loose.
Not that long ago, his hands would’ve been firmly clasped around the rein needed to make eight seconds as part of the saddle bronc riding competition he was about to take part in. Now, he’s holding tight to a phone in one hand and a squirming one-year old grandchild in the other.
“We’re starting to have all the fun with these little guys,” Etbauer said with grandfatherly pride, discussing his two grandsons, both of whom are less than two years old.
It doesn’t seem like that long ago that Etbauer, a five-time Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association World Champion, was on the back of a horse, gripping a rein and hoping to hear a buzzer before hitting dirt. It’s even harder to believe that it’s been nearly two full decades since one of the biggest rides of his life.
Back in 2003, Etbauer was looking to cap a solid season with a strong showing at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. For his fifth-round go, Etbauer had drawn Cool Alley Dip from Kesler Championship Rodeo, a horse he hadn’t personally seen over the course of the season.
With the ease of instant highlights and internet video searches still years away, Etbauer turned to some fellow competitors who had experience with the animal to gather some intel. To be fair, it might not have helped.
“With him being at the Finals, we definitely knew quite a little about him. But I was never really good at that stuff anyway, remembering all that stuff,” Etbauer joked.
What happened next was literal NFR history, as Etbauer held on for eight seconds, landed on his rear and popped up to see the scoreboard displaying a 93-point ride. That effort was good enough to stand alone as the highest saddle bronc scoring effort in NFR history.
It didn’t stay by itself long.
A year later, in Round 10 of NFR, Etbauer and Cool Alley were paired for a rematch. The sequel didn’t disappoint as Etbauer once again rode to 93 points, tying his own NFR record. A year after finishing seventh in the world standings, his record-tying final ride in Las Vegas propelled him to the last of his five PRCA World Championships in saddle bronc.
“(The second ride) was definitely scary there. It was kind of the perfect scenario and a really cool deal all the way around,” Etbauer said. “I was scared to death, but just kind of went in and said, ‘Don’t worry about nothing. Just go take care of business. It is what it is when you get all done.’ And thank God it all worked out.”
Over the course of his career, Etbauer reset numerous NFR-related records. In 2005, he broke the record for most saddle bronc earnings at NFR, a record he had already reset the year before. In 2007, he passed Tom Reeves for most NFR qualifications all-time in the event and continued to add to it, reaching 21 trips before concluding his career.
But even Etbauer acknowledges that after 20 years it’s surprising that his 93 has only been tied, not broken. Stetson Wright pulled even with the mark in 2021 on Vitalix Ricky Bobby from Cervi Championship Rodeo.
And despite those two incredible rides that have stood the test of time, Etbauer will argue they could have been better. That’s the mindset that made him a world champion then and helps him keep a grip on world records two decades later.
“Whether it was actually a 93 or not, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you how much it was one way or another, but I can assure you I was always picking it apart, looking for where I could have done something else a whole lot better,” Etbauer said. “Anytime I got off, I always thought there was something I could have done better.”
Courtesy of PRCA