Bull Riders Steal Show at Caldwell Night Rodeo

By: Susan Kanode for the Caldwell Night Rodeo

CALDWELL, Idaho — Bull power has been just as expected at this year’s Caldwell Night Rodeo.

Powder River Rodeo company from Riverton, Wyoming serves as the main stock contractor here. They have a partnership with D&H Cattle Company who have a reputation for raising bucking bulls that are tremendous athletes that are hard to ride.

Under the direction of Dillon and H.D. Page, their breeding program is known worldwide and has produced bulls that have titles of their own in both the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) and the Professional Bull Riders. Those bulls have been showcased at the Caldwell Night Rodeo and there are far more cowboys bucked off than bulls that get ridden.

That certainly has been the case at the 2021 edition of the rodeo. The first two nights of the rodeo, one bull rider lasted the required eight seconds each night. Thursday’s rodeo doubled those numbers.

At the top of the night was a 21-year-old from Mangum, Okla. The former state high school rodeo champion joined the PRCA in 2019 while he was competing in high school and has been dreaming of rides like he had in the D&B Supply Arena on Thursday night.

Jesse Hopper bested Powder River Rodeo’s bull named Bone Breaker. No bones were broken and after his successful ride, Hopper had 87 points beside his name. It is the highest marked ride of his career and had to be one of the most exciting.

Soon after Hopper got off of his bull, he jumped on the back of a horse and rode it around the arena for the traditional victory lap in front of a very enthusiastic, near-capacity crowd.

Thursday night was “Power of Pink” night at the Caldwell Night Rodeo, a campaign that has been held here to raise funds to provide mammograms for women in the Treasure Valley. This year’s donations from ticket sales and the auctioning off of a Power of Pink flag is expected to add $60,000 to the fund.

The fourth performance of the rodeo will start at 8 p.m. on Friday. The competition will determine all of Saturday night’s championship qualifiers in each of the events but the bull riding.

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The following are current leaders at the 97th Caldwell Night Rodeo.

THIRD PERFORMANCE —

Bareback riding: 1, Clayton Biglow, Clements, Calif., 85 points on Legend Rodeo Stock’s Cool Agent. 2, Jamie Howlett, Wasta, S.D., 82. 3, Kash Wilson, Gooding, Idaho, 81.5. 4, Logan Patterson, Kim, Colo., 79.5.

Steer wrestling: 1, Taz Olson, Prairie City, S.D., 4.9. 2, Chance Howard, Sadler, Texas, 5.6. 3, Cameron Morman, Glen Ullin, N.D., 5.6. 4, Jake Kraupie, Bridgeport, Neb., 6.7.

Team roping: (three times) 1, Tanner Pallesen, Manila, Utah and Arye Espenscheid, Big Piney, Wyo., 7.3 seconds. 2, Dex Maddock, Adrian, Ore., and Kurtis Barry, Wilder, Idaho, 11.3. 3, Blake Hirdes, Turlock, Calif., and Dalton Pearce, San Luis Obispo, 14.9.

Breakaway roping: (two times) 1, Codilynn McPherson, West Warren, Utah, 3.5 seconds. 2, Erika Chartrand, Randlett, Utah, 4.0.

Saddle bronc riding: 1, (tie) Sterling Crawley, Huntsville, Texas, on Powder River Rodeo’s Blue Northern and Lucas Macza, High River, Alberta, on Legends Rodeo Stock’s Navajo Sun, 84.5 points each. 3, (tie) Dawson Dahm, Tomahawk, Alberta and Treyson Antonick, Overton, Texas, 81.

Tie down roping: (three times) 1, Grady Kirkes, Carlsbad, N.M., 10.7 seconds. 2, Marcos Costa, Iretama, Brazil, 18.6. 3, Kolbey Hughes, St. George, Utah, 21.4.

Barrel racing: 1, Abby Phillips, Marshall, Texas, 17.36 seconds. 2, Ashley Castleberry, Montgomery, Texas, 17.38. 3, Amberley Snyder, Tremonton, Utah, 17.47. 4, Jordan Minor, Hermiston, Ore., 17.53.

Bull riding: (two rides) 1, Jesse Hopper, Mangum, Okla., 87 points on Powder River Rodeo’s Bone Breaker. 2, J.C. Mortensen, Paulden, Ariz., 85.5.

Current Leaders –

Bareback Riding: 1, Orin Larsen, Inglis, Manitoba, 86.5 points on Burch Rodeo’s Tequila Time. 2, Clayton Biglow, Clements, Calif., 85. 3, (tie) Caleb Bennett, Corvallis, Mont., and Jess Pope, Waverly, Kan., 84 each. 5, Garett Shadbolt, Merriman, Neb., 82.5. 6, Jamie Howlett, Wasta, S.D., and Kash Wilson, Gooding, Idaho, 82.

Steer Wrestling: (second round) 1, Dirk Tavenner, Rigby, idaho, 3.7 seconds. 2, CRiley Reiss, Manning, N.D., 4.0. 3, Tristan Martin, Sulphur, La., 4.1. 4, Cash Robb, Altamont, Utah, 4.2. (overall) 1(tie) Tristan Martin, Sulphur, La; Walt Arnold, Coleman, Texas; and Clayton Hass, Weatherford, Texas; 8.9. 4, Marc Joiner, Loranger, La., 9.1. 5, J.D. Struxness, Milan, Minn., 9.3. 6, Dylan Schroeder, Waller, Texas, 9.5.

Team roping: (second round) 1, (tie)Tate Kirchenschlager, Yuma, Colo., and Cole Davison, Stephenville, Texas; and Tyler Wade, Terrell, Texas, and Trey Yates, Pueblo, Colo., 4.2 seconds each. 3, (tie) Jake Orman, Prairie, Miss., and Brye Crites, Welch, Okla.; Quinn Kesler, Holden, Utah and Caleb Hendrix, Fallon, Nev.; and Coy Rahlmann, Ellsinore, Mo., and Douglas Rich, Herrick, Ill., 4.3 each. (overall) 1, Wade and Yates, 9.9. 2, Tanner Tomlinson, Angleton, Texas, and Patrick Smith, Lipan, Texas, 10.4. 3, Kaleb Driggers, Hoboken, Ga., and Junior Nogueira, Presidente Prude, Brazil, 10.7. 4, Nick Sartain, Bandera, Texas, and Reagan Ward, Edmond, Okla., 10.9. 5, Clay Smith, Broken Bow, Okla., and Jade Corkill, Fallon, Nev., 11.0. 6, Levi Simpson, Ponoka, Alberta, and Tyler Worley, Berryville, Ark., 11.0.

Breakaway roping: (second round) 1, Erin Johnson, Fowler, Colo., 2.3 seconds. 2, Amanda Coleman, Stephenville, Texas, 3.0. 3, (tie) Shelby Logan, Marsing, Idaho, and Codilynn Mcpherson, West Warren, Utah, 3.5 each. 5, Ashley Goforth, Azle, Texas, 3.7. (overall) 1, Johnson, 4.8. 2, Coleman, 6.1. 3, McPherson, 6.8. 4, (tie) Logan and Goforth, 6.9. 6, Erika Chartrand, 7.6.

Saddle bronc riding: 1, Stetson Wright, Milford, Utah, 88 points on Burch Rodeo’s Lil Stomper. 2, Allen Boore, Axtell, Utah, 86. 3, Jarrod Hammons, Stephenville, Texas, 86. 4, Jesse Wright, Milford, Utah, 85. 5, (tie) Wyatt Casper, Pampa, Texas; Sterling Crawley, Stephenville, Texas; and Lucas Macza, High River, Alberta; 84.5 each.

Tie-down roping: (second round) 1, Shad Mayfield, Clovis, N.M., 7.6 seconds. 2, (tie) Kincade Henry, Mount Pleasant, Texas, and Cory Solomon, Prairie View, Texas, 7.7 each. 4, (tie) Caleb Smidt, Bellville, Texas, and Marty Yates, Stephenville, Texas, 8.1. (overall) 1, Mayfield, 15.3. 2, Smidt, 16.1. 3, Yates, 16.3. 4, Westyn Hughes, Caldwell, Texas, 16.9. 5, Austin Atkinson, Anderson, Texas, 17.8. 6, Kyle Lucas, Carstairs, Alberta, 18.0.

Barrel racing: (second round) 1, Meka Farr, Honeyville, Utah, 17.12 seconds. 2, Ivy Saebens, Nowata, Okla., 17.17. 3, Jamie Steiner, Weatherford, Texas, 17.34. 4, Jordon Briggs, Chilton, Texas, 17.35. (overall) 1, Briggs, 34.59. 2, Saebens, 34.62. 3, Farr, 34.71. 4, Katie Halbert, Port Lavaca, Texas, 34.85. 5, Cheyenne Wimberley, Stephenville, Texas, 34.98. 6, Paige Jones, Wayne, Okla., 35.03.

Bull Riding: (four rides) 1, Stetson Wright, Milford, Utah, 92 points on Powder River rodeo’s Mister Universe. 2, Jesse Hopper, Mangum, Okla., 87. 3, J.C. Mortensen, Paulden, Ariz., 85.5. 4, Jate Rae Frost, Randlett, Utah, 79.