Riggin Smith Tops Saddle Bronc Riding Rookie Standings
Tearing his PCL, MCL and the meniscus in his right leg on Aug. 22 didn’t stop Riggin Smith from finishing atop the 2020 PRCA | Resistol Rookie Standings. That’s the level of grit to be expected from a cowboy from the same town as John Wayne.
“That was my goal for the year, and it backs up all the hard work you put into something,” the Winterset, Iowa, cowboy said. “You only get one shot at it, and it’s whoever really wants it. I think I got lucky enough and drew really good, so that helped me out.”
At the time of his injury, Smith led the PRCA | Resistol Rookie Standings by about $10,000. His lead shrunk to $4,591 by the end of the season, but he still had enough to win the rookie title with $27,164.
“I’m just happy to be part of the rookie class that I was in, there are a lot of guys who ride really good,” said Smith, 22. “Recovery has been slow, but I’m walking around good now and doing a lot of physical therapy, and so I should be back in November.”
Smith gave his rookie season a jumpstart by winning the RAM Great Lakes Circuit Finals Rodeo to earn $9,894 on Nov. 16, 2019.
Of all his rookie-season achievements, Smith is most proud of winning the Sikeston (Mo.) Jaycee Bootheel Rodeo with 88.5 points on The Cervi Brothers’ Womanizer, the 2019 Saddle Bronc Riding Horse of the Year.
“She’s one of the buckingest horses in the world, and I’ve been on colts that buck really hard, but not with a horse with that big of a name,” Smith said. “They are 90 or in the high 80s every time they get on her, and it proved to myself that I can handle that caliber of horse, and that’s just really big for me.”
Of course, no rookie season is complete without some learning experiences.
“Don’t take a bad experience to heart, like not riding very good,” Smith said. “I don’t like losing at all, I’m very competitive and if I’m losing that bothers me bad. Lefty Holman and Wyatt Casper taught me to let it go since there’s another one tomorrow and to be more forgiving to myself.”
Unfortunately, opportunities to compete were stunted in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Smith has an optimistic attitude about it.
“When it all goes back to normal, we are all going to be so happy that it’s not 2020 and that it’s not the corona stuff,” Smith said. “In the long run it’ll make you enjoy the regular side of rodeo and it’ll make everyone happier when it goes back to normal.”
It took Smith about a month to find his groove after the COVID-19 hiatus last spring. He nailed his first big win at the Black Hills Roundup in Belle Fourche, S.D., to earn $5,725 during the Fourth of July.
“It didn’t matter if it was the worst horse in the pen, you were just smiling from ear to ear to get on something, and that makes it fun,” Smith said. “That’s what makes it easy being with Wyatt (Casper) and Lefty (Holman) since they’re so fun and they’re so positive, you can’t help but be positive.”
With 2020 in his rear-view mirror, Smith intends to make a run at the 2021 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo.
“I just need to take every horse super serious since it could come down to one rodeo,” Smith said.
Courtesy of PRCA