Ryder Wright Takes Lead at the Black Hills Roundup
During the two-month rodeo hiatus because of the COVID-19 pandemic, star saddle bronc rider Ryder Wright got on one practice horse.
Moreover, before this week he had only been to three rodeos since competing at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo on Feb. 22.
The Beaver, Utah, cowboy, however, wasn’t worried about his lack of rides when he hit the road for his Cowboy Christmas run.
“I’m always rodeo ready,” said Wright, 22.
The 2017 PRCA world champion proved that July 1.
Wright looked as good as ever when he took the lead at the Black Hills Roundup in Belle Fourche, S.D., with an 86.5-point ride on Powder River Rodeo’s Loaded Deck.
“I think that was the third time I have been on that horse, and that horse is always good,” Wright said. “That’s an awesome horse. He goes out there and buries his head like you want one to and he’s honest as the day is long. I was pumped to draw that one to kick things off for the Fourth of July run. That’s a really cool rodeo (in Belle Fourche). The horses are always good there and it’s a cool atmosphere.”
In November 2018, Wright won the first round of the RAM Wilderness Circuit Finals Rodeo in Heber City, Utah, with an 86-point ride on Loaded Deck.
The Black Hills Roundup runs through Saturday. The performances are streaming live on the PRCA on Cowboy Channel Plus App tonight through Saturday at 9 p.m. (ET), July 2-3 and 5 p.m. July 4.
Subscribe today to + for $9.99/mo. or $89.99/yr. at cowboychannelplus.com.
Wright will ride next at the Cody (Wyo.) Stampede, July 2, the Oakley Independence Day Rodeo in Oakley City, Utah, July 3, and the World’s Oldest Rodeo in Prescott, Ariz., July 4.
“It’s nice to have a few rodeos to go to in a row,” Wright said. “Having the down time at home has been nice because I got time to do stuff that I normally don’t get to do, but it feels good to be back rodeoing. You don’t know how nice it is to be rodeoing until it is gone. It makes you appreciate how much the PRCA has done for me and my family. Everything I have is from the PRCA, and it’s nice to see things starting back up.”
Wright has been putting up fence at home and breaking colts.
“My wife (Cheyenne) and I are also in the process of building a new house in Beaver,” Wright said. “They said they are about three weeks away from breaking ground on our new house.”
Ryder and Cheyenne have a daughter, Bexley, 2.
Courtesy of PRCA