Kade Bruno came from a rodeo family, his dad professionally riding bulls until it was time to settle down and raise a family.
“A rodeo family means everything, you know. It’s something that a lot of families grow up doing, it’s their get away… on the weekends, instead of going camping, the family would pack up and go to a rodeo and I think that’s more special,” Bruno said.
He got his start in rodeo at a young age, starting with the sheep riding. He thought he was going to be a bull rider but in 2016, he took to saddle bronc riding.
“The very first saddle bronc I ever got on, I don’t remember all that well. Everything happens so fast. It was an old horse from Summit Pro Rodeo… They called her Blue 82,” he said.
Bruno went on to high school rodeo in both bull riding and saddle bronc but it was his senior year that he knew he was meant to ride broncs. From there, he went to college just before Covid hit in 2020. But Bruno has no quit and when things got back to normal in the World he kept at it.
He had enough money won going into the 2022 season that Bruno got into the winter rodeos and set himself for a great summer.
“Probably the NFR Open was when everything kind of became real that I had a shot to make the finals. I got on All Or Nothin there and I feel like that was a turning point in my season… I was 90 I think for only the second time in my career,” he said.
Bruno’s NFR Open win moved him into the Top 10 in PRCA World and today, is Vegas bound.
“I grew up watching the NFR from the time I can remember. My dad’s always talked about it and he’s always told me that if I followed my dreams and kept my head on the shoulders, I could go wherever I wanted,” Bruno said.