The Top 5 in Bareback riding is full of big names, but now cowboy has had a better season than Jess Pope who continues to separate himself from the field. He has earned $95,000 on the season, which is more than $35,000 clear of Clayton Biglow in second place.
Here is a look at the current Top 20 and how each athlete got to where they are.
1. Jess Pope, $94,428
Pope has been as good as any the last three years in Bareback riding and that trend has continued this season as he is in search of his first career Gold Buckle. On the season Pope has earned nearly $95,000 and has taken a massive lead on the rest of the Bareback Riding field. Pope’s biggest win came at Rodeo Houston where he won over $50,000 at the rodeo.
Pope is averaging 85.60 points per ride, and already has three 90-point rides on the season, matching his total from each of the past two seasons respectively. Pope has already won 15 go-rounds, a career-best.
2. Clayton Biglow, $58,777
The 2019 World Champ is coming off a disappointing season by his standards. Biglow’s tenth place finish in 2021 was the worst of his career, which shows how impressive the 26-year-old has been since becoming a full-time Bareback rider in 2016. As stated above, Biglow has some ground to make up if he wants to catch Pope in first place, but with his talent, nobody would be surprised to see him close the gap in a hurry.
Biglow’s biggest win came at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo where he earned over $10,000 in total thanks to a second-place finish.
3. Cole Reiner, $57,889
Cole Reiner is making up ground in a hurry. His last two rides resulted in wins, first at the San Angelo Cinch Chute out where a 90.5 point ride won him $7,500, and then last weekend at the Clovis Rodeo where an 88 point ride won him over $8,657.
4. Cole Franks, $55,726
21-year-old Cole Franks is quickly proving his 2021 season was no fluke. Franks finished the year in third place and has backed it up as we approach the summer stretch of 2022. Franks is coming off of a solid stretch in mid-April that saw him place second at the San Angelo Cinch Chute-Out and fourth place in Clovis, earning him over $5,000.
5. Kaycee Feild, $51,110
The best to ever do it finds himself inside the top-5 yet again. Feild has held off the youth the last two years, winning back-to-back Gold Buckles, and will clearly be a factor in 2022’s race. Feild appears to be taking some time off as he hasn’t ridden since Rodeo Houston in mid March, but his early-season success has him comfortably inside the top-15.
6. Tim O’Connell, $48,009
Tim O’Connell may be the most consistent Bareback Rider of the last decade. In those ten years, he has qualified for 8 NFRs and has not finished outside of the top 8 in any of those appearances.
This season appears to be no different as O’Connell is in sixth place. O’Connell’s best trip to the pay window came at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo where he won more than $13,000.
7. Chad Rutherford, $46,503
Rutherford is looking to make it back to the NFR after missing it in 2021. On the season Rutherford has already passed his total earnings from 2021 with over $46,000 on the year.
Rutherford is coming off a solid showing in mid-April which saw him earn over $5,000 at the Riggin Rally in Weatherford, Texas, and win the Angelina Benefit Rodeo.
8. Garrett Shadbolt, $43,878
Shadbolt is coming off of a career year where he made his first NFR and finished in fifth place in the World Standings. He is following that up with a solid 2022 campaign as he is now in eighth place in the World thanks to a big showing at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo where he earned $11,000.
9. Tanner Aus, $43,734
Aus is looking to make his seventh career NFR and fourth in a row in 2022. He is averaging 83 points per ride, which would be the second-best of his career.
Aus was marked 91 points back in December at the New Years’ Eve Buck and Ball where he won over $4,000.
10. Caleb Bennett, $38,922
Bennett has been a steady climber in the 2022 World Standings, jumping to the top-10 all the way from the mid-30s back in March. Bennett’s run began with a win at Rodeo Austin which earned him over $15,000.
11. Mason Clements, $38,568
Clements is another cowboy climbing the leaderboard and has a win at the Riggin Rally in Weatherford, Texas to thank. Bennett went 85.5 points to win round three and followed it up with a 90-point ride in the finals to win the rodeo and over $11,000.
12. Rocker Steiner, $30,941
There is no doubt that Rocker would be much higher in the standings had his season not been halted by an injury in mid-March. Steiner was working on an incredible rookie campaign and had just placed second at Rodeo Houston. Steiner, who will return from injury shortly will be a quick climber and is one of the most electric riders on tour.
13. Leighton Berry, $30,686
Berry is coming off of a nice showing in Weatherford Texas where he earned over $5,000 thanks to an 89-point ride that earned him a third-place finish. Berry missed the 2021 NFR after making it the previous year.
14. Wyatt Denny, $30,131
Denny is in a familiar place on the bubble. He has finished 14th twice in his career, 16th once, and a career-best 10th in 2016. Denny has had recent success at the Red Bluff Round-Up where he placed third and earned $4,179.
15. Orin Larsen, $29,435
It’s a bit of a surprise to see Larsen this far down in the standings as he has made the NFR six straight seasons, including a second-place finish in 2019. Larsen had a solid showing at Rodeo Houston where he earned over $7,500.
16. RC Landingham, $27,600
Landingham is searching for his fourth career NFR appearance after making it in 2021. Landingham earned nearly half of his season earnings at Rodeo Houston which included a third-place finish.
17. Lane McGehee, $25,661
McGehee is looking to make his first career NFR after matching a career-best finish in 2021 where he ended up in 31st in the World Standings. McGehee had success at Rodeo Houston where he won two rounds and earned over $5,000.
18. Ty Breuer, $25,280
Breuer may not have a World Title, but he does have over $2,000,000 in career earnings on tour since he joined in 2009. Breuer is looking to get back to the NFR for the first time in two years after making it in 2016-2019.
19. Richmond Champion, $24,226
The seven-time NFR qualifier will be out for the remainder of the season due to a neck injury but has his sights set on a 2023 return.
20. Seth Hardwick, $23,759
Hardwick is looking to make his second career NFR and is coming off of his biggest win of the season at the Clark County Fair and Rodeo.
STANDINGS ARE ACCURATE AS OF APRIL 25 ON PRORODEO.COM