The Minor brothers are fourth generation ranchers and rodeo athletes that hail from Ellensburg, Washington. Brady and Riley are the first to hit the rodeo road hard and take the rodeo career to a professional level.
This past year, the Minor brothers were just outside of the top 15 in the PRCA World Standings and a win at Pendleton would cinch their spot at the National Finals Rodeo. Riley was on his backup horse, Tupac, and it was a tough round of team roping so he went full throttle.
“When that steer came by me, down the lane, I knew he was going fast and I went as hard as I could… So when I came across there I reached out there, and you know normally you kind of safety up… but if I go slow right there I’m not going to place. So I went ahead and let my horse kind of duck out of there,” Riley said.
Tupac slipped on the grass and Riley ended up with a broken ankle and dislocated shoulder. Despite these injuries, Riley knew he could still make the NFR if he had a good run at Salinas. He followed up with a doctor in Ellensburg that got him set to run in Salinas.
“I was like, there was a whole new excitement… I don’t know if I can handle this pain but I’m going to try it,” Riley said.
Riley had full support from both his brother and his wife heading to Salinas.
PRORODEO TONIGHT RILEY MINOR PART 2
In Salinas, Riley’s good friend, Matt Sherwood, warmed Riley’s horse up and loaned him a stirrup that felt better.
“I took a few circles at Salinas there to kind of see what it would feel like, but I tried putting zero weight int that left foot. I felt like I was going to fall off, I was like a barrel racer. They put a rubber band around my left foot just so it wouldn’t come out of the stirrup,” Riley said.
The Justin Sportsmedicine Team tapped Riley’s foot and took care of him while he was in Salinas gunning for his next trip to the NFR. Adrenaline was another friend to Riley during Salinas, kicking in just in time for his runs. Riley barely missed being the No. 15 Team Roping Header in the World for 2021.
Riley has surgery in Seattle with a well-known surgeon. The surgery went well and Riley ended up roping in Las Vegas and the World Series Finals with Cory Petska. The pair might not have been roping at the Thomas and Mack but they ended up the World Series Open Champions and Riley won close to $40,000 making Las Vegas a bittersweet trip.
“He was pretty set on getting back to it. He had a timeline and he knew where he wanted to rope next,” said Jordan Minor, Riley’s wife.
He kept up with the physical therapy after Las Vegas and Riley and Brady are back on the pro road ready to make their next NFR together.