‘It definitely beats on a guy’: 20-year-old Montana native follows in father’s rodeo footsteps; places second at Spokane Interstate Rodeo

Stretch, pray and get out there.

That’s Ty Owens’ simple routine before he mounts a bucking horse and goes on a wild eight-second ride in front of an arena full of rodeo fans.

Owens, a 20-year-old from Helena took second place in bareback riding this weekend in front of a packed crowd at the Spokane Interstate Rodeo.

Bareback riding kicked off Saturday night’s rodeo festivities at the Spokane County Fair & Expo Center, while roping and wrestling steer, barrel racing, bull riding and a funny rodeo clown kept the crowd boisterous and entertained.

Owens is in his third year of professional rodeo and is part of the Montana ProRodeo Circuit.

He said he’s been around the sport almost his entire life. His father was a bareback rider, and Owens always wanted to try it. Once he did, he couldn’t stop, he said.

He started riding sheep, calves and steers as a youth and worked his way up to bucking horses his freshman year of high school.

“It took a while to figure out,” Owens said. “It definitely beats on a guy.”

His most serious injuries from riding are a dislocated shoulder and broken leg, but he considers himself fortunate he hasn’t had additional injuries or worse ones. His neck is typically most sore after a night of riding, Owens said.

He said he competed in bareback riding and bull riding his first year of pro rodeo and then dropped bull riding to focus on bareback.

“(I) didn’t like hitting the ground twice a night,” Owens said of the two events.

In bareback, riders, using one hand to control, must stay on the horse for eight seconds as the animal bucks. Riders are scored on their control and spurring technique. Owens scored a 78 out of 100 Saturday night, earning him runner-up.

He said a rider can never master the sport. There’s always something to improve.

“That’s what I love about it,” he said.

Owens said he works out hard during the rodeo season and offseason to keep in shape.

Owens, who wrestled at Broadwater High School in Townsend, Montana, said good conditioning and stamina is more important than strength because a rider is not going to be stronger than the horse.

He said wrestling and bareback riding are similar in a few ways, and many rodeo contestants are former wrestlers.

“I just try to stay super conditioned, kind of like a wrestling athlete would,” Owens said. “Stay lean and mean and be as fast as possible.”

Owens said he knows he’s worked hard and has years of experience, so he simply trusts the process when it comes to mentally preparing for the eight-second ride in front of thousands of people.

“When I get there, I just try not to think about it and just do my thing, let it take care of itself,” he said.