Billy Boldon talks like a cowboy. Has a patient nature, speaking humbly, especially of his own excellence. When you have been a professional steer wrestler since 2012, modesty is a wonderful trait, if not necessary given the unpredictable nature of rodeo.
Boldon did not take the opportunity to brag but could have after his recent performance at the Livingston (Mont.) Roundup Rodeo. In a stacked field typical of Cowboy Christmas regulars, Boldon zoomed to a 4.0-second time to hold off Remey Parrott (4.1) and Joe Nelson (4.3) for the top prize.
“Oh, I don’t know what the key was, it just all worked out,” Boldon said. “I didn’t know much about my steer. I just wanted to hit the barrier and make a really good run. We were in that second slack. I knew somebody already had like a 4.6 or something like that, so I figured it was going to take something close to 4.0 because Livingston is pretty fast. I didn’t want to back off, that’s for sure.”
His horse would not have approved. Part of the reason Boldon continues to enjoy bulldogging after all these years is that he’s been aboard great horses provided by fellow steer wrestler and Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier Cameron Morman. Boldon has delivered on Rio and Kenneth. Either one works. And in Montana, it was Kenneth who powered the victory.
“Man, they are both awesome. Kenneth is really easy to score. He tries hard every time, and he always keeps you in it,” Boldon said. “I have been very fortunate to have those two horses.”
Talk to Boldon for a few minutes, and it’s obvious he loves what he does. It’s not just the competition. That’s a given. It’s everything else.
“All the guys out there are my buddies. The bulldoggers, it’s a pretty tight group. We are great friends,” said Boldon, who hails from Oglala, S.D. “Everybody wants everybody to win, and everybody is in your corner, and you can feel that when you are there (in the arena competing).”
A stop in Utah sits next on the calendar. Boldon will maintain a simple approach, not focusing on what a hot streak might bring at season’s end.
“I am just going to keep going out there trying to make good runs. I don’t have any big plans or anything like that,” Boldon said. “It’s just about showing up and doing my job.”
Other winners at the $251,507 rodeo were all-around cowboy Chet Weitz ($1,398, tie-down roping and team roping); bareback rider Sam Petersen (86.5 points on Silver Creek Pro Rodeo’s Trumpy Bear); team ropers Dustin Egusquiza/Levi Lord (3.9 seconds); saddle bronc rider Houston Brown (86 points on Mosbrucker Rodeos’ Whats Crackin’); tie-down ropers John Douch, Ryan Jarrett, and Matt Shiozawa (7.7 seconds each); barrel racer Stevi Hillman (17.07 seconds); and bull rider Trey Kimzey (87 points on New West Rodeo Productions’ Ghost Town).
Source: ProRodeo
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