Redmond’s Peebles wins 2nd straight NFR bareback round
LAS VEGAS (AP) — REdmond’s Steven Peebles won his second consecutive bareback round Saturday night in the National Finals Rodeo, scoring 86.5 points on Cool Water.
Peebles, from Redmond, Oregon, has jumped from 14th to third in the season standings in the first three rounds with a total of $151,960. He leads the NFR aggregate standings with 252 points over three rides and tops all NFR competitors with $71,875.
“I feel awesome mentally and physically,” Peebles said. “After riding through pain all season and barely making it into the finals, to be able to do all of this has me speechless. I’m trying not to overthink it and don’t want to change a thing. I want to keep spurring every horse jump-for-jump until this is over.”
Four-time champion Kaycee Feild of Spanish Fork, Utah, leads with $158,290. He failed to earn a check Saturday with a 72.5 on Red Gold.
The NFR’s news release on Friday night’s win:
At this point, Peebles can almost be penciled in to win the second round at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Polaris RANGER.
He is making his seventh appearance in Las Vegas, and tonight was his third-straight victory lap in Round 2 after he rode for 84.5 points on Growney Brothers Rodeo’s Beaver Fever.
“I really don’t know why I always do well in the second round,” Peebles said with a big smile on his face. “I guess this round always has some really strong buckers, and those are the type of horses I like because they make me ride hard and hustle. With each horse I get on, I feel better and less sore, so that may have something to do with it. It could just be simple luck, too.”
Peebles almost lost his life in July after suffering a broken rib that nicked an artery and filled his lungs with blood at the Livingston (Mont.) Roundup. He was rushed to the hospital and made it without a moment to spare as doctors were able to drain his lungs and save his life.
Peebles missed the most important part of the rodeo season while recovering, yet still made it to the WNFR for the seventh straight year.
He entered 14th, but after earning checks both of the first two nights he’s now third in the world, trailing Kaycee Feild by a little more than $33,000. He says all the added money has made things a lot more interesting.
“It makes every night more exciting and important,” Peebles said. “I don’t like to check the average or the world standings, because I don’t want to let it affect me or change my riding style in any way. I want to get on all 10 the same way and not safety up if I have a lead. If I’m in the lead when the dust settles on the last night, I’ll be happier than I can even explain.”
However, just being alive and rodeoing is a victory in itself for the 26-year-old.
“It was a hard situation, but I swore that if God gave me a chance to come back I was going to take advantage of every rodeo and every ride to prove I can win a world championship,” Peebles said. “I feel very fortunate to be in this position.”
