Broken back won’t keep Peebles out of saddle for long
Bareback riding world champion Steven Peebles broke his back in a car accident on Feb. 13, but he says he hopes to be back in the saddle in eight weeks.
Still, it means he can’t compete in next week’s debut of the Elite Rodeo Athletes national tour at the Redmond Fairgrounds.
To Peebles, rodeo is more than just a sport.
“This is all I have ever dreamed of since I was a little kid,” Peebles said Thursday. “I started when I was about 13 or 14.”
He worked hard for his many titles — and his body paid the price.
“I’ve been hurt every year,” Peebles said.
In fact, this isn’t the first time Peebles broke his back. The last time was just a few years ago.
“The horse flipped over on me in the chute and crunched me up real bad,” Peebles recalled.
He couldn’t breathe and instantly knew he was injured badly.
“I was scared I might be paralyzed,” Peebles said.
It’s just one of many injuries during his rodeo career.
“I’ve had hip surgeries, broken bones and shoulder and everything,” Peebles said.
Last summer was a very close call.
“I broke ribs and busted an artery and filled me up internally with blood,” Peebles said. “I was about 15 minutes from dying.”
But the injuries never stopped him.
“First thing out of my mouth to a doctor is always: ‘How long until I can get back?” Peebles said.
Six months after he almost died, he came back and won the world championship.
“It was like: ‘What I did it?’ It was hard for it to sink in for a little while,” Peebles said.
He knows many friends in the rodeo industry who were paralyzed from their injuries, but said he has never thought about quitting.
“It’s all you can do — you bounce back and come back harder,” Peebles said.
What keeps him in the saddle is his love for rodeo.
“It’s addicting. The rush of it, kind of — it’s everything,” Peebles said.
Although Peebles won’t be able to compete in the Elite Rodeo Athletes National Tour, about 80 other rodeo champions will be on hand for the big event on March 25 and 26. It’s the first of eight stops across the country on the inaugural tour.
