Jared Smith grew up with dreams of being a cowboy, both in and out of the rodeo arena.
His dreams are coming true and he is making one more step towards a goal of being one of the best in the world. Smith, from Williston, Fla., has qualified for his first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (WNFR), the championship event of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA).
He will be competing in the bareback riding at the Thomas and Mack Center, Dec. 3-12. The top 15 bareback riders in the PRCA world standings at the conclusion of the Heartland ProRodeo Championships made the cut. The Heartland ProRodeo Championships were held in Waco, Texas, Oct. 9-13. Contestants qualified for that event based on their performance at Heartland Rodeos throughout the year.
When Smith arrived in Waco, he was 15th in the world standings with some cowboys behind him ready to make a move. However, Smith was the first one to make that move, winning $1,257 the first night he was there. That gave the happy cowboy some breathing room and the confidence to earn more. Throughout the competition he won a total of $5,657 and moved up to 13th in the world standings.
“I was definitely on the bubble coming into Waco,” Smith said. “That first check made all the difference in the world to me. All of the miles and hard work came together and I knew I was headed to Vegas.”
Smith has traveled to rodeos from Florida to Washington pursuing his goal, and he even crawled on the back of several bucking horses with a broken riding hand in August. He also spent the beginning of the season going to school at Western Texas College in Snyder and competing at college rodeos.
In fact, he qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyo., in June for the third consecutive time and was part of the men’s championship team. This was the second time he added valuable points to his team in order to earn a national championship. The first was for Ranger College where he started his college career under the coaching of Tom Reeves who became Smith’s mentor.
Reeves saw the talent and determination in Smith and encouraged him to pursue a career in the rodeo arena and to earn an award that Reeves neglected to get. Reeves is a former saddle bronc rider who qualified for the WNFR 18 times and won the world championship in 2001. The one award he regretted not getting was the rookie of the year.
With Reeves’ encouragement Smith joined the PRCA in 2008 and won the rookie of the year in bareback riding. To join the PRCA, a contestant first buys a permit, and when they earn $1,000 at sanctioned rodeos they become card-carrying members. Their first full year as a card member is their rookie year.
Smith earned $27,538 his first year to earn the once-in-a-lifetime rookie buckle. This year, he has more than doubled his earnings already at $62,154 and he has the opportunity to increase that substantially at the WNFR. There is a total of $5.75 million up for grabs in Las Vegas and while it is spread across seven rodeo events, each of the 10 rounds of competition pays over $17,000 to win it. There is also money available to the contestants that have the highest total score from the 10 rounds making the amount of money they can win very significant.
“I’m not going to lie, the money’s important,” Smith said. “Getting to Vegas and getting to ride for the money is reaching a goal. But getting on 10 of the best bucking horses in the world and being able to do what I love is a dream come true.”
One thing that makes Smith’s qualification even more special is a source of pride for his home state. He is the first bareback rider from Florida to qualify for the WNFR in its 51-year history.
“The first bareback horse I got on was at a junior rodeo in Davie, Fla.,” he said. “Now to represent Florida at the finals (WNFR) and being the first bareback rider to do that brings it all home.”
Smith’s parents, Chris and Julie have been a huge source of support and were in Waco to watch him ride at the Heartland ProRodeo Championships. They are now making their plans to get to Las Vegas to watch him at the WNFR.
“We couldn’t be more proud of him,” Julie said. “I’m his biggest fan.”
Jared is quick to give credit back to his parents. They hauled he and his brother Casey to rodeos as they were growing up where Jared competed in saddle bronc riding, bull riding, team roping and calf roping as well as the bareback riding. They took him to a rodeo in Daytona before he was old enough to drive. He got on a big white horse in the bareback riding and was 80-points. That ride set him on his path to become a professional.
“I’ll never forget it,” he said. “That was the biggest horse I’d ever been on. He jumped out of the chute, swooped, ducked and dived. I was hooked.”
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