Bareback Battle Continues
By Ed Knocke
Things are starting to break for bareback rider Clint Cannon, but he can’t seem to shake two-time world champion Bobby Mote, who is continuing to stage a fierce charge of his own.
Cannon, who set a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association single-season earnings record for any event with $233,504 this year, suffered a concussion in the second round and has had a hard time getting his act together since.
But, the last two nights the Waller, Texas, cowboy has been riding like he has been most of the year, splitting first place money in consecutive rounds.
“Right now, I feel like I’m getting my groove back again, where I can get on anything and just ride it,” Cannon said after his 84.5-point ride aboard Carr Pro Rodeo’s Real Deal. “It took a bucker to get it and all I can do is just pray for two more good ones and see where the chips fall.”
Unfortunately, his Thursday night score in the eighth round of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo was matched by Mote, his chief challenger.
Cannon still leads Mote by $33,599, but Mote is leading the average with 672 points on eight horses. The average pays a $43,954 bonus to the winner after the rodeo. Cannon at this stage would be out of the money in that category, currently standing in 10th place.
Cannon said he’s had considerable success on Real Deal, a horse he had drawn four times this year. “The first time I got on him, he about killed me and I was 60 points, but ever since then, I’ve had his number,” he said. “I’ve been 88, 91 and 84.5 points on him, so give him to me and I’ll take care of him.”
Both riders brought their A-game to the arena on Thursday night, since the rodeo featured the eliminator pen.
“It was a real challenge and it’s the toughest pen that we have,” Mote said. “These are the 15 hardest-to-ride horses in rodeo, but you can still be a lot of points on them. If you do things just right, you can be a lot of points.
“But if you make even the tiniest mistake, they will put you on your ear. Even ones like the one I had today (Western Rodeo’s Big Easy), you can still win on them and they still beat you up. My left (free) arm went numb about halfway through. They get after it. So, I’m glad we’ve got hoppers tomorrow, because it’ll be a good day to take off.”
Cannon agreed that the pen of horses presented quite a problem.
“The eliminator pen is, by far, the meanest, rankest pen in pro rodeo. I usually shine during the ‘E’ pen because I condition myself for those types of horses, so it seems to work out for me,” he said. “I started out the week slow, but the last two days have been really good, and all I can pray for is two more good ones to give me a shot against Bobby because he’s having a really good NFR right now.”
Check back later for more NFR news from Western Horseman columnist Ed Knocke.