by Terry Lidral
Youth programs are the heart and soul of the sport of bull riding. Without our solid youth programs, the sport would be looking at an abrupt end These youth riders of today will grow up to fill those entry slots as they become vacated by the inevitable attrition, keeping the sport alive all the way up the bull riding ladder.
Idaho has a legacy of producing some top tier professional bull riders. And a big part of the program where it all starts is here in Caldwell at the Rodeo Fever Ranch. Kevin Hensen has been a junior stock contractor for 26 years and his main interest is helping those kids in junior bull riding to get the right start in the sport. (See the article about Rodeo Fever at buckingstocktalk.com) And for Hensen, part of getting the right start is having the opportunity to go through a complete season of bull riding, ending with a championship event.
As an Idaho Cowboy Association Board member, Hensen has been able to incorporate the youth bull riding finals into the Idaho Cowboy Association Finals event held in Homedale, Idaho the first weekend in October. The top 15 youth bull riders from the regular season participate in a two night championship showdown for championship buckles in both season average and finals average.
In honor of their accomplishment of making the Top 15 list, Bucking Stock Talk awarded specially designed logo hats to the ICA Finals junior bull riding participants. Awarding the hats with Kevin Hensen, who is a fellow Caldwell Night Rodeo Associate Board Member, I had the opportunity to shake the hands of the young men so proudly representing the ICA and the entire sport or youth bull riding.
Congratulations to all of the youth bull riders out there who made Finals and represented their organizations with pride. It’s the life blood of the sport!
Author: Terry Lidral
Terry Lidral is a western writer/journalist who lives in Idaho. She is the publisher and editor of the online magazine Bucking Stock Talk and the online magazine Western Living Journal. Her publishing credits include Storyteller for Real American Cowboy Magazine, writing feature articles for Humps N Horns Magazine as well as a wide variety of national and international web sites, historical magazines and news publications. She is known for her "up close and personal" profiles of celebrities and industry moguls such as NPR's Tom Bodett; PBR's Wiley Petersen and D.H. Page, PRCA's Sammy Andrews, Cindy Rosser and Julio Moreno to name a few. She has been applauded for her way of making a personal connection between her readers and her subjects. She indulges in her love of rodeo by serving as an associate board member for the Caldwell Night Rodeo. She is also an accomplished trainer and handler in dog agility. Her shelties Amelie and Milo are titled in NADAC, USDAA and AKC.
