He's among the glitter, gambling and glamour of Las Vegas for 10 days and 10 nights. But all Steven Dent really wants is a good meal and an eight-second ride every night.
Posted: Thursday, December 11, 2008 6:00 pm
He’s among the glitter, gambling and glamour of Las Vegas for 10 days and 10 nights. But all Steven Dent really wants is a good meal and an eight-second ride every night.
“I don’t get out sightseeing much,” Dent said. “I go to the arena at 4 p.m. and try to get to bed at midnight. In between, we try to find some good food.”
Sounds like a solid Nebraska kid from Mullen. Limit the distractions, avoid the gambling tables and the glitz.
Oh, and there’s the nightly eight-second combination of rocket blast, linebacker blindside hit, human demolition derby known as the bareback riding competition at the National Finals Rodeo.
Every night for 10 straight nights, Dent, 22, gets on a misbehaving, kicking, angry, not-wanting-to-be-ridden horse and wins money. He’s earned more than $26,000 this week.
He has two nights left to take back the No. 1 spot in the world in bareback bronc riding and win the coveted gold belt buckle, the world title and a bigger paycheck.
Bobby Mote took the lead away from Dent on Wednesday night with a record-tying ride.
“You get what you get and my next ride is my most important and the one I want to score the most on,” said Dent, who was a Super-State football player, a state champion wrestler, a state qualifying sprinter, and an Academic All-State selection at Mullen just four years ago.
Although he’s second in the all-around standings (for those competing in two or more different events) and second in the world in bareback, he doesn’t worry about paychecks, standings or anything else but the next horse.
“You concentrate on your next ride or you lose everything,” he said. “There are ups and downs. Nights where you ride a great horse and get a good score and nights when you hit the dirt … hard.”
Dent has had his share of injuries — broken skull, broken eye socket, both collarbones broken — but lately, since giving up bull riding after a broken jaw in high school, everything seems to heal with ice, “Plenty of ice,” he said.
“I love it. I grew up competing on sheep, calves, steers and then broncos and bulls, and football, and wrestling and anything else.
“All along I knew rodeo was going to be my future and I’m living my dream right now,” he said. “Sure, you can get a lot of pain from getting tackled or getting on a wrestling mat or riding a bronco. But if you do it right, don’t make mistakes, it doesn’t hurt at all. Well, not as much.”
Dent has more and more mistake-free nights. He won the all-around at the 2007 College National Rodeo, won $53,000 in Houston this year, won in Lubbock, Texas; Wisconsin; Loveland, Colo.; Springdale, Ark.; and posted a record 91-point ride at Calgary and Caldwell, Idaho. So far, this year he’s earned more than $180,000 in bareback and saddle bronc competition.
“That’s nice, but I don’t worry about it,” Dent said. “Eliminator or hopper, I just ride the best I can. I try to be better each time out.”
Eliminators are bigger and stronger horses “who don’t do the same thing every time out,” Dent said. “Hoppers,” which sounds like a nice horse, can be just as wild, only a little more predictable. The biggest scores from riding an eliminator for the 8 seconds with plenty of flourish.
“You start out with your hand in the rig in the middle of the horse’s back,” Dent said. “You lean way back, try to drag your heels across the horse’s shoulders. If you do that right, and hold on, everything else works. Miss it and you’re in the dirt.
“The judges score you on how tough the ride was and how well you handled it. It’s all in their hands if you make the eight seconds.”
And getting off.
“Some horses still go hard and you just loosen your grip and try to hop on with the pickup man,” he said. “Sometimes you still end up in the dirt. You just try to roll with it and stay away from the kicks.
“I’ll do it as long as it’s fun. Maybe, someday, I’ll take up golf. That sounds kind of peaceful.”
Reach Ken Hambleton at 473-7313 or khambleton@journalstar.com.