Tim O’Connell paced back and forth quickly along the platform next to where he and his horse were preparing for what O’Connell refers to as a battle. All of the other eight competitors around him were at a standstill.
Though, it wasn’t a nervous pace from O’Connell. The movements of the three-time world champion bareback rider resembled that of a determined prized fighter, his mind fixated on the upcoming eight seconds of pure adrenaline.
“I think of this as a war,” he said “It’s my job to be ready and doing that gets me in that mindset.”
Less than 24 hours earlier, O’Connell had a ride for the ages as he tied the world record in San Angelo, Texas, with a 94-point score, a mark that only four other professional riders had ever reached in the bareback competition.
His Tucson Rodeo debut featured a proper introduction as the P.A. announcer emphatically stated the 28-year-old won three consecutive world championships from 2016-18 in addition to tying the world record the night before — a helpful reminder to the crowd seeing this cowboy from Iowa for the first time that they should stay in their seats to watch.
Had O’Connell not suffered a serious injury at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in late 2018, the crowd could have been looking at the four-time consecutive champ. The ride earned him another title, but not without a cost.
“I tore six out of the eight tendons in my left shoulder and had to get surgery to get it all repaired,” he said. “I came back five months to the day after the surgery, which is a month ahead of medical protocol.”
Tim O’Connell celebrates his score of 89 in the bareback Sunday. After winning three straight championships from 2016-18, an injury dropped him to third last year. “I want to be remembered as the best to ever play this game,” he said.
O’Connell’s left arm is the most vital to his success. It’s the side which grips the saddle and holds on for dear life as he’s violently jolted and shook by the bucking horse.
The injury prevented the cowboy from winning a fourth consecutive world title in 2019, though he still somehow managed to place third despite missing nearly half the season.
“I was very happy with what I had to overcome to do that,” O’Connell said. “I’ve won three, but I want more. I want to be remembered as the best to ever play this game.”
If there is an art to the physicality of bareback riding, O’Connell is the artist.
Connor Hamilton gets thrown around by Nutrena’s Little Jet during the bareback riding event on Day 2 of the 95th La Fiesta de los Vaqueros on Sunday.
“There’s so many things happening in that ride your body has to correct immediately,” he said.
“As soon as the gate opens, your position changes and it’s your job to make the corrections to get back to the perfect position. To get the highest score, the judges have to see this beautiful ride taking place.”
His ride at the Tucson Rodeo didn’t replicate the perfection from the night before, but his score of 89 points was the highest of the afternoon and put him in the finals round next Sunday.
“Man I was in a dogfight today,” he said. “The horse bucked really hard right out of the gate and was trying to get me off my rigging. So I didn’t set the tone I wanted to.
“This was my first time here and it was stinking cool. First outdoor rodeo event of the year for most of us, I’m going to make sure I get back here.”
One of the kings of bareback riding will be back soon enough.
Rodeo Cowboys prepare for the bareback riding event on day two of the 95th La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Tucson Rodeo, in Tucson, Ariz. on February 16, 2020.
