Imagine a dance where your partner refuses to budge. Worse, imagine if he steps on your foot with every first move. Even worse than that, imagine he dips you all the way to the floor.
If you can picture that, you can picture Spencer Wright’s frustration on a fruitless Friday in Tucson, when all his want and will did little to make Beutler and Son’s State Side want to tango with him.
At the end of eight seconds, all Wright had to show for his saddle bronc go-round was a measly 72 points and a sore backside.
Just another day at the office for one of professional rodeo’s best saddle bronc riders, one slice of the sporting world’s biggest budding dynasties.
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Wright hails from rodeo royalty, arguably the most well-known factions in the sport, arguably one of the most fertile gene pools in all of professional sports.
The Wrights are to saddle bronc riding what the Barrymores were to the movies.
Bill and Evelyn Wright had 13 children — Spencer, 31, is the second-youngest of seven brothers — and some of their children’s children are now rodeo stars. There’s Spencer’s brothers Cody, a two-time world champion (2008, 2010), and Jesse, the 2012 world champion, as well as Cal, Alex and Jake. Now Cody’s kids — sons Stetson, Ryder and Rusty — are dusting the competition.
There’s something in those chromosomes that keeps pumping out dyed-in-the-wool cowboys.
“It seems like everybody’s dabbled in it at least a little bit,” Spencer said. “I don’t know if there’s anyone who wants a desk job. I can’t even imagine sitting at a desk all day.”
They all make a living off the land and on horses, every one of them. Not an accountant in the lot.
“Whether it’s the adrenaline, the money, the whole lifestyle, it’s a pretty fun life,” Spencer said. “I don’t what I’d be doing today if I wasn’t rodeoing. I got started rodeoing because my older brothers were doing it, but if Cody hadn’t tried to pursue this professionally, I don’t know. He kind of paved the way for every one of us.”
Is it just in the genes?
Or is it in the jeans?
Is this a family with one hyper specific talent — after all, staying atop a nasty horse for 8 seconds isn’t exactly a broad skillset — or is it the dedication to the craft that sets them apart? Is it the water out there in Utah, or maybe is it just that they’ve seen Cody Wright do it right, then Jesse Wright do it right, then another and another until it’s become a set routine — almost a blueprint?
Nature or nurture, it comes down to.
That, well that Spencer doesn’t know.
“I don’t think anybody who has ever been successful in this is unorganized,” he said. “With scheduling and traveling, I think you can do it for a while — eat like crap, live like crap — but it catches up to you eventually. If it’s a fine line. But there are guys who I see at the Finals, and it’s like, Man I don’t know how that guy’s alive.”
Added Rusty Wright, Spencer’s nephew and travel partner and 2014 PRCA Saddle Bronc Rookie of the Year: “My dad has always been good about everything — what you eat, how you sleep, and the mindset and the physical attributes. It’s a huge thing in bronc riding, and we’ve always been taught to do all that. You can only ride on talent for so long. But after long enough, talent don’t work no more. The older you get, the hard work and dedication starts to come in a little bit more.”
Of course, there are drawbacks to being part of a living legacy, and, Spencer said, “It does feel like more eyes are on you, like they’re trying to pick you a part a little bit worse.”
It felt that way on Sunday, when State Side stuck to his guns and didn’t buck much.
“It doesn’t feel like you’re allowed any mistakes like some other cowboys might be,” Spencer said. “We strive for perfection anyway, so it doesn’t really matter.”
That’s what makes a bad ride sting so much.
There isn’t much he can do about it.
And when one bad ride turns into two years worth of them, things can really spiral.
Spencer burst out of the gates so fast, it’s a surprise he didn’t end up with whiplash.
Two years after winning PRCA Saddle Bronc Riding Rookie of the Year honors, Wright headed into the National Finals Rodeo ranked 13th in the standings. After placing in nine of 10 rounds, he vaulted into first place, finishing the year with a world title and more than $200,000 in winnings.
The next year, he finished 14th in the standings, placing in one round in the NFR, totaling $86,454 in winnings for the year.
But the next two years, he managed just over $55,000 in purses combined, finishing 44th in 2016 and 30th a year later.
It was not what he expected.
There were some injuries, he said, and some equipment troubles.
But, he said, no excuse, “I didn’t do it worth a crap.”
After a lightning-fast start to his career, he came falling back down to earth.
“This is the most humbling sport in the world,” he said. “You can be 90 points one day and turn around the next day and get 60. You can’t get comfortable. Not that I got comfortable, but there’s no excuse, I shoulda been doing better. If I end up 50th or not, I’m still trying to get a world title. That’s why I go back to the mindset thing. This is just like any sport, 90-percent mental. You have to get over it. There’s a lot of talent sitting at home with a sour attitude.”
Rusty Wright said his uncle’s reaction to failure is what sets him apart.
“You can go from champ to chump in a jump,” Rusty said. “I really believe that. You can be the best bronc rider on Tuesday and on Wednesday you get bucked off. But what I love about Spencer, he doesn’t let the down time define who he is.”
Watching the foundations of a legacy from its formation, Wright knows how to handle the ups and downs of this rodeo life. He’ll be able to shake off Friday’s misfortune in hopes of brighter days ahead. For now, he returns home to Utah and his family for a few days before getting back on the road.
“Unfortunately, it’s just part of the game,” he said. “You have to learn to be patient. Eventually you get on something that bucks and you’ll win. I want to say I’ll get on a winning buck every time, but that doesn’t happen. You have to roll with the punches. You do your part, the judges do theirs and the horse does, too.”
Unless, of course, he doesn’t.
