North Dakota cowboys conquer rodeo arena 

by Luann Dart

A six-time North Dakota Bullfighter of the Year, Josh Rivinius protects bull riders during the rodeo, dancing just inches from danger during each eight-second encounter. (Photo by Layn Mudder)

Eight seconds. Matching brain and brawn with a bucking bronc or wild-eyed bull, rodeo cowboys forge a career eight seconds at a time.

Nationally ranked saddle bronc rider Shaun Stroh, Dickinson, follows in the spurs of others in the sport who have conquered those eight seconds in the rodeo arena.

Bullfighter Josh Rivinius, Elgin, hustles to protect bull riders from one-ton behemoths that can cripple a cowboy in much less than eight seconds.

Each is in the midst of a career that’s been bloodied with peril, but blessed with success.

Riding to success
Stroh vividly remembers his first saddle bronc ride 20 years ago while in high school. “I got on a little Appaloosa horse and he cranked real fast and I spurred him for three or four and fell off,” he describes. “Then I was hooked. I knew I could figure it out.”

Until then, Stroh had only been bucked off colts he was training at his family’s rural property in Montana. In 1990, as a high school senior in Glendive, Mont., he competed for the first time and won the Montana state title. 

“It came pretty natural, but I got on an awful lot of horses. Once I figured out how to stay on, then it’s just been fun,” he says.

A turning point came in 1991, when he attended a school hosted by five-time saddle bronc champion Billy Etbauer.

“They let us get on two the first day and two or three the second day and the last day I think I ended up getting on like 22 head,” Stroh says with a laugh. “Finally, they said, ‘You’ve got to know when enough is enough.’ ”

Stroh’s persistence continued into college, where he won the college national finals as a junior at Dickinson State University.

A quick ride to high school and college rodeo success was followed by a turn to professional rodeo in 1994, the same year he married Shannon.

“Bronc riding is the hardest to learn and the easiest to do,” Shaun says. “I just love riding bucking horses, I guess. It’s fun. Every day’s a challenge, every horse is a challenge.”
Ranked fourth in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s (PRCA) world standings, Shaun rides year-round with a schedule that includes 100 or more rodeos. Shaun was away from his wife and five children 218 days last year; they are members of Roughrider Electric Cooperative who live just outside of Dickinson.

 The top 15 competitors in each event advance to the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Nev., in December of each year to compete in the Super Bowl of rodeo. Rankings are based on earnings and winnings come from points scored during any ride that lasts eight seconds. Earnings of $60,000 will probably assure a slot in the top 15; top cowboys can earn more than $100,000 a year.

“I’ve just been blessed to be able to do it at the level where I’ve been able to compete,” Shaun says.

Traveling from Florida to California, Shaun has forged plenty of career highlights.
His personal best of 90 points was scored on the famous Miss Congeniality, who had bucked him off in a showdown two years earlier. “She’s just a great big mare; she bucks really hard,” he says. “As long as they’re kicking hard, there’s a little bit of help there. It’s just awesome.”
“Shaun’s been riding broncs a long time and he knows the timing. Experience brings the knowledge of each horse you get on ... You have to be smart and Shaun definitely has that quality also,” says Eudell Larsen, who has been the rodeo coach at Dickinson State University for a year.

But the road isn’t always easy.
While Shaun competed in the national finals last year, he shakes his head in disgust at the first mention of 2009. “That was horrible,” he sighs.

“He has won more money now with five rodeos than he did from January to August last year,” Shannon explains. “But I never gave up on him.”

By Aug. 25, 2009, he was ranked 26th. Eight rodeos and one month later, he had moved to eighth in the world and qualified for the finals.

“It turned out to be the best year I ever had, but up to that point, it was fixin’ to be not so good at all,” he says.

“It was an absolute miracle,” Shannon says.

“I placed on a lot of horses that most guys wouldn’t have placed on last summer and just stuck it out,” he explains.

This year has gone much better.

“I’ve drawn some really good horses and I’ve been able to stay on them, so it’s looking really good,” he says.

Shaun lugs his own saddle to each rodeo, but last year a horse “blew up” in the chute and shattered his saddle.

He sent his traveling partner, Dusty Hausauer, another saddle bronc rider from Dickinson, to find a replacement. Then luck struck again. Shaun’s first horse didn’t buck, then the second horse fell down, giving him two chances to adjust the saddle before a ride was scored.

Like all rodeo cowboys, Shaun has suffered his share of wrecks. His most severe injury occurred during the second round of national finals in 2004 when he broke a vertebra. Wearing a protective vest, Shaun focuses on the ride rather than the wrecks.

“Usually if it’s scary, it’s going to be when you’re climbing in,” he explains. “It might be a little nerve-wracking, but if you’re thinking about that, more than likely you might as well not get on anyway. Over the years, you learn how to be nervous up to the point where you’re crawling in but as soon as you get on, it all kind of goes away.”

At 37 years old, Shaun is now one of the top cowboys from North Dakota, with 13 championship saddles lining the wall of his living room.

“When I met him, I knew that’s what he wanted to do,” says Shannon, who works part time as a nurse. “I knew his dream was to get to the finals. I knew his dream was to win the average and I knew his dream was to win the world,” she says. He’s accomplished two of those goals, winning the National Finals Rodeo average title in 2009.

Shaun credits his success with support from his family and a sponsorship from Dickinson State University.

“Without the support from home, there’s no way I could do all this,” Shaun says.
“There’s a bunch of awesome bronc riders, especially up here,” Shaun says. “There’s a pile of talent up here and as far as community support, it’s phenomenal.”

“I feel the community and state is very supportive of rodeo,” Larsen adds.

Dancing with bulls
A six-time North Dakota Bullfighter of the Year, Josh Rivinius protects bull riders during the rodeo, dancing just inches from danger during each eight-second encounter.

“We have a lot of different hats, but the main one is protecting the cowboy,” he explains. “It’s kind of the entertainment business; sometimes we’ll help out with clown acts and have fun with that. But the main goal is protecting the cowboy.”

Born into a rodeo family near Elgin, Rivinius competed in steer wrestling and bareback bronc in high school. But when it came time to choose a career, he looked to the rodeo event that guaranteed a paycheck. Bullfighters are hired by each rodeo; other cowboys have to pay an entry fee and are only paid if they place.

“I like the athletic part of it and helping people,” Rivinius says. Graduating from high school in 1996, Rivinius attended a three-day school hosted by Jason Kraft of Carson in 1997. After the first day, Rivinius was the only attendee still at the school, so “Jason kind of took me under his wing,” Rivinius says.

“Josh is the kind of guy that is always willing to take advice and he works hard behind the scenes, staying in shape, practicing and trying to better himself at his sport,” says Kraft, who is now an electrician for Mor-Gran-Sou Electric Cooperative. “I was very proud when he achieved his pro card and he does a great job promoting North Dakota through his travels.”

In June 1997, Rivinius faced his first rodeo bulls at an Elgin event when he was 19 years old.
“It was kind of surreal. I knew what to do, but my nerves were all balled up because everyone’s watching you,” he describes. Today, he’s able to put the nerves aside.

“It’s just adrenaline and excitement,” he says. “After the first gate opens, it all goes away.”
Rivinius was accepted as a professional in 2002 after applying with the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. To turn professional, bullfighters are evaluated at five different rodeos.
“They have a lot of criteria to meet,” Rivinius explains. “Just how well you do your job; how well you conduct yourself in and out of the arena.”

Bullfighters are often the “poster child of the rodeo,” he says. “At this level, bullfighting is just a small part of it.” Since the bullfighter is one of the few cowboys who stays with the rodeo throughout the week or weekend, they also often visit schools, sign autographs and visit with the media to promote the event.

But the focus is always on the riders.

“A lot of it is reaction,” the 32-year-old Rivinius says. “It’s kind of like standing on a corner and waiting for a car wreck or trying to prevent it. ... There’s a lot of responsibility in your hands.”
With about 80 performances a year, Rivinius travels across the country year-round, and he sees the best of the bucking bulls.

“I think the bull caliber for these guys to get on has just gone through the roof. Everybody’s got good breeding now and is really doing a good job of that. It really makes for better watching, too,” he says.

Rivinius has been injured while doing his job, including breaking his neck, collarbone and two ribs during a Mandan rodeo in 2004.

“A kid got hung up and I went in there to get him undone and the bull came around and kicked me into the chute. Injuries are part of it. They’re going to happen. You just deal with it the best you can,” he says.

“Knowing that you saved somebody or they know it and thank you, it’s a good feeling,” he says. “It’s pretty self-rewarding when everybody gets to go home safely.”

And that includes the bullfighter.

“When I started, I looked like robocop. I had every kind of pad on you could think of,” he says with a laugh. Today, he dons a vest and athletic shoes and clothing, sometimes donning makeup as a tribute to those who started the tradition.

“It’s been around a long time and I still like wearing the stuff once in a while to pay respect to the guys before me,” he says.

He’s been selected to work at the tour finale in Omaha, Neb., and the circuit finals in Minot, but has his sights set for the national finals someday. The top 20 cowboys vote for that event’s bullfighter.

“That’s always been a goal of mine, even growing up as a kid, watching it on TV. You always want to go there,” he says.

With 150 bullfighters in the PRCA across the country, competition is stiff, but Rivinius offers experience to others through his own bullfighter school each spring.

What most find surprising, he says, is just how big those animals are and how fast everything actually happens.

“Instinct kind of takes over,” he says. “Eight seconds doesn’t seem very long, but it is a long time.”

Luann Dart is a freelance writer and editor who lives near Elgin.