Ride for all it’s worth
Rowdy Buechner has reached a place among the best bareback riders in the country the old-fashioned way – he earned it. Growing up in Sandpoint was a long way from being the 13th-ranked Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association bareback rider as he is now, with winnings in excess of $46,600.
“I didn’t just wake up in the morning and decide I wanted to do it,” Buechner said. “I wanted to do it since I was a little kid. I just didn’t have the chance, like lot of guys, to get on practice stock.”
But he was determined.
“My dad pro rodeoed. I started riding sheep and calves when I was 4 years old,” Buechner said. “When others would go out partying, I stayed home and watched rodeo tapes and rode my spur board.
“It’s a dream come true. All the hard work paid off.”
Now, when he is introduced at the North Idaho Fair and Rodeo in Coeur d’Alene on Sunday, not only will the announcer note Buechner’s rank in the world standings, he’ll mention that the 24-year old from Sandpoint is the Cheyenne Frontier Days bareback champion.
“I’ve had a couple big wins,” Buechner said, listing Lewiston and Texas stops El Paso and San Angelo from his first three years in the PRCA when he won almost $45,000. “But when you win the one called ‘The Daddy of ‘em All’ that’s a great honor.
“It’s a great honor to win any of them, but that’s a feather in your hat. A lot of guys ride 10 or 12 years and never win a check at Cheyenne. It’s a hard one to win. You have more than 100 of the best guys, four or five stock contractors. To draw good and do your part … it’s just a neat feat.”
There was no high school rodeo in Sandpoint so the 5-foot-8, 170-pounder didn’t play any sports for the Bulldogs, opting instead for junior rodeo.
“No, it’s funny. Dad wouldn’t let me play sports. He didn’t want me to get hurt for rodeo,” said Buechner, who rode barebacks, saddle broncs and bulls until concentrating on barebacks as a pro. “That sounds funny right there. He always thought I would have success. To have somebody have that much confidence in me really means the world.”
The plan after graduating in 1999 was to attend Lewis-Clark State to rodeo, but he got hurt and couldn’t afford to go. He opted instead to study welding at Spokane Community College. He participated – successfully – in one rodeo for Community Colleges of Spokane and turned that into a rodeo scholarship at Walla Walla Community College.
Buechner and the team did well, but the one time he had a chance to win the college bareback title he was bucked off a horse called Sheep Tick – the same horse he mastered to win the final round at Cheyenne.
His plans changed in fall 2002. He had a PRCA permit, which is like a learner’s permit for driving, and entered the Spokane Interstate Fair rodeo. He ended up winning, making enough money to fill his permit and earn his PRCA card.
“I jumped into the pros and never looked back,” said Buechner, who turned down a scholarship at the University of Montana-Western in Dillon.
He got a chance to travel with some of the top bareback riders in the country, including former world champions Clint Corey and Bobby Mote.
“All those guys I used to watch on TV and dreamed of being them, I ended up getting to travel with those guys,” said Buechner. “It was like a dream come true to get to hang out with those guys.”
There are occasional nightmares.
“This winter I was traveling with Kyle Bowers and Heath Ford, but I got so broke I had to actually come home and go to smaller rodeos around here,” Buechner said. “Grandma and Mom and Dad helped me out. They wouldn’t let me quit.”
It has always been that way.
Buechner’s father, Claude, nicknamed Hop, did some roping and riding in California before he went to the Vietnam War. He is a boiler operator for a mill in Sandpoint. His mother, Jenny, runs two motels in Sandpoint with the help of younger brother Claude III.
“Out of anybody in the whole world, Dad would be my biggest hero,” Buechner said. “Every opportunity he could, he gave us – opportunities he didn’t have as kid. (He) and Mom sacrificed so much for me.”
“And my brother, I can’t thank him enough. He drove me thousands of miles when I was down on my luck or bought me plane tickets so I could go. He is my best friend in the whole world.”
The season turned around when Buechner hooked up with old junior rodeo rival Andy Bolich, a Spokane native leading the bareback standings on the Montana Circuit.
“Going with Andy, what made it so fun is we’ve competed since we were little kids,” he said, adding that Ryan Gray of Cheney, in the top five in bareback riding, was part of the friendly competition. “It’s like our old junior rodeo rivalry. We’re just great friends and have a lot of fun. I’m pulling for him and he’s pulling for me.”
What has been a good year is about to become better, whether or not he finishes in the top 15 to qualify for the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas in December.
Buechner will marry Audrey Tibbs of Moses Lake on Nov. 26.
Of course, should Buechner extend his season – the past four years the 15th qualifier has had close to $60,000 – it would be like having two honeymoons.
“We’ll probably honeymoon after Las Vegas,” he said. “I hope I have a job to finish up.”