In ideal situations and in not so favorable circumstances, world champion Kaycee Feild never loses his drive to spur a rodeo bronc in dramatic fashion.
"If you can pull a check on a horse nobody has pulled a check on since he was a colt, it says a lot," Feild said. "If you can spur a horse better than anybody, you're going to win the money."At the present, the 25-year-old Feild, who lives in Spanish Fork, Utah, is spurring bareback horses from their shoulders to his leather/rawhide rigging, jump for jump, head and shoulders above the rest of the field on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association circuit.During the Dec. 6-15 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Feild earned $135,211 over 10 days and clinched his second consecutive world bareback title after finishing the year with $276,850. In 2011, he earned a single-event NFR record $179,327 and finished with the highest annual earnings ever for a bareback rider with $319,986.But that's all in the past and Feild keenly is focused on wrangling gold buckle No. 3. And he's off to a booming start at the Fort Worth Stock Show Rodeo.During the Saturday morning and matinee performances, Feild turned in scores of 85 and 82. Add those two markings to Feild's Friday night score of 78, and he has a three-ride aggregate tally of 245.After all that, Feild is ranked No. l in the bareback title race as the Stock Show Rodeo concluded its 16th of 30 performances Saturday night at Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum.Feild also is ranked first in the second round with the 85. He earned the lofty score aboard a former National Finals bronc named Cool Water, owned by longtime stock contractor Sammy Andrews.In that case, Feild had the bronc power to turn in a high score in an event in which both broncs and riders are scored on how well they perform. But that wasn't the case Friday night when Feild was matched against a so-so bronc named Wind Walker and still spurred hard enough to turn in a very noticeable score of 78."If you can make a 22-point spur ride on a 16-point arm-jerker bronc that everybody has been turning out, then it shows your determination and grit," Feild said.That's pretty much what happened during Friday's performance when judge Allan Jordan marked Feild 22 points after a fantastic spurring job against his bronc, which received a 16. All that added up to 38 points on Jordan's side.At the same time, judge Mark Longoria scored Feild 22 and the bronc 18 for 40 points. After Jordan's and Longoria's scores were tallied, Feild received the 78, which kept him in the title race.But during the morning performance, Feild drew a bronc that was more comparable to his world class abilities. Longoria marked Feild 22 and Cool Water 21, adding up to 43. Jordan marked Feild 22 and Cool Water 20 for a total of 42. After both of the judges' scores were added up, Feild moved into the lead in the second round with the 85."When you are consistent on every horse in the way you spur, you have lots of eye appeal," said Feild, who finished as the Stock Show Rodeo's co-champion bareback rider last year.Feild, a five-time National Finals qualifier who has PRCA earnings of almost $1.1 million, is walking in the boot steps of his father, Lewis, who won PRCA world all-around titles in 1985, 1986 and 1987. The elder Feild also was a world champion bareback rider who could spur a bronc in dramatic fashion.Kaycee Feild said he learned a lot from his father about winning."Dad always taught me to go out there and try to win first every time and to never safety up," he said.Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
