At the annual Indian National Finals Rodeo (INFR), the older generation watches from the stands to see what the young athletes have learned. Elders pass their experience on to junior and rookie cowboys, who compete for a shot at a world title.
Behind the bucking chute at the INFR, young riders suit up in their protective gear. There’s a good chance a 2,000-pound bull could step on them after they hit the ground.
Rodeo hands funnel the bulls from their pens to the chute through a series of gates. Then they set them one-by-one in the chute to let the riders get ready. When it’s time, a gate slams open and the animal bucks repeatedly, trying to throw the rider off its back.
In the INFR, a junior bull rider has to hold onto a bull with one hand for at least six seconds to score points. Cashes Thomas, 17, held on long enough to secure his win in the junior bull riding INFR world championship.
“I just love the feeling, love the adrenaline and sure love the money," Thomas said.
Cashes Thomas' father, Daniel Thomas, 52, was also a bull rider in his youth, and both are enrolled members of the Navajo Nation.
“The Navajo Nation believes this is the way of life, how we're given the horses, the livestock, the sheep," Daniel Thomas said. "So it all goes back to that.”
Navajo athletes are heavily represented in the INFR. Nearly 37% of all qualified athletes at this year’s rodeo are from the Navajo Nation. The rodeo is a big deal to the sovereign nation, which covers some 27,000 square miles in the four corners area of the Southwestern U.S.
“There’s a lot of guys that come out of the Navajo Nation that’ve gone to the PBR or PRCA," Daniel Thomas said. "We look up to them, and we want to be like them.”
Children are inspired by watching their older relatives participating in the rodeo. That was the case for Cashes.
It was also the case for bronc rider Ethan Heisman Yazzie. The 18-year-old finished at the top of his category to win the rookie saddle bronc riding INFR world championship. Young cowboys like Cashes and Ethan are the next generation of athletes.
Daniel Thomas was in the stands watching other junior bull riders get thrown before scoring any points. Then it was time to watch Cashes take his turn.
“The feeling of while the bull was bucking, I could kind of anticipate what it felt like, so I was moving back and forth, back and forth, I was like moving around like I was dancing or something,” Daniel Thomas said.
Watching Cashes reminds Daniel of his days as a bull rider. He had to quit the sport he loved to provide for his family. As his children grew up, he still made time to train his sons who wanted to do rodeo. Cashes was one that liked it the best.
Alonzo Yazzie, Ethan’s father, also used to compete in the sport his son does now. He was a two-time qualifier in the INFR back in the early 2000s. Like Daniel Thomas, he had to quit the sport to raise his kids.
“My kids are growing up and they're doing their best, I'm teaching them what I know how, you know, every day,“ Alonzo Yazzie said.
Both Ethan and Cashes are at a pivotal point in their sport. If they want to keep competing in rodeo, they’ll have to move up a class to a more difficult level.
But the families have a goal in mind. “One day, you know, I want my son to be a world champion,” Alonzo Yazzie said.
Ethan and Cashes will go home with belt buckles and cash prizes, making the trip to Vegas worth the gamble.
