Two Nebraska cowboys were riding high in their events on the professional rodeo circuit when March 1 rolled around.
Garrett Shadbolt of Merriman was third in the bareback riding standing and Riley Pruitt of Gering was sixth in tie down roping.
Shadbolt has already won $42,636 so far in the 2025 season. One of his big wins was at Rodeo Rapid City in early February, when he was first with an 88.5-point ride on a bronc named Mt. Deal owned by Muddy Creek Rodeo of Scenic, S.D. He received the biggest paycheck of the entire rodeo, $5,570.
Shadbolt also earned $5,500 while winning the averages at the New Year’s Eve rodeo at Gillette, Wyo. The judges awarded him 88 and 86.5 points for those 8-second rides.
The Merriman cowboy also picked up paychecks totaling $9,250 at the National Western Rodeo in Denver in January. The largest chunk, some $5,100, was for an 87-point ride on a horse named Assailant.
Shadbolt also won nearly $12,000 while sticking four broncs at the San Antonio Rodeo, which ran for three weeks in February. The highlight was an 89-point ride on Exactly Midnight. In addition, this past weekend, he was bareback winner at Rodeo Grand Island while scoring 86.5 points on Fancy Street. good for $1,841.
Through March 1, Pruitt was credited with $31,642 and was sixth in the tie down standings.
Pruitt won about $13,000 at the National Western in Denver while catching and tying four calves, two of them in 7.5 seconds each. In addition, he earned $7,000 on three runs in San Antonio, including a super-fast 7.30-second clocking.