Bryce Eck, 17, comes from a family of bucking horse riders.

“My Dad (Andy) rode bucking horses when he was younger,” Eck said. “My older brother, Colt (19 years old) rides as well.”

All that practice, and talent, paid off for Bryce when he won the 2021 World Championship Junior Rodeo in the bareback riding event, this year held in Guthrie, OK from July 29-31.

“The top eight (contenders) make it back to finals on the third day,” Eck said. “The winner rides on Thursday, Friday, Saturday at noon then that evening.”

“You have to be under 19 years old to go to this rodeo, (and) you have to make it back each round with your score and how well you rode,” he said.

“A good ride is to have the horse bucking and the rider spurring the ride,” Eck said. “You have to stay on for eight seconds.”

At home on the Eck farm, Bryce pitches in.

During the interview yesterday, he was hauling hay for his dad on their cattle farm, near Redfield.

The hay will be for winter feed for the animals on the Eck farm.

“We raise cattle and we have a colt training business,” Eck said. “We train the horses to be ridden.”