Garrett Shadbolt grew up watching his dad chase dreams of saddle bronc stardom. Dad never caught that rodeo dream, and young Garrett never had much interest in chasing it — an interesting admission from the Nebraska native and current No. 7 bareback rider in the world.
“I remember going to a lot of rodeos when I was little, but watching him didn’t make me want to get into it,” he said.
Now, Shadbolt is forming new traditions with his young family. And as the lone Nebraskan to make it to the National Finals Rodeo in the last four years, he is single-handedly representing the state’s rodeo heritage on the national stage at a time when the sport is seeing a surge in popularity.
It’s been a wild ride for the rancher from Merriman with a chemistry degree.
The Shadbolt roots go back generations in this part of the Nebraska Sandhills. Quentin Shadbolt, Garrett’s dad, grew up working the family ranch. He broke into the amateurs as a rookie in 1998, mostly riding barebacks.
“I didn’t win much money,” he said.
Garrett hadn’t even considered rodeo until high school when his best friend decided to ride a couple of ranch broncs. They went to the practice pens, and Garrett did well enough that he decided to enter the Sheridan County Fair. He won the ranch bronc riding event.
“Then I said to Dad, ’you might as well teach me how to get going in bareback riding,’” he recalled.
Garrett was getting a late start — most kids begin riding years before high school. A cracked skull and broken face after getting bucked off forced him to pause his riding his senior year.
Once he recovered, he went right back to it.
During his college years at Doane University, he competed in amateur rodeo during the summers — the university didn’t have a rodeo team. Garrett created a Doane vest, went to the president, and managed to get his approval and signature on some paperwork so he could enter college rodeos, he recalled. “I was the entire rodeo team, paying for everything.”
In 2019, as he was wrapping up his college wrestling career and preparing to graduate with a degree in chemistry, he knew it was time to get serious about rodeo. That same year, Garrett won more money than any other rookie and finished 25th in the world standings.
“That was a good start,” he said.
Since then, he’s gradually climbed the ranks of riders, making it to the national finals in Las Vegas three times and earning his current No. 7 ranking.
He’s far from the first Nebraskan to rise to the upper echelon of the rodeo world. Cort Scheer from Elsmere placed 6th in the world standings for saddle bronc riding in 2018. Mullen resident Steven Dent made it to the national finals in 2019, competing in bareback riding. Riley Pruitt, from Gering, was also there in 2019 competing in tie-down roping, and finishing fourth in the world standings.
But in the last few years, Garrett has been all alone. Each of the three times he has made the national finals he has been the only Nebraskan there.
Rodney Palmer, executive secretary of the Nebraska Sandhills Cowboy Hall of Fame, said it’s great that Nebraska — particularly small-town Nebraska — has representation in Las Vegas.
Garrett would like to see other Nebraskans join him there at the sport’s biggest event.
Rodeo is riding a wave of popularity. The Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association, the largest pro-rodeo organization in the U.S., reported increases in membership, events, sponsorships, TV viewership and payouts in 2023.
“By all accounts 2023 was arguably one of the best years in the history of the PRCA. Membership was up, entries were up, sponsorship was up, attendance was up and we enjoyed a record payout,” CEO Tom Glause wrote in the organization’s annual report released last year.
The energy behind the sport nationally has trickled all the way down to the college ranks, said Wyatt Clark, rodeo coach at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
The university has seen new supporters come aboard to help with the construction of a $3 million facility on UNL’s East Campus that will be the rodeo team’s home. They’re also working on building up the scholarship program, Clark noted while taking a brief break from preparations for the 2025 Cornhusker College Rodeo May 2-3 at the Sandhills Global Event Center.
“When you talk about momentum for rodeo nationally, we’re blessed to have momentum right here in Lincoln, Nebraska,” Clark said.
Garrett has an idea on why rodeo is gaining in popularity: “Yellowstone.” Since the debut of the popular streaming series, which stars Kevin Costner as the patriarch of a ranching family in Montana, Garrett said the purses have increased significantly.
His experience tracks with the PRCA report, which noted the $74.5 million in payouts in 2023 was up from the previous year by about $10 million.
“I don’t know if the sun’s setting on my career or not,” Garrett said, “but I could see rodeo guys getting paid like real professional athletes in my lifetime, if things keep going the way they are.”
He’s not alone in his thinking. The CEO of the Professional Bull Riders in August told Front Office Sports, a sports business news outlet, that the “‘Yellowstone’ phenomenon” was helping fuel rodeo’s resurgence.
“There’s really a lot of interest in rodeo here just recently, especially in a world where people are so risk-averse,” Garrett said. “Cowboy’s cool again. Hopefully we can ride that for a long time.”
Clark also pointed to “Yellowstone” as a factor. But in Nebraska, there might be a figure who looms larger than the fictional Dutton family: former NU volleyball coach John Cook. The legendary coach has become an avid supporter of the sport and the program at Nebraska, Clark said.
“With partners like coach Cook, we’re really reaching crowds we might not otherwise reach,” he said.
Only time will tell if any of the Shadbolt children will follow in dad Garrett’s footsteps. If they don’t, it won’t be due to lack of exposure. Rodeo has become a family enterprise for the Shadbolts.
Garrett and wife Katie frequently travel to competitions together with their three children — a fourth is due in July, during the thick of rodeo season. In 2024, he competed in 70 rodeos and the family got to go to 30, usually traveling and staying in a camper, their home away from home.
“Last year was definitely the most we’ve rodeoed together. It was fun. There aren’t a lot of guys who take their families with them down the road. But it’s a family-friendly kind of thing. There are a lot of contestants that have kids.”
Garrett credits Katie with making that happen. She said she doesn’t really get nervous about him getting hurt.
“I have good faith in the Lord that he’s gonna keep us all safe,” she said. “I don’t really worry about him bucking off and getting hurt or anything like that. That’s really never been the case, which is kind of interesting because I was there when he broke his face.”
Other family members help make Garrett’s rodeo career possible. Mom Angela is his paid assistant, scheduling flights, motel rooms and other duties. Dad Quentin occasionally flies him to competitions when commercial air travel isn’t possible. Sister Josie helps watch the kids.
His other sister, Jordan, competes as a barrel racer when she’s not running the family horse operation. Along with training horses, the Shadbolts raise cattle and buffalo.
When Garrett isn’t on the road, he works on the family ranch.
“It’s kind of funny,” Quentin said, “when you go to a rodeo and the announcer will say, ‘this is Garrett, and he’s a chemist during the week, but on weekends, he’s a cowboy.’ He’s not a chemist. I’m pretty sure he’s one of the few athletes there that are actual cowboys.”
Of the kids, so far only daughter Mavis, 3, is interested in rodeo — she’s going to be a barrel racer like her aunt Jordan. Son George, 5, wants to fly rocket ships and daughter Lindin, 1, hasn’t landed on a career yet.
Unlike some other rodeo families who give space during competition, the Shadbolts are with Garrett right up until the chute gate opens.
“I think Garrett likes having them jump around with him to warm up,” Katie said.
The kids get to spend more time with Garrett when he’s “being a rodeo bum.” At home, he’s outside working on the ranch all day, but when they’re traveling together they get to do fun things like go to parks.
“Rodeo cowboys don’t have to work that hard,” he said. “Sometimes rodeo is hard, but it’s mostly busting butt to try and get to all sorts of crazy destinations everywhere across the U.S.”
The Shadbolts aren’t sure how long they’ll continue living the rodeo life. For now, they’re enjoying taking it one day at a time.
“I don’t know how long I’ll keep going. The money’s pretty good and my body’s healthy. I know the camper’s going to be full though,” Garrett said. “We don’t really plan anything anyway, so I’m not going to start now, I guess.”
