Ep. 122 - Rookie Saddle Bronc Rider Q Taylor

Co-Hosts on this episode: Joe Harper, Rachel Owens-Sarno, & Katie Schrock

Rookie Saddle Bronc Rider Q Taylor is on the hunt for his first National Finals Rodeo - no small feat for a first year professional rodeo cowboy! The 21 year-old Casper, Wyoming, native had a stellar permit year in 2022, and is one of the great young guns that the That Western Life podcast team is following through the 2023 season.

Currently sitting #2 in the Resistol Rookie Standings, Q dives into his upbringing, his rodeo strategy, and his hobbies/interests out side of the rodeo arena.

Get to Know Q

The nickname got shortened down over the years from the original Q-Man that they called him as a kid, especially growing up he was called Q-Man during hockey. Hockey is a definite fan-involved event that Q says is not as intense as rodeo fans.

Leaving hockey behind, Q is in his first year as a card-holding Rookie in the PRCA after spending the past few years on multiple permits.

PRCA Permits

As long as you are in college, you can have as many permits as you want. A permit isn’t filled until you’ve won $1,000 in a professional rodeo. Once filled, you have to get another permit. Transferring from his permit to his rookie card, Q was able to mentor under a lot of long-time veterans in the sport that could help him with picking what rodeos to go to.

“I’ve learned so much from a bunch of people, but Kade [Bruno] started riding broncs a year before me… so a lot of the problems I was going through at a specific time, he had just gone through,” says Q, who also references a lot of the veteran’s whose sons are now riding. “It can be hard to remember what it’s like to be a kid again… but Kade was always good about that and… he tends to think about it a lot more than me. I like to keep things as simple as I can, but he likes to dive more deeply into it… With Logan & Ben, they’ve been rodeoing down here [in America] longer than I can and know horses and rodeos better.”

Thankful for the guys he’s gotten to jump in and ride with, he is extra grateful for the guys that are one step ahead of you. “Us Canadians, that’s what helps there be so many good ones going right now is that everyone at home helps everyone. There is so much support for everyone that wants to start riding broncs,” says Q. “There is good help and good, nice horses to get on for beginners that were safe - or as safe as you can get to start bronc riding.”

Opportunities to Rodeo in America vs. Canada

The big decision to come to the states was learning how to be away from home for months on end to learn how that feels. You can’t go home over big events like the 4th of July, learning how to get through those moments is huge.

“The other thing with that, there are some great rodeos in Canada,” says Joe Harper, “if you want to make a push for the NFR… you have to make a push to the states and vice versa. .. There’s a lot of guys in the states that will make a push for the Canadian rodeos to make the finals… you can’t let that parallel divide it.”

“There’s a lot of rodeos to go to up there in Canada, but to make the finals, you have to come down to these rodeos - it’s just the way it is,” adds Q. “Making the CFR is something I want to do…. the CFR is one of the best practices that you can do for the NFR because a lot of the same horses you are getting on at the CFR are the same as the NFR.”

“A Canadian title is very prestigious,” says Q, “but you aren’t having to compete against the Wrights.”

Many Canadians are dominant in the bronc riding right now - there has always been a great number of Canadian bronc riders with Rod Hayes’ sons Dawson & Logan now competing at the NFR as well. It’s no surprise to see great young bronc riders coming down the line and putting some money in their checkbooks.

Casper College to Rodeo Competitors

“it’s been great!” Says Q about the bronc horses and the bronc riding coaches, such as Chet Johnson who ropes as well as rides broncos and being a true cowboy. “We’re getting more rodeo athletes that rodeo rather than cowboys that rodeo.” That’s a big reason why Q chose Casper College is because he wanted to stay true to his belief in being a true cowboy.

“I went to Casper for two and a half years… and made the college finals a couple times… and they have a great agriculture program,” says Q.

Bucking horses twice a week, sometimes they would be hindered by bad weather. The coach would tell you who to get on, how much rein and then they’d walk you through the educational IQ points of it. \

“I got to where I didn’t practice every time, so I started learning how to pick up,” says Q, who enjoyed learning all aspects of rodeo.

“I rode bulls in college my freshman year and won the Rocky Mountain Region and then made the short-go of the finals,” says Q, who laughs that he was going to give Tristan Hutchings a run for his money (Tristan won it that year). “I realized I wasn’t into the bull riding at that point… I was in it and wanted to win, but I would have rather been on a bucking horse.”

As a cowboy, you want to ride broncs and the bronc riding, when compared to bull riding, when you get tapped off on a bronc it’s like poetry in motion. It’s not the same as that.

“I still have it, but I don’t know exactly where it is,” says Q with a laugh in reference to his bull rope.

Here us out, what if we put out an invitational event where people compete across the board. The thought is that the saddle bronc winners would win the whole thing.

The five people Q would put on his team:

Chase Thompson
Zeke Thurston
Colt Gordon
Dawson Hay - he doesn’t rope very good but it would be funny to watch him bulldog
Q Taylor

They used to do a New Year’s Eve deal in Calgary, but Clay Elliott won it once for sure. They also used to have the Rodeo Olympics and even had one during the Olympics went to Calgary, as well as Salt Lake.

Preparing for your Rookie Season

“When you first start gearing into big rodeos on your permit gearing up for your rookie season, there’s a lot of pressure to do well and prove yourself… I would say, ‘it’s still just another rodeo.’ The lights are brighter and there is louder fans in the stands, don’t worry about what you’re doing just do what you do,” says Q.

“It’s not the last bronc you’ll get on,” says Q, who had Clay Elliott as a big mentor in his life. Don’t take the highest of highs, don't take the lowest of lows - you’ve got to not take either to heart, go home and fix what you need to, but always try to maintain a steady level and keep yourself calm.

“Clay Elliott.. for the people that don’t know, Clay was one of the better bronc riders that … had an unfortunate accident that he was unable to keep going. That guy was a great guy to look up too - there’s nobody that spurs a horse as good as he does,” says Joe.

“I naturally have fallen into a groove where I don’t have to work on being mentally as strong as some people have to,” says Q. “I stay pretty busy, when I’m not rodeoing I’m at home and I stay busy… Rodeo is for sure the biggest thing in my life and all I want to do, but I also ride horses and have cows and such… if I need a little reset, I’ll go ride colts and do something to take my mind off of it … so that you’re ready to go again and hungry… sometimes problems fix themselves if you step away.”

Training Horses

Having lived and worked with some cutting horse trainers, Q worked at a ranch during COVID when many of the rodeos got cancelled. He’s also worked with a team roping trainer and he’s also made his own ranch horses. “I don’t want to be mediocre and be a good horsemen, so I want to make good horses,” says Q Taylor.

What is the most Canadian thing that you do?

“I would say we are all guilty of it,” says Q, “it’s all about the wild side of us that we like to cut loose … and maybe that’s the wild side of us… I don’t know if it’s just Canadian, but… most Canadian bronc riders are pretty wild.”

RULE CHANGE: The mark out rule, while a good rule that makes bronc riding, it needs to be re-looked at because it’s all over the place right now.

Someone could be missed out somewhere, but actually spurred out. There needs to be more education for judges for consistency with more definition of the rule. Consistent everywhere for everyone.

If you find this podcast episode interesting, you'll want to check out our podcast with TWL podcast co-host and PRCA Saddle Bronc Rider Joe Harper and PRCA Steer Wrestler Cody Cabral as they chat in episode 108 with host Katie Schrock regarding how a cowboy qualifies for the National Finals Rodeo. Listen HERE.

That Western Life Podcast