Cowboy Christmas Going Green Jeremy Wombold photo Layton Green took six flights and spent about 50 hours on the road in becoming the highest-earning roughstock competitor of Cowboy Christmas. 30 ProRodeo Sports News 7/<strong>21</strong>/2017 ProRodeo.com
Green won more than any other roughstock cowboy BY MATT NABER The quickest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put it in your pocket, but Canadian saddle bronc rider Layton Green is going to need bigger pockets as he more than doubled his 2017 earnings during Cowboy Christmas. In roughly 10 days, Green won $26,590 by competing at 14 rodeos – nearly half his winnings stemmed from his success at the Ponoka (Alberta) Stampede, with $14,542 won at a single rodeo. (Green also won $690 at the Benalto (Alberta) Stampede). Green had six flights and spent about 50 hours on the road during his 10-day run that stretched from Ponoka to Airdrie, Alberta, to Williams Lake, British Columbia, then on to Oregon and down into South Dakota and Colorado. Cowboy Christmas wasn’t entirely smooth sailing <strong>for</strong> Green as he was bucked off at the Blackhills Roundup in Belle Fourche, S.D. “That was a bummer in the midpoint, but I was looking <strong>for</strong>ward to the short round in Ponoka,” Green said. With so many rodeos happening at the same time, Green had to decide between competing at the short round of Ponoka or the short round at Greeley, but drawing Calgary Stampede’s Stampede Warrior <strong>for</strong> the final round in Ponoka made the choice easy. “I was excited when I saw what I drew in Ponoka,” Green said. “That made it easier to figure out where I was going to go.” He made the right decision as his 87.25-point ride in the final round placed him first in the average and granted him a spot in the showdown round, where he placed second <strong>for</strong> a grand total of $14,542 earned in Ponoka. “I was in the heat of the moment, but I was pretty happy and it takes the pressure off,” Green said. “It was the cherry on top.” “He had a great Cowboy Christmas and he drew good horses and kicked their ass,” said Green’s traveling partner, saddle bronc rider Jake Watson (a 2016 qualifier <strong>for</strong> the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo presented by Polaris RANGER). “He’s always done good on the Fourth of July.” Green, 23, lives about an hour away from Ponoka in Meeting Creek, Alberta, so this win was particularly special. “I’d always wanted to win it,” Green said. “I’d been on that horse (Stampede Warrior) be<strong>for</strong>e, and I think I got a check on her last time, but I was able to ride her better in Ponoka. That’s a cool horse and a rodeo you want to win – she helped me a bunch. “By then, things were rolling <strong>for</strong> me and I went to Molalla and St. Paul (Ore.) and I got checks there, too,” Green said. “It was a fun and good 10 days.” TOUGH STUFF Roughstock can be rough, and Green had to grit his teeth and muscle through the pain of a pulled lower abdomen. “I was pretty sore, but you can last through anything <strong>for</strong> eight seconds,” Green said. “I tried Top Roughstock Winner TOP ROUGHSTOCK 1. Layton Green, SB .................. $25,900 2. Sage Kimzey, BR ................... $24,227 3. Tim O’Connell, BB ................. $24,102 4. Joe Frost, BR ....................... $23,532 5. J.R. Vezain, BB .................... $23,128 6. Dustin Bowen, BR ................. $<strong>21</strong>,5<strong>21</strong> 7. Jake Vold, BB ...................... $20,583 8. Steven Peebles, BB ............... $19,580 9. Zeke Thurston, SB ................. $18,448 10. Garrett Smith, BR ................ $17,004 not to think about it. When things are rolling like that, it’s still fun and not that big of a deal – you don’t feel it <strong>for</strong> eight seconds since you’ve got enough adrenaline going and you can put up with the pain afterwards.” Green used a combination of ice packs and Biofreeze throughout Cowboy Christmas to keep the ball rolling. Running and gunning on no sleep was the hardest part of the run <strong>for</strong> Green. “But, it was fun and exciting – it’s my favorite time of year,” Green said while on his way to the Central Wyoming Fair & Rodeo in Casper the morning after the Rooftop Rodeo in Estes Park, Colo., ended. “I’m feeling good now and starting to heal up, so I’m happy to be rodeoing.” Green almost turned out of the Rooftop Rodeo because he was starting to get pretty sore, but changed his mind since he was on a winning streak. But, it didn’t really sink in <strong>for</strong> Green that he was on fire until he was winning the Rooftop Rodeo. “Everything was going so fast and things were going good,” Green said, noting that he started to suspect he was on a winning streak after Ponoka. “I decided to get on everything and when I was winning it, I realized I’m on a hot streak.” Winning the Rooftop Rodeo with his 84.5-point ride on Cervi Championship Rodeo’s Payback was the deciding factor in Green being the top roughstock cowboy of Cowboy Christmas as his $5,330 check from Estes Park narrowly edged him past bareback rider Tim O’Connell. Prior to Cowboy Christmas, Green was sitting at No. 24 in the WEATHER GUARD® PRCA World Standings with $22,557 won at 33 rodeos. By July 6 he was 12th in the world standings with $43,126 won at 45 rodeos. “At the end of it, it’s a wow-factor, ‘oh man, I won that much, in that time period,’ and that’s your goal at the start – and if you can surpass your goal, you’re pretty happy,” Green said. He surpassed his goal by breaking into the middle of the Top 15 at eighth in the world standings with $49,147 as of “I’d always wanted to win (Ponoka). I’d been on that horse (Stampede Warrior) be<strong>for</strong>e and I think I got a check on her last time, but I was able to ride her better in Ponoka. That’s a cool horse and a rodeo you want to win – she helped me a bunch.” -– LAYTON GREEN July 11. “It’s a great feeling when you can get inside the Top 10, that’s where a guy wants to be,” Green said. “I’m going to keep having fun and keep it rolling.” “There’s big things ahead <strong>for</strong> him, and hopefully the rest of us can keep up at this point,” Watson said. Green hasn’t qualified <strong>for</strong> the WNFR yet, but he’s been climbing the standings each year since his start in 2013 – going from 60th in 2013 to 24th in 2014 and 2015, and most recently, 19th in 2016. “A guy always wants to have success, and it’s the best time of year to get hotter,” Green said. “My biggest goal is to make the NFR, and that sure seems like it’s in perspective.” ProRodeo.com ProRodeo Sports News 7/<strong>21</strong>/2017 31
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