7-21 Pages for Bryan

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 for 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 forward 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 for 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 for 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 for 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) before,
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 for 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 for 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 ................. $21,521
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 for 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 for 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 for 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) before 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 for him, and
hopefully the rest of us can keep up at this
point,” Watson said.
Green hasn’t qualified for 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 7/21/2017 31