Will Lowe, like any rough stock rider on the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association circuit, focuses on staying balanced each time the chute swings open.
Remaining centered on the back of a snarling, jumping, kicking animal that is trying to hurl you unceremoniously to the ground requires nerves of steel and the strength and timing of a world class athlete.
Lowe, of Amarillo, had been world class for more than two decades.
Bursting on the scene in 2001 while at Vernon College, Lowe was the PRCA Overall and Bareback Rookie of the Year in 2002, the same year he qualified for the National Finals Rodeo for the first time and finished third in the world.
That would start a string of 14 consecutive trips to Las Vegas in December and after three of them — 2003, 2005, 2006 — the world championship buckle was on his belt.
For the past decade, however, the lifestyle has become a balancing act.
Now 40, he has been married to his wife Tiffani since 2002.
They welcomed their first son, Garrett, in 2009 and in 2012, a second son, Levi, filled out the family.
Now, instead of barreling down the road to 100-plus events a year, the pull of the people waiting for him in the Panhandle is just as strong as his continued love for his sport.
“It makes it tough to stay on the road a long time,” Lowe said after the first performance of the SandHills Stock Show and Rodeo on Thursday at the Ector County Coliseum.
“Luckily, I don’t rodeo as hard as before; I don’t go down the road like I used to, just do the ones I want to, the big ones, and make time for everybody. It’s a lot of fun, especially in the summer when they boys aren’t in school, then we go camping, fishing and everything between rodeos.”
A trip to the Permian Basin was a bonus for the boys, with the family headed home after the event.
“It’s just a four-hour drive. They can be a little late to school (Friday),” Lowe said, smiling.
The ride Thursday was Lowe’s first since November as he didn’t qualify for the 2022 NFR.
Only the top 15 cowboys or cowgirls in each event make the sport’s marquee event.
What his appearance in the Permian Basin did was knock the rust off, he said, adding he used his time off to recuperate and get back to the gym to prepare for the 2023 winter rodeos.
He will travel to Denver next week and then to Fort Worth after that.
Lowe is entered in San Antonio in February and Houston in March, two stops that can quickly catapult him into the Top 15 and put him on track for a 16th trip to Las Vegas.
“The nice thing about San Antonio is it’s a pool rodeo, tournament style,” Lowe said. “I’ll just be riding against the guys that day.
“Like here, you are riding against everyone until next Saturday. In the big buildings, you ride against the guys that day and they make a cut to the semifinals, then you ride the next day and they cut to the finals.
“It’s easier on the judges, the stock contractors and the fans, who get to see a winner every night. And the judges don’t have to get 20 performances right, they have to just get that night right and that makes it more fun.”
Fun is the key for Lowe.
Not many rough-stock cowboys who have made 40 trips around the sun are still taping up elbows and wrists, forcing their hands into the rigging, pulling their hats a little tighter and then trying to find the right balance on the bronc’s first jump.
Lowe is and expects to continue for at least the near future.
“Life would be boring if you didn’t get to nod your head,” he said.
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