Smart Excels at San Antonio Xtreme Bulls
Susan Kanode

                SAN ANTONIO --- A year ago at the second edition of the Xtreme Bulls competition at the San Antonio Stock Show Rodeo, Chance Smart felt successful after winning over $8,000.

                He left the AT&T Center and headed to Houston for another competition on the tour, and used the momentum to win his first Xtreme Bulls event. While he was grateful for the win at Houston and success at San Antonio, he wanted a win in San Antonio.

                He made good on that goal here on Thursday night, dominating the competition and winning the event by eight points. The Philadelphia, Miss., resident rode the bull Foghorn from D H & T Rodeo in the long round of competition for 86 points. He finished in a tie for fourth place out of the 40-man field and qualified for the final round in fourth place.

                That was the perfect position for Smart as the bull that would end up beside his name was Cross Roads from Silverado Rodeo Co., a bull he had previous experience with. The first time he attempted to ride Cross Roads was in Arkansas a couple of years ago, and Smart said he didn’t even last two seconds.

                “I’ve seen him a bunch since then,” Smart said of the bull. “I’ve really been wanting to get on him and I totally had faith that I could ride him.”

                That’s exactly what happened and when the judges added up their markings, Smart had a 92-point ride to move to the top of the leader board with a total of 178 points on two rides. He and Logan Knibbe and Jarrod Ford were the only three of 12 finalists to have eight-second rides in the finals.

                Knibbe, from Rockdale, Texas, finished in second place with 170 points. That was worth $13,183. Ford, from Greeley, Colo., had a total of 165.5 points to win $10,866. These were the only three men to ride two bulls. Mike Moore, from Kankakee, Ill., won the first round of competition with an 88-point effort on Beutler and Son Rodeo Company’s Deuces Wild.

                Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association competition starts here on Friday at 7:30. Bareback riding, steer wrestling, team roping, saddle bronc riding, tie-down roping, women’s barrel race and bull riding will be featured