Kansas bulldogger wrestles his way into first place
Ted Harbin

CLAREMORE, Okla. – Shane Henderson has been around the sport of rodeo most of his life.

He knows the ins, the outs; the good, the bad. He’s chased his dreams of qualifying for the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and just missed playing on the grandest stage in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association. Along the way, he’s won some of the big events in the sport, including the championship of the Prairie Circuit Finals Rodeo.

On Friday night, the Winfield, Kan., steer wrestler grappled his animal to the dirt in 3.6 seconds during the opening performance of the Will Roger Stampede PRCA Rodeo to take the lead in his event.
            “I’d just seen that steer a couple of weeks ago at the Duvall’s big bulldogging down at Checotah, so I knew a little bit about him,” Henderson said. “I was a little nervous about him, because I knew he was going to be quick out of the chute, so I knew I really had to get a good start.”

He also got plenty of help from his friend and hazer, Jeff Miller of Blue Mound, Kan. – the hazer’s job in bulldogging is to keep the steer running straight to help the contestant have the best opportunity to wrestle the animal to the ground.

“If Jeff didn’t haze him that well, I’ve got a time that barely puts me in the money instead of winning it right now,” said Henderson, 37, who operates a tree service in Winfield. “He did a great job of getting the steer to me.”

Henderson knows the job well. As a longtime steer wrestler and one of the top cowboys from this region, he’s called upon time after time to assist others. He used a horse owned by Miller and Stewart Gulager of Garland, Kan., which gave him an advantage in the competition.

“My little horse is great, but this yellow horse is fast and could get me where I needed to be in a hurry,” Henderson said. “This is the nicest and strongest horse I’ve ever ridden. I knew I needed him tonight. If I’ve got a steer that’s kind of slow and I need to score well, I’ll use my horse. But I knew tonight I needed to bust down the barrier to get that kind of a time.”

Now he will sweat out the final two nights to see if anyone can beat his blazing time – the remaining performances are set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. No matter what, he’s in fantastic position to take home a good sized check out of Claremore, and that’s a big thing in ProRodeo, where money not only pays the bills but is also the means by which championship points are tallied.

“This’ll go a long ways to getting me back to the circuit finals, that’s for sure,” Henderson said.

Story Continues Below

Web WorldOfRodeo.com