COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Houston Brown is no stranger to the World Famous Miles City Bucking Horse Sale Matched Xtreme Bronc Ride.
In fact, his hometown is Miles City, and the saddle bronc rider grew up attending the bronc match nearly every year. Now, his name will forever be etched in the record books after he captured the event title, May 22. He said the win in his hometown is a dream come true.
"This feels great, I grew up watching that match ever since I was a little kid, looking up to those guys that were in it," said Brown, 23. "It's kind of surreal to be able to win it. It's special to have family and friends there to watch me do it. I don't know if it's really sunk in yet."
Brown was able to advance out of the 40-man long round with an 85.5-point ride on Burch Rodeo's Bubble Bath. He then advanced to the finals where a matchup with J Bar J's National Finals Rodeo bucking horse In The Lu awaited him.
After a few helpful tips from fellow cowboys in attendance he had no problem rising to the occasion. Brown put together a 91.5-point ride to secure the title. It is the highest marked ride of his ProRodeo career.
"I had watched that horse quite a bit and knew what to expect," he said. "I talked to a few guys there to figure out what I needed to do for the rein. After that it was kind of nod your head and see what happens. It nearly bucked me off at the end, but I was pretty happy they gave me the thumbs up at the end of it."
Heading into the weekend, Brown was sitting 49th in the PRCA world saddle bronc standings. He will no doubt jump up the standings after earning $9,375 in Miles City. He said a win like this gives him a major confidence boost headed into the summer run.
"This win is going to do a lot for me. It'll give me some good confidence going into the summer," Brown said. "I'll finally be able to take a little bit of a breath and add some money to my name. I hadn't had a lot of luck the last month or so. It's really good to get this one and finally get a win."
He said in the sport of rodeo it's key to have a short memory, whether that's after a good or bad ride. You never know when the ball will start rolling in your direction and he hopes this win will do just that for him.
"You have to have that mentality because it's a really long year," he said. "If things aren't going your way and you start getting down on yourself, it can kind of snowball on you. You have to have a positive attitude because you never know when things can turn around."