Tuesday, July 2, 2024
Koben Puckett, of Canyon, was raised on a ranch in New Mexico.
“By the time I got out of grade school, I was one hundred percent pursuing rodeo; junior rodeo, high school rodeos, all kinds of rodeos.”
He became a bull rider.
“That’s what I did all through high school, and, eventually, by the time I was 16, I was competing against adults in amateur events, and I learned to make a living riding bulls.”
He won some awards.
“I got my professional bull rider card when I was eighteen. I won a couple of professional events at that age.”
He’s been involved in bull riding a long time.
“I grew up around it. I was passionate about it. My dad was a past Turquoise Circuit champion bull rider. I just grew up in that atmosphere. My dad and I raised bucking bulls from the time I was twelve years old and when I was fifteen and sixteen, my dad took Double Aught, one of the bulls we raised, to the PBR world finals in Las Vegas, Nevada. So, I was around those guys going there. It was where I belonged and what I loved.”
He competed as a professional bull rider just two years, then had a bad landing at a bull riding event in Mesquite in 2008 when he was nineteen. He landed on his head, and neck was paralyzed from the neck down. Doctors told his father that patients didn’t usually improve much more after three years of therapy. He had a rough six years, but he is still improving.
“I have a strict rehab schedule and I’ve even learned to walk on a treadmill. I can live on my own with assistance and I can drive a truck. I got back involved in the sport I love, and I host an event here in Amarillo, Texas. That was because I had a family supporting me, and I decided to not look at life through hopelessness.”
He started a foundation called PRESS ON to help injured cowgirls and cowboys. It’s funded in part by his PBR event held every July in Amarillo.
“This event just this past year raised 30,000. I bring in some of the top bull riders from Brazil, Mexico, Australia, and the U.S., you name it.”
He gives motivational talks to different groups, including young bull riders who know the risks but still want to participate.
“I think by the time they get to that level, it’s in their blood so much that I don’t think they’re too worried about that. I think they just love seeing someone that doesn’t quit.”
