Lane Frost statue, Cheyenne, Wyoming (Cowboy State Daily Staff) “Thank God that we have those, because they’ve prevented a lot of bad things,” he said. We’re all just riding on God’s time and asking for his protection when we’re doing this.”īut cowboys also take care of themselves, and Breding said after Lambert came out with the leather vests for guys to wear his dad was one of the first to wear one. That means they learn to ride and balance their body with the headgear on, so they continue wearing a helmet when they advance to college and pro ranks.īut Frost’s accident is “still a reminder to bull riders that the sport is dangerous,” said Breding, a four-time NFR qualifier. Ross said all high school bull riders are required to wear helmets. Most bull riders also wear helmets instead of cowboy hats. The doctor and cowboys agree that a vest might have prevented Frost’s injury from being fatal, and more important that in the years since, the protective gear has kept other cowboys from severe injury. He said Frost’s death had a profound effect on the bull riders because, “It got them to wear the vests.” He retired from PBR two years ago and started riding in the PRCA, earning a trip to the National Finals in Las Vegas his first year in pro rodeo. JB Mauney at Cheyenne Frontier Days (Photo by Candy Moulton, Cowboy State Daily) Mauney, who rode some of the rankest bulls in the sport during his years with the PBR, made history in 2016 as the first bull rider to reach the $7 million mark in career earnings. “It’s unfortunate that things like (Frost’s death) have to happen to turn it around and get something like that, but you know it’s all a part of the game.” But it kind of trademarks it for bull riders.”įrost’s friend and traveling partner Cody Lambert developed a protective vest that the bull riders started wearing “and that’s saved me a bunch of times,” Mauney said. Mauney, one of the most successful riders in the sport, said Thursday before he prepared for his own ride on Two Socks. … So that’s pretty much how I learned how to ride bulls,” J.B. She got the news she wanted, but somebody else didn’t. And he didn’t get to call home for quite a while, so that was a pretty scary deal, just a terrible deal all around.”īreding said his mother “sat by the phone all night long until he was able to call her. “And back then you had to use pay phones. My mom didn’t know, they just said a bull rider got killed, she didn’t know who it was. “Dad was actually there that day when Lane got killed,” Breding said. His father, Scott Breding is a five-time NFR qualifier who often competed against Frost. Parker Breding of Edgar, Montana, who qualified for the semifinals at CFD with his bull ride on Wednesday, wasn’t born when Frost made his last ride in Cheyenne, but Breding has often heard of the day from his parents. Still visibly moved by recalling the events of that fateful day, Ross now quietly says he knows the injury was something “you couldn’t fix.” But he tried for 90 minutes before reluctantly agreeing with other members of the medical team that Frost was gone. Skip Ross was the first responder to attend Frost after the bull pounded into him.įrost had broken ribs that tore through his heart. But he had a poor dismount that put him in front of the bull, which stepped on his chaps and hooked the young cowboy with a horn to the ribs.Īfter the blow, Frost rose from the arena dirt, took a few steps and motioned to the sidelines that he was hurt before he collapsed face down.ĭr. On July 30, 1989, a cool, rainy day, Frost rode Takin’ Care of Business, scoring an 85. Most of the men riding bulls today weren’t born when Frost died, but they all owe him and know they are safer in the arena because of what happened at Cheyenne 34 years ago. That awful moment during the 1989 Cheyenne Frontier Days Finals when Takin’ Care of Business tossed bull rider Lane Frost into the air, then hit him in the ribs with a horn that killed the rodeo star, is still keenly felt by the doctor who treated him.

Little buster bucking chute