(Editor's note: PRCA media release)
ARCADIA, Fla. – The coronavirus pandemic didn’t stop the 92nd Annual Arcadia All-Florida Championship Rodeo nor did it slow down bull rider Shane Proctor, who posted an 87-point ride on Frontier Rodeo’s He’s Legit to win in Arcadia and earn $3,867 March 15.
“With all the cancellations going on I’m glad we were entered up with a place to go,” Proctor said. “The last couple of weeks we’ve been playing it minute-by-minute to see what rodeos are still open and have adjusted our schedule three or four times in the last week due to rodeo closures.”
One week shy of his 35th birthday, it was full steam ahead in Arcadia.
“Nothing was different in Arcadia,” Proctor said. “I’ve been there several times, and the committee and Frontier (Rodeo) are always great. There’s nice weather and it’s a pleasure to go compete at. The people at the rodeo are exceptional.”
Proctor is a 15-year ProRodeo veteran with five qualifications to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (2011-13 and 2015-16) but was knocked out of the mix in recent years due to injuries.
A broken wrist during the saddle bronc riding at the 2019 Red Bluff (Calif.) Round-Up kept Proctor out of the bull riding race for four months last season, which had a domino effect into the 2020 season, preventing him from qualifying for some of the season’s biggest competitions.
“The tendon was popping over a nerve and making my hand go numb, so I just rode broncs for the summer,” Proctor said. “When I’d come off (a bull) my hand would be numb for 15-20 minutes, so I just needed to let it rest up. It didn’t hurt as much in broncs since I lift on the rein, but in bull riding it jerks on it.”
He finished the 2019 season on a high note by winning the Dillon (Mont.) Jaycees PRCA Rodeo–Montana’s Biggest Weekend, Sept. 1.
Proctor’s back to his winning ways this season. Most recently he tied for the win at the Brighton Field Days Festival Xtreme Bulls in Okeechobee, Fla., earning $6,138, and placed second at the Xtreme Bull Riding competition in Nacogdoches, Texas, to earn $4,021.
“The Xtreme Bulls have been good to me,” Proctor said. “Nickels make dimes and dimes make dollars.”
Before his Arcadia win, Proctor was ranked 33rd in the 2020 PRCA | RAM World Standings with $13,187 and 11th in the Xtreme Bulls Standings with $11,088.
“I was really tickled with the (Arcadia) score, but I didn’t think it would hold up,” Proctor said. “It’s a tough rodeo and an 87 is a good ride, but I was expecting that with the caliber of bulls and riders there any of those guys could beat me at any time.”
Proctor’s Arcadia win should push him into the mid-20s in the world standings. From there it’s on to the Enid (Okla.) Ultimate Challenge Division 2 Xtreme Bulls, March 28.
“I didn’t make the Finals the last couple years, but I have a strong start now and I’m tickled,” Proctor said. “If I have a decent winter, then my summer is good.”
Proctor wasn’t the only cowboy to leave Arcadia in high spirits as team ropers Cory Kidd V and Clay Futrell posted a 4.2-second run, shattering the previous Arcadia record of 4.8 seconds set by Jacob Dagenhart and Zach Mabry in 2019.
Other winners at the $106,139 rodeo were bareback rider Tilden Hooper (87.5 points on Frontier Rodeo’s Times Up); steer wrestler Frank Goulet (12.7 seconds on two head); saddle bronc rider Joe Harper (85 points on Frontier Rodeo’s Full Throttle); tie-down roper Kolt Henderson (8.7 seconds); barrel racer Kelley Carrington (16.89 seconds). Bart Brunson was the all-around cowboy ($1,818, tie-down roping and team roping).