Kyle German knows about the ups and downs of bull riding.
The Crossfield native is currently ranked No.19 in Canada, but faced a tough situation during his day-three ride at the Airdrie Pro Rodeo on June 30. He was competing with an injured right knee and also drew a difficult bull in Optimus Prime.
“It was just a good bull,” German said. “He’s just a young one, but he’s definitely going to make it. He’s a bucker.”
German had his knee taped up, after an injury suffered five days earlier in High River, but couldn’t manage to hold on and wasn’t able to earn a score.
“We had it taped up tonight, but it didn’t really work, so we’re going to go about it in a different way tomorrow (July 1) in Ponoka, and hope it works I guess, then take a couple weeks off to get it feeling good again,” he said.
“I was supposed to be at a couple rodeos after Ponoka, but I’m going to take some time off, as they’re just smaller rodeos. I’ll try and heal up and go for it again in a little while.”
The competition at the Airdrie Pro Rodeo goes beyond the stock, he said, as some of the best bull riders in the world make sure that the July long weekend is circled on their calendars.
“There’s three rodeos this weekend with Airdrie, Ponoka and Williams Lake – they’re all tour rodeos in Canada – so you get a lot of Americans who come up for that,” German said. “Ponoka is the biggest rodeo in Canada, so while they’re up here for that, they always hit this one too, which makes it one of the best. Makes for an outstanding rodeo.”
German’s season has been hit-or-miss thus far, he said, but the early highlight was a win at the Stavely Rodeo on May 7. And despite the injury concern and lack of result, he said he enjoyed competing at the Airdrie Pro Rodeo.
“I’ve always liked this rodeo. It’s good to be here, as it’s pretty much a hometown rodeo – I grew up 10 minutes from here. It’s pretty neat,” he said.
“And it’s a big rodeo, a good rodeo, so a guy really likes to come here. Everything bucks hard. All the bulls are outstanding. It’s just too bad a guy wasn’t healthy to take a little money out of here. I’ve had a little luck here too, so it’s too bad.”
