Bull rider okay after scary ride at Weiser Rodeo

Published by admin on Wed, 07/13/2022 - 10:55am

The Weiser Valley Round Up offered spectators plenty to see last weekend, including the only known female junior bull rider competing out west. Pictured above is Gray Shaffer, 12, who is in her second year as a bull rider. She placed second on Thursday, earning $119 in cash and qualified to compete for a title. Her fortunes turned on Friday when she was bucked from her bull, sustaining a concussion and a possible fracture to her forearm. Gray said she still wants to compete and possibly earn a college rodeo scholarship. Photo courtesy of the Idaho City Rodeo Club Facebook page.

Rozin Mason, 11, hangs on tight during the Junior Bull competition at last week’s Weiser Valley Round Up. Photo by Sarah Imada.
By: 
Philip A. Janquart
You would be hard pressed to find another place other than a rodeo where you can make $119 for eight seconds worth of work.
 It doesn’t sound like much, but from a 12-year-old’s perspective, that’s not a bad haul.
 Gray Shaffer – a girl – did it on opening night at the Weiser Valley Round Up last weekend. She drew a bull, tag No. 69, and rode it to the buzzer, scoring high enough to earn second place and bring home some cash for her effort.
 The performance also assures her the opportunity to compete for a title
 But this story isn’t so much about, quite possibly, the only female her age west of the Rockies riding bulls. 
 It’s more than that.
 One moment you’re in the red zone, ready to score; the next, you’re hit from the blind side.
 Friday morning, Gray was riding high following Thursday’s performance.
 “I’m going to take my winnings and get a glove made by Tiffany,” Gray said in an interview Friday afternoon. “It’s going to have my initials on it.”
 The glove will match the rest of her green and gold gear. Still attending Basin Elementary School, the Idaho City girl will move on to high school in a couple of years and is shooting for a college rodeo scholarship. She also knows about cars, can weld, and has two years of Judo behind her.
 “I taught her the basics of welding already,” said Gray’s father, George, who is a kind of jack of all trades. “From the time she was seven, I’d put her under the hood and say, ‘Ok, do this, take that bolt off, take out the alternator, and now the water pump.’ After her mom passed away, she’s been my working partner.”
 George does remodeling and construction, as well as trapping and wildlife control for Idaho Fish and Game and other customers across the Treasure Valley. He is a sought-after man, especially when there is something unidentified making noises under a house or porch.
 Trapping is another skill he has passed on to his gregarious and confident daughter, whose mother, Laura, known as “Belle” because she was from the south, passed away roughly five years ago after a battle with cancer. 
 The duo charges $30 per hour for most services, Gray earning ten of that, which she uses, in part, to buy her protective gear and to help pay for travel and other expenses to compete in rodeos. 
 “That first year after her mom died, we were just trying to survive,” George said. “Then I started thinking about horses. I have a picture of Gray when she was just a baby. Her mom was holding her up on a paint.”
 
Finding direction
 That’s when she was connected with family friend, Carmen Stranger, who is the secretary of the Idaho City Jack Pine Round Up, which takes place this year Aug. 26-27 in Idaho City. 
 “My dad’s friend got me into working with horses and I kind of adopted her as my mother, I guess,” Gray said. “She got me onto a mini-bronc and ever since then, I’ve just kind of been obsessed with the rodeo.”
 Although she wears the usual protective gear – vest, helmet, gloves, and chaps – Gray is still a little scared every time she gets on a bull but is simultaneously invigorated. 
 “In the Crouch (Idaho) rodeo last year, I rode my first steer and ever since than, getting in a chute with an animal that could very well kill you is very exciting,” she said.
 
The Blindside
 With a second-place win under her belt, Gray went into Friday’s ride fully confident she would log a good score, but that’s when she was blindsided.
 She went into it with a plan, but her bull, tag No. 79, seemed to have one, too. The bull came out of the pen wild, pulling a move Gray did not expect.
 “Usually, the bulls with the stock contractor I ride with, Rodeo Fever, his bulls usually come out of the chute, walk a few steps, and then start bucking and kicking,” Gray explained. “But this one, he did kind of a belly roll and came out of the chute really fast. 
   “I wasn’t expecting that, and it threw me off. I was leaning forward, but he went down. I was expecting him to come up because a lot of bulls do.”
 Gray suffered a concussion and was awaiting results of an x-ray on her forearm, back, and hip on Monday. Before the x-ray, she was told by medical professionals that she could have possibly sustained a small fracture to her forearm.
 George said Gray’s ride was a surreal experience.
 “I was pretty upset and scared,” he said. “She has protection, and she knows what she is doing, but those are bulls. Every time she crawls in the chute, we are both pretty nervous.”
 The experience has not dampened Gray’s spirits or caused her to rethink her chosen sport.
 “I’m going to keep doing it,” she said in a phone interview. “One wreck is not going to ruin my future career because I could go to college and pro rodeo. I’ve got plans, man. I was expecting this. I knew sooner or later I was going to have a very nice wig-out session on the front of a bull. I knew it was going to happen sooner or later, and it happened.”
 For now, Gray says she still plans on competing in the upcoming rodeo in Council July 22-23, and then in Emmett July 29-30.
 “My mom died on the 28th and Lane Frost, the famous bull rider, died on July 30, so that will be kind of a memorial weekend for me,” she said.
 

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