A Storybook Year: Rookie Saddle Bronc Rider Finds His Stride

Mitchie Story is taking the saddle bronc world by storm. To the fan, it seems every time he nods his head he is in the money. While that isn't quite true, the fact of the matter is certainly that Story is turning heads and collecting checks.

"I thought I was going to be a bull rider and then the bulls gradually started getting bigger as I was getting older and I started getting more scared," Mitchie Story laughed.

"My dad rode saddle broncs and he got me on some practice steers with a bronc saddle. When I aged out of that, I started getting on some horses. I slowly graduated onto whatever I could."

The event change turned out to be life-altering for the 21-year-old of Bayfield, Colo. In his newfound career as a saddle bronc rider, Story earned three Colorado High School Rodeo State Championships and two Little Britches World Championships. In 2022, he scored the highest-marked ride of the National High School Rodeo Finals.

Competing on his professional rodeo permit, Story's year took a turn when he swept the Greeley Stampede. A tie for first in Round 1, followed by a win in the Finals earned the young cowboy the Average title and nearly $10,000. Making an incredible 92-point ride in the Finals aboard Beutler and Son Rodeo's Green Bay, Story bested World Champions to take the win.

"This year was a godsend. I just wanted to make the circuit finals and the permit finals, so I was going to circuit rodeo with my roommate. Now, I'm entering anything they'll let me," he told us.

Leading up to his win at the prestigious Greeley Stampede, Story had been experiencing some of the mental challenges of rodeo.

"I was fighting my saddle and fighting my head. That was when God really showed up. I saw something on social media about how if it's God's will, it will happen and if not, He has something way bigger and better for you, so I just started trusting that and trusting God. I knew that whatever happened, it was all part of His plan."

Following the victory at Greeley, Story has been on a roll in the Mountain States Circuit. Winning the Steamboat Springs Pro Rodeo Series over July 4, the Old West Trail Rodeo in Crawford, Neb., the Kit Carson County Pro Rodeo in Burlington, Colo., the Yuma County Fair and Rodeo in Yuma, Colo., the Carbon County Stampede in Rawlins, Wyo., and the Sand and Sage Roundup in Lamar, Colo., Story has climbed to the No. 1 spot on the circuit leaderboard.

"Everything just started clicking. I've been blessed to draw some phenomenal horses, a couple of bucking horses of the year and runner-up horses of the year."

Story will return to Weatherford College this fall, where he has his sights set on another goal: the College National Finals Rodeo in Casper, Wyo. Earlier this summer, he won the Finals and finished second in the Average at the Central Wyoming Fair and PRCA Rodeo in Casper, so perhaps his good luck in the central Wyoming town will continue into the next season.

"I'm coming back with a whole new plan and it was definitely meant to be, I have a fire underneath me and I'm determined to make the College National Finals Rodeo."

Although rodeo is an individual sport, a great support system can make or break an athlete's career. Story shared that he would not be where he is today without the support of his friends and family.

"I try to give our Lord and Savior all the glory I can any chance I get, because without Him none of this would be possible."