Bareback star Davis missed NFR by a mere $2,000
Some cowboys call it the “stink hole.” Or worse.
To finish 16th in the PRCA world rodeo standings means to finish one place shy of qualifying for the rich National Finals Rodeo.
Power bareback star Jessy Davis finished 16th in the 2015 PRCA season, which ended recently.
“No worries. It happens,” Davis said. Then he laughed.
“It’s gotta happen to somebody. Unfortunately it was me.”
Davis will be back in the saddle on Thursday in Billings at the NILE, which kicks off the 2016 Montana Pro Rodeo Circuit season. He will be among many Treasure State stars competing in the three-performance event at the Metra, including such NFR veterans as Tyrell Smith and Jesse Kruse (saddle bronc), JR Vezain (bareback), Matt Shiozawa and Mike Johnson (tie-down roping), Rachael Myllymaki, Shelley Anzick and Lindsay Sears (barrel racing), Ty Erickson (steer wrestling), and Dustin Bird (team roping).
Davis, 34, has earned six trips to the NFR. The former College of Southern Idaho cowboy finished 14th in the world in 2014.
“I’m getting a little bit older,” he laughed. “In my mind I feel like I’m at my peak. I don’t know if my body does. But it’s mind over matter, anyway.”
Davis has a small cow operation in Power, where he and his wife, Cassidy, make their home.
“This is more incentive to try harder next year,” Davis said. “In the springtime I took it pretty easy, then I had to pretty much play catch-up in July and August. Now I’m kind of paying for it, even though I feel like it was a pretty good year, overall.”
He plans to ride in Las Vegas at a Cinch Shootout in December. He’ll also compete at the Chase Hawks Roughstock event in Billings and a New Year’s Eve event in Gillette, Wyo. They’re all invitation-only rodeos that feature some of the best rodeo cowboys in the business.
Davis had once again qualified for the Montana Pro Rodeo Circuit Finals, slated for mid-January in Great Falls. It’s a highlight for all Treasure State cowboys.
“Especially for home much money they put up,” Davis said. “And the crowd participation is so good. It really gets you fired-up for the new year coming up.”
That goes without saying, considering the near-miss No. 16 finish in 2015.
“I turned out of a couple rodeos,” Davis said with a hint of chagrin. “Basically all I had to do was win Belt, Montana (which paid about $2,000), to get into the Finals. I ended up turning out of there. But that’s water under the bridge.”
He paused and chuckled again.
“But that’s all it would have took, a victory in Belt,” Davis said.
Woulda, coulda, shoulda.
Davis doesn’t dwell on it.
“No,” he said. “It’ll just tear you down and eat you up. You’ve gotta look forward and keep moving forward.”
Though he fell short of the NFR, his 2015 rodeo earnings of more than $73,000 represented an excellent season.
“For sure,” Davis said. “That would have been kind of in the middle of (the NFR qualifiers) the last couple of years. But it was a really tough year. Guys rode pretty dang good.”
Rodeo performances in Billings are slated Thursday through Saturday nights at 7. There is slack scheduled Thursday morning at 8 and again Friday night following the rodeo performance.