By Megan Clark CAC Media Group
Young Guns: Three Up and Comers Leave Their Marks at the Junior World Finals January marks the start of another new year and for many bull riders, another new season. With both the lights of Vegas and the lights from another holiday season in the past, it is time for riders to make good on those new year’s resolutions and get back into the chutes. But it is not just the professionals who are finding themselves back at work. The riders coming from the recent Junior World Finals are also heading into another action-packed season, which includes bigger bulls and more opportunities to show off their skills. Eighteen-year-old Taylor Allen of Glynn, Louisiana knows a thing or two about the bull riding industry. With ten-years of riding experience under his gold belt buckle, Allen’s story began when he was a spectator at an area rodeo. “I thought it was great,” he said. “I saw those guys riding and I knew it was what I wanted to do.” Like many kids, he started riding sheep at the local mutton busting competitions. As he got older, he wanted to take his riding skills to the next level, so he moved to steers. Normally a younger rider would work their way up from riding sheep to calves and then to steers; however, Allen was ready for the big jump and took on steers right away. Allen’s perseverance and determination kept him coming back even though it took him a while to make his first full ride. Taylor Allen takes a 3rd place check in the LRCA Finals short round in Monroe, LA.
“It took me a whole year of riding to cover one eight second ride,” he said. “Once I did it though, I knew I could do it again. Your body just knows how to do it after that.” After making his first complete ride, Allen continued to improve and get better, eventually earning himself a spot at the Junior World Finals Rodeo. 2021 marked Allen’s fourth time as a qualifier and came after winning the 17-18-year-old regional competition in Oklahoma last summer. Allen left his mark in Las Vegas, covering all three of his bulls and turning in a 237.5 for his final score, earning him second place in the world. This extraordinary score marks the fourth time that Allen has placed in the top ten at the finals, which he won in Fort Worth back in 2020. Allen’s success hasn’t come easy, however; he has had to work incredibly hard to make it to the top. This hard work includes a huge amount of effort, which is the one piece of advice he would give to those looking to get into the sport of bull riding. “Try your heart out,” he said. “You can have all the talent in the world, but without try you will never consistently get the results you are looking for.” Now that he is 18, Allen plans on purchasing his PRCA permit in early January, with the goal of purchasing his card before the beginning of the summer. It has been his long-time dream to rodeo professionally and while he says college is not out of the picture just yet, his primary focus is on improving his riding skills, so that he can ride full time and eventually find his way back to Las Vegas. Another up and comer in the bull riding world is 16-year-old Marco Rizzo from Quitman, Georgia. The junior in high school is a seasoned rider that has seen the Junior Finals arena a time or two.
Humps-Horns.com · 23 · January 2022
