Trevor Kastner

By Kelly B. Robbins

Bull riders are a special breed of cowboy. They know who they are, and they love what they do. Bull riders are smart, they are skilled, and they are tough! Meet Trevor Kastner. He is a smart, skilled, and tough professional bull rider from Roff, Oklahoma, with over 50 event wins in his career. Trevor has earned over one million dollars pursuing the “toughest sport on dirt”.

Trevor grew up in Ardmore, Oklahoma, where his dad John was a ranch foreman and an amateur saddle bronc rider. Trevor started riding calves when he was five years old, and he has been riding bulls ever since. “My parents were always real supportive of anything we wanted to do,” Trevor said. “They believed that if we really wanted to do something, we should go for it.”

During his high school years at Dickson High School, Trevor participated in junior and amateur rodeos. He got a rodeo scholarship to Western Oklahoma State College in Altus, and later he got a scholarship to Ranger College in Ranger, Texas. He qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo in 2009 and 2010. He was the reserve bull riding champion in the Central Plains Region of the National Intercollegiate Rodeo Association in 2010.

Trevor and his wife, Kate, are raising four-year-old daughter McKenna and two-year-old son, Korbyn on their 40-acre spread in Roff, Oklahoma. They have 15 head of mares and raise ranch horses.

When he purchased his PRCA card in 2008, Trevor was riding bulls only part time. In 2010 he began riding a full schedule of events. “My most memorable ride was at the 2012 NFR,” Trevor revealed. “I was the only rider to get a score in the round.” Trevor is a six-time NFR qualifier, from 2011-2013 and 2018- 2020.

His favorite rodeo is the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, which is where he just happens to be headed next on February 19-21. I asked Trevor what he felt was his greatest accomplishment as a bull rider. “I guess I’d say that being able to make a living at bull riding for the past ten years is my greatest accomplishment.”

Trevor’s last event was the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas. When he wasn’t riding, he worked with Dustin Boquet training kids five to fourteen years old at a Rough Stock Camp the PRCA held there. The cowboys worked with the kids training them on mechanical equipment and teaching them the fundamentals of bull riding and bronc riding.

Trevor Kastner looks for eight seconds at the Spanish Fork Fiesta Days in Spanish Fork, Utah.

Photo by Phillip Kitts / Avid Visual Imagery.

“We didn’t use any live animals, just drop barrels and stuff,” Trevor explained. “Any time you can help these kids do something they want to do, it’s good! Some of these kids have never even been to a rodeo. It was really fun to see their reaction as they experienced rodeo for the first time. Our goal was to expose them to the fundamentals of rough stock and to teach them how to do things the right way, because it is the safe way.”

Trevor had this advice for new or up-and-coming bull riders. “I would tell them if it’s really something you want to do, then be all-in with it. If you are not going to give it 100%, then I advise you to go find something else to do!”

I asked Trevor what he saw for his future in bull riding. “Well, I plan to keep bull riding until it’s time to move on to something else. I do realize I’m getting a little ‘long in the tooth’ and it’s getting closer to being a done deal for me. There are parts of my bull riding career I wouldn’t trade for anything, but my body is pretty beat up now. I still enjoy bull riding, and that adrenaline rush, but I mostly ride for the money right now. It’s how I make my living.”

Photo by Phillip Kitts / Avid Visual Imagery.

Like most bull riders, Trevor has endured some injuries during his bull riding career. “The worst and scariest injury happened in Austin, Texas back in 2018,” Trevor shared. “I got eight ribs broken, punctured my lung, and lacerated my liver. That one took me out for eight weeks.”

“When I climb on a bull and strap in, I try to keep my head clear,” Trevor acknowledged. “It’s pretty much reaction now. If my mind is clear, and not much is going through my head, then I trust my instincts and my experience and just react to what the bull is doing.”

Trevor shared that former bull rider Clint Branger was his greatest influence as his bull riding career developed. Clint Branger is widely considered the best bull rider that never won a championship. Clint is an eight-time NFR qualifier, and a four-time PBR Finals qualifier. He is one of the twenty founding cowboys of the PBR, and he conquered the notorious Bodacious twice. He retired from bull riding in 2000 and was inducted into the PBR Ring of Honor. “I tried to ride like Clint,” Trevor revealed. “He rode really good, and he always did everything correct.”

Kastner at the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo

PRCA PRoRodeo photo by Greg Westfall

I asked Trevor what he thought about the future of bull riding. “I think the future of bull riding looks pretty good right now,” he answered. “Bull riding is growing in popularity, the fan base is getting bigger all the time, and the prize money is a lot better. I only wish I was ten years younger and coming up right now!”