kyler oliver looking to make 2021 his year By Barbara Pinnella
Through no fault of his own, a lot of bull riding fans might not be familiar with the name Kyler Oliver. That is not because he has not been successful, because he has been. Last year he finished second at the PBR Velocity Tour Finals, which catapulted him into the World Finals, moving up from 62nd place to 37th. But there is one thing that keeps getting in his way and keeping him from being a bull riding household name – injuries. We will get into that a bit later, after some background on Kyler. “My uncle Shane was in rodeo; he was a bull rider. But as far as our family name being associated with it, not really,” Kyler laughed. “My family wasn’t really surprised though. I spent a lot of time with my uncle when I was younger, going to rodeos and the like, so they were kind of used to it.
“I started on sheep when I was three years old, and I got the bug right then. From there I got on calves, steers, and mini bulls, so it wasn’t too much of a shock to them when I wanted to continue doing this. I’ve always liked the extreme stuff.” Kyler also rodeoed in school. He rode both in junior high and high school. He did not rodeo his senior year of high school however. He had already turned 18, and decided to start going to PRCA rodeos instead. Shortly into that adventure he injured his shoulder pretty badly, necessitating surgery. But he always knew that bull riding and getting to the PBR was what he wanted to do. His first injury came way back when he was riding mini bulls. He got stepped on and the shoulder popped out. But he didn’t have too many issues with it until a wreck on a bronc in high school. Then, in a boxing match two nights after that wreck, it popped out again. “A few poor decisions,” he laughed. Oliver used to ride both saddle broncs and bulls with champion bronc and bull rider, and one of those great riding Wrights, Stetson, all through high school. He would like to return to that and, like Stetson, qualify and compete in both the NFR and PBR Finals. But currently he hasn’t been on a bronc in more than a year. He will need shoulder surgery – again – before he climbs in that saddle. “Since I grew up with Stetson, and watching him compete successfully in both saddle bronc and bull riding, it is sort of an inspiration to me. That is something that I feel I can do as well,” Kyler told us. “I hope I can ride saddle broncs again in the future, once I get my shoulder fixed. I still have a saddle. In fact, it’s (2-time World Champion Saddle Bronc Rider) Cody Wright’s saddle that he won at the World in 2010! It’s sitting there ready to go, I just have to get my body right.”
Humps-Horns.com · 16 · May 2021
