Bareback Rider Kyle Brennecke Talks About the Cowboy Lifestyle

Circa 1,100 competitors will enter the arenas at the San Angelo Stock Show and Rodeo over the next two weeks, many of which come from all parts of the U.S. and Canada for a chance to compete for the purse.

World Champions, local competitors and those fighting their way up the ranks will take to the dirt one after the other in the city’s most celebrated two-week event, famously known as one of the biggest rodeos in the nation.

Among those visiting San Angelo is 26-year-old bareback rider Kyle Brennecke from Grain Valley, MO. Brennecke has been riding bucking broncs since he was about 14-years-old he says, and has never looked back since his first ride.

“I didn’t really start going hard until I was 18 or 19,” he says after his 79-point ride in San Angelo on Saturday. “I went to college and did it and stuff, but I guess I just watched it a lot when I was younger and grew up around it. It was one of those kinds of deals that got me hooked. [It was] definitely more of an adrenaline rush [back then].”

Brennecke says that now, riding bareback has gotten “a lot slower,” meaning the fast-paced, high adrenaline rush he felt at 14 has somewhat softened, but he still wouldn’t call what he does a job. Rather, he says, rodeo riding is a lifestyle, and with that comes a long list of compromises.

On average, Brennecke visits some 80 rodeos per year in roughly 40 U.S. states. Unlike touring bands or other acts, the cowboy often drives himself from location to location, sometimes 10 or more hours and across two to three states just to make a stop for a hopefully, eight-second ride.

“It’s a full-time job,” Brennecke says. “This is our slow time (in the winter). [In the summer] we’re at a different one every night. We drive ourselves, because we’ve just got to get our gear bags there,” he says, mentioning that they don’t have to bring horses or cattle with them. “You learn to sleep in vehicles a lot.”

Due to the extensive drive time, Brennecke estimates that a cowboy usually spends between an hour and a half and four hours in a rodeo town before moving on to the next one. Sometimes they fly, he says, when the distance is too great, but most of all it’s driving.  

“A lot of guys buy vans,” Brennecke says. “I’ve got a van that’s got a bed and stuff in it. A lot of guys get trucks with campers on the back and a lot of guys drive vans. The bigger the van, the better, the more guys you can get in it, the cheaper the gas is,” he says, pauses briefly, then adds, “It’s kind of like being a gypsy a little bit, I guess you could say, traveling everywhere.”

Despite being constantly on the move, Brennecke says he loves the lifestyle he’s chosen. He says that although they are competitors, the cowboys all become good friends on the road and are always willing to help one another out. They give each other rides to the next city and provide each other insight on the individual horses.  

“I think it’s fun going into the big rodeos and being able to do what you love to do and make a living doing it,” he said. “It’s definitely a lifestyle more than it is just a competition sport.”

Brennecke scored 79 points on his ride in San Angelo on Saturday, then ate and headed for San Antonio a few hours later. For those wanting to get started in bareback riding, he said ‘you’ve just got to get on them. The more you get on them, the slower it’s going to be for you.’

With a few big checks under his belt and a van stocked with provisions, Brennecke says he’s ready to keep going and to someday take the top.