Road trips with Sage Steele Kimzey, Garrett Smith and Tanner Bothwell aren’t all that exciting.
Late Friday, they hit the road from San Antonio, loaded into Kimzey’s 2012 Dodge Charger, and headed for Tucson for the 89th annual La Fiesta de los Vaqueros. It was a 15-hour trip.
On a trip like that, they mostly just listen to music, for which they are pretty agreeable.
“The only thing we argue about is food, most of the time,” Bothwell said, “because I’m a little picky.”
Added Kimzey, laughing: “Tanner doesn’t like Subway, so that puts a downer on it.”
But, as they say, this isn’t their first rodeo.
The three 19-year-olds are travel partners, professional bullriders and, well, best friends.
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They are the pro rodeo’s resident youth movement, and they call themselves the “Young and Gettin’ It” crew.
“We’ve got a lot in common,” Kimzey said. “It makes it a lot easier. We haven’t had a problem at all in the group, no fights. It’s refreshing. It makes the jobs not so bad, and it makes the winning even better.”
If Kimzey, Smith and Bothwell are a group, then Kimzey is the front man.
In success, and in personality.
On Saturday, Kimzey — donning a bright orange shirt tucked into jeans pulled up near his belly button — had the second-best bullriding score of the day at 78, maybe good enough to qualify him for the final round.
He’s considered the top up-and-coming bullrider in the game. As a rookie in 2013, he banked $47,726.
Smith and Bothwell have the best seats in the house.
“It’s been awesome seeing him go so far,” Smith said. “He’s the positive one in the group. He builds us all up. We really try to build each other up.”
It makes sense why they get along so well.
All three grew up in rodeo families — Kimzey in Oklahoma. His father, Ted, is a former National Finals clown and barrel man; Smith (Idaho) and Bothwell (South Dakota) had parents who competed as well. They’ve known each other since high school, meeting at competitions.
They all gravitated to bullriding in the same way, too. As kids, at 4 or 5, all three were known to practice “bullriding” on sheep.
“I started riding sheep around when I was little,” Smith said. “From what I remember, I usually hung around on the bottom of the sheep a lot. Riding the bull, it’s been a lot more fun.”
It’s a lot more fun competing and starting up alongside Kimzey and Bothwell as they all work their way through the ranks. Strange, considering they technically compete against each other. Although, not in the eyes of the “Young and Gettin’ It” crew.
“That’s the thing that nobody gets about rodeo,” Kimzey said. “We’re not actually competing against each other. We’re just competing against the animal that we drew that day.”
Added Smith: “As long as somebody in the car is taking home the money, we’re doing pretty good.”
