And what Clay Elliott wanted to be—and became— was a world-class bronc rider. So what happens when you’re forced to re-think your whole life plan? “When I got hurt, the first year was just like a recov - ery,” the 30- year-old explained. “It was like a broken leg to me; I was going to yoga and the gym and just wanting to heal up and get back to riding bucking horses. But after about the eighth doctor tells says you better stick to riding a bicycle, you think, hey, I better think of something else to do here. There was another year when I thought hey those doctors don’t know me, who I am and what I do, then another year when I was back to thinking, son of a gun I better fig - ure out what I’m going to do with the rest of my life.
And it was really just last year when I started to feel comfortable with it—I called it a career in bronc riding and was more at peace with it. You’d think you’d make that decision and there you go, get on with it but for me it just took a long time to get to that point.” It wasn’t like Elliott had just been sitting around with his feet up during his hiatus from rodeo. “I’d bought some land when I was riding bucking horses and during the time I was out I built a house and started to acquire some horses with some ability in the roping. There was a time there when I felt sorry for myself but that’s not me and I was able to kind of shake that and get on with stuff I enjoy.”
Canadian Rodeo News – May, 2024 – 9
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