Five hundred competitors expected at the Buffalo Bill Rodeo

The excitement of professional rodeo returns to North Platte with this year’s Buffalo Bill Rodeo, where more than 500 professional cowboys and cowgirls will compete in pursuit of the dream of a gold buckle and monetary winnings.

They come from near and far; a few will travel across town or across a few counties, while some will live in Hawaii and Australia.

Stacey Hansen

Stacey Hansen, a cowgirl and schoolteacher from North Platte, doesn’t have many miles to run barrels.

The 43-year-old grew up in Smolan, Kansas, and moved to North Platte in 2007 when she married her husband, Trent Hansen.

She has been barrel racing since she was a young girl, competing primarily in jackpot events and a few rodeos.

This year will be his first at the Buffalo Bill Rodeo. She said she had a horse with the skills needed to succeed at the professional level.

Slingshot, a 10-year-old bay gelding, was purchased by Hansen five years ago. He’s learned the barrel pattern, and she makes him “comfortable in the atmosphere so he can do his job and not be nervous.”

Rodeos have a different vibe than jackpot events: they can be louder with more people around.

Slingshot’s personality is “a little bit vigilant,” she said. “He’s suspicious of things.”

Hansen will ride Slingshot to the arena before the show starts, allowing him to look around so he feels more comfortable come race time.

She and Trent have two daughters: Haidyn, 14, and Harper, 8. Haidyn races sprint cars while Harper enjoys equestrian activities. She and her husband “divide forces” on weekends; Trent takes Haidyn shopping, while Harper accompanies her mother.

The girls’ different interests require a lot of fuel as each parent takes them to their activities.

“We need a fuel sponsor,” Hansen laughed.

Hansen teaches at Adams Middle School in North Platte. She will compete during the slack on Thursday June 13.

Garrett Shadbolt

For Merriman bareback rider Garrett Shadbolt, last year didn’t go as planned.

After competing in the Wrangler National Finals the previous two years, he broke his leg in June 2023 while rafting down the Niobrara River, just a week before the start of the Buffalo Bill Rodeo.

By the time he was healed, most of the rodeo season was over and it would have taken him a long time to catch up with the top 15 riders and qualify for the national finals, so he stayed home.

Shadbolt is now back on the circuit. He did well at winter rodeos, winning the National Western Rodeo in Denver and finishing as reserve champion at Rodeo Houston. The pace of rodeos is slow in the spring, but the season is about to start in earnest.

“I’m committed pretty seriously to the Fourth of July,” he said. “I’ll just have to go and be gone for a while.”

Being away from home becomes more and more difficult for him. He and his wife Katie have three children, a son and two daughters under the age of four.

Leaving the ranch, where he represents the fifth generation of Shadbolts, is difficult, but once he hits the road, it gets easier.

“Once I get going and stay out (on the road), it’s easier than going back and forth,” he said.

The 28-year-old has won the Buffalo Bill Rodeo twice (2021-22) and is ranked seventh in the world rankings.

Sam Daly

Like barrel racer Hansen, Sam Daly will make his first competitive appearance at the Buffalo Bill Rodeo.

The 19-year-old grew up in Tabor, Iowa, with his mother, Elizabeth Shirley, but spent vacations and summers with his father, Mike Daly, on the family ranch near Tryon.

A steer wrestler, Daly competed in a high school rodeo in Iowa and qualified for the National High School Finals Rodeo all four years of high school.

Competing in the professional ranks is different than in high school and college, Daly said. On the one hand, the competition is tougher.

“It’s a jump from small-town guys to big (name) guys,” he said. But it’s also motivating.

“When you see a steer wrestler go out and play four seconds flat, you cheer for him,” he said, “but at the same time, you want to go out and be a 3.9. You want to work that much harder to match him.

Daly is a student at Pratt (Kan.) Community College, rodeo and majors in animal science. He is the grandson of Art Daly, rancher, rodeo entertainer and musician who died in 2014.

The rodeo competition begins Wednesday, June 12 and runs each evening until June 15. Shows start at 8 p.m. All events take place at the Wild West Arena in North Platte.

Slack, the additional competition which does not fit into the evening performances, will take place on June 12 and 13 at 8 a.m. each morning.

Ticket prices range from $11 to $24 and can be purchased online at NebraskalandDays.com, or at the NebraskalandDays office and at the door.

For more information and a complete schedule of NebraskalandDays events, visit the website or call the office at 308.532.7939.

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