story by Lindsay Whelchel
It could be Josh Goodson’s nomadic early-childhood that makes him well-suited for the rodeo road. His father was in the military and during the first decade of his life, Josh lived in Texas, Louisiana, New York, Germany, North Dakota and South Dakota before finally settling in Georgia.
He didn’t stay settled for long, however. Bull riding and the love of the sport of rodeo has been pulling at Josh all of his life.
“I’ve always liked rodeo ever since I was little. My grandpa would take me to the rodeos, and I always loved bull riding, but I wasn’t actually able to start riding until I was about 16 or so. I got to get on a couple times when I was little, but my dad was deployed a bunch, my mom had to work while my dad was gone, and we played sports too, so it didn’t leave a whole lot of extra time for riding,” Josh explains.
That all changed when he was a teen. Already an active athlete (Josh played baseball well into high school), he soon quit other sports to focus on rodeo, and he’s been focused ever since.
Now 21, Josh qualified for his first International Finals Rodeo last season, finishing sixth in the world. This year, he’s been maintaining a lead in the World Standings and is clearly after a world title, with big wins so far in places like Quebec and Lakeside, Calif.
Josh has been spending the summer like he’s used to, traveling steadily across North America and helping his brother Jacob, who just turned 18, to come up in the sport.
Rodeo is a good teacher Josh assures.
“It pushes your limits in every single way, physically, mentally, spiritually, everything you can think of,” he says and adds, “I have plenty of times where I’ve paid my last dollar for entry fees or had to ride hurt or look for some help. It’s definitely a humbling sport, because just as much as you could run your mouth, something bad could happen to you just as fast.”
It’s this reality that has influenced Josh’s work ethic.
“I’ve learned what you put in is what you get. You work hard, you’re going to get [a lot] out of it. You don’t work hard, and you’re not going to get anything out of it,” he says.
If there’s any slowdown in the travel, you’ll find Josh fishing, but chances are he’ll hit the road again soon.
