story by Ruth Nicolaus
It was a chance encounter with his cousins and a bull when he was twelve years old that got Taylor Bethers started as a bull rider.
He was at his cousins’ house in Colorado when they convinced him to get on a junior bull. He did, and he loved it. “I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “I just did everything with a smile on my face. I bucked off with a smile on my face, and I decided it was what I wanted to do. I was smiling ear to ear. It was the funnest thing I’d ever done.”
And he hasn’t quit smiling yet.
The Utah High School Rodeo Association member who lives in Heber City, Utah, is a senior at Wasatch High School. His favorite parts of the school day are lunch and dismissal time. Sitting all day isn’t his favorite: “I just can’t handle sitting in a desk that long. I’ve got to be doing something.” Rodeo keeps him going. “As long as I get to look forward to rodeos every weekend, (the time) will fly.”
Taylor is involved in FFA and used to show pigs in 4-H. He loves to hunt deer, elk, bears, mountain lions, and enjoys shed hunting.
He started riding saddle broncs this past summer, although bulls are his strength. “I’m a lot better at bull riding, for sure. I’m still trying to get the hang of saddle bronc riding. It’s definitely a lot different from the bulls. A lot of different moves are going on.”
After high school, Taylor hopes to get a college rodeo scholarship. He’d like to be a power lineman.
He has qualified for state finals the last three years, and finished his junior year in the top ten at state. He competed at Silver State Rodeo his freshman and sophomore years.
He has two younger sisters: Gabrielle, who is sixteen years old, and Kennedy, who is ten.
He is the son of Laramie and Stephanie Bethers.
