story by Lily Weinacht
Colten Brown is going in to his first APRA Finals this September leading the bull riding by more than $6,500. The 20-year-old from Deansboro, New York, joined the APRA last year and competed in a handful of rodeos, but this year he wanted to give the competition all of his focus. “I’ve just been going to every rodeo and focusing on riding that bull at that time, and making sure I don’t worry about anyone else, just myself,” Colten explains. “My favorite rodeo this year was a new one—they haven’t put it on since the 1980s—in Utica, New York. It’s cool to have a hometown crowd, and it was a pretty big arena and it sold out. I won it.”
Watching his dad, David Brown, ride bulls for several years cultivated Colten’s fascination with the sport, and his dad later put on two to three local bull ridings a year and several PBR events. A young Colten dressed up as a rodeo clown for one of the bull ridings, and later climbed on his first bull when he was 16. “My cousin Zach Brown started riding bulls, and I went to a rodeo with him at Painted Pony and he asked if I wanted to get on one. I’m pretty competitive, so I like the challenge,” says Colten. “I like getting on and getting the adrenaline rush, and if I could choose, I like to get on the ranker bulls because it’s fun and a challenge. One of Rafter Z’s bulls I’ve gotten on two or three times, Mellow Yellow, bucks pretty good, and I’ve ridden him each time.”
Along with the APRA, Colten competes in International Bull Ridings, and he plans to expand his résumé to include the IPRA and PRCA as well. He practices as often as possible when he’s home, either on his automatic drop barrel, or one of his five practice bulls. “We have some family friends come over and my dad will fight bulls and another kid will fight bulls,” says Colten. “When I was younger my dad helped me out and went to all the rodeos with me. I’m trying to win everything and be better than I was the day before. For right now it’s me traveling solo—I don’t live in a big rodeo area.”
Colten traveled to at least four or five rodeos a week all summer, rodeoing full time as much as possible, though he enjoys the rare break to go to the lake and spend extra time with family. During the slower times, he works alongside his dad as a farrier. “We travel quite a bit—most of the barns we go to are two hours away. We shoe show jumping horses, so most barns have quite a few horses. I’ve worked with my dad, and then I worked with one of his friends in Georgia, Bud Adams, who travels all over to Florida and Texas to shoe.” Colten also wants to college rodeo next year, possibly in Tennessee or Texas. “I’d like to win the College Finals in the average, and I plan on making it to the RAM Circuit Finals, as well as becoming Rookie of the Year in the First Frontier Circuit. I’d like to steer towards the PBR if I can and have a full-time bull riding career,” he finishes. “For the AFR, I’d just like to ride all three of my bulls and win it.”
