story by Ruth Nicolaus
Creede Guardamondo finished his state high school rodeo career as a two-time and reigning Colorado High School bareback riding champion.
In addition to the bareback riding, the Avondale, Colo. cowboy also competes in the team roping and tie-down roping, with bareback riding as his strength.
He follows in the footsteps of his dad, Tom, who rode bareback horses in high school and beyond. It’s a good event for him, he believes. “It was always easier,” Creede said. “When I started it, I found it to be fun.”
His favorite part of roping is the horsemanship. His tie-down horse, Scout, is “honestly probably my prized possession.” He trained her and her counterpart, his team roping horse Chewy.
Scout “has a lot of get up and go. As soon as you throw the saddle on her, she’s fired up and ready to go. You don’t have to beg her to do her job; she wants to do it.”
Chewy, who is also a sorrel mare, like Scout, has a lot of quirks, Creede said. She has the same motivation that Scout has, and can be used for heading or heeling. “She’s extremely good at what she does. She’s fun to ride.”
He got both horses as four-year-olds.
Covid-19 has thrown a wrench into the Avondale, Colo. cowboy’s senior year at Pueblo County High School. “Honestly, Covid-19 has ruined my senior year, of not being able to do anything fun.” The school held only five football games and dances and assemblies were canceled. Instruction is hard, too, when in-person learning is limited. “The whole learning side of things sucks because there’s no hands-on experience. It’s all digital. It’s made it harder for me to understand concepts.” During the winter, students attended school in person for two days and virtually at home for two days. Starting in April, they were back to school five days a week.
He’s been on his school’s honor roll the past four years and lettered in rodeo one year. He’s also a self-proclaimed “gym rat,” lifting at a gym in Pueblo.
Creede welds for his dad’s business, and enjoys the trade. Right now he’s welding pipe fencing for someone, but he’s also welded structural things, including I-beams for a hospital.
He loves to thrift shop, picking up old cowboy boots for cheap and wearing them.
They’re already broken in, are comfortable, and a good bargain.
This fall, he will attend Otero Junior College in La Junta, Colo., where he will compete on the rodeo team. He will work towards a construction management degree, and hopes to transfer to Colorado State University for his bachelor’s. After college, he’ll come home and work for his dad’s steel fabrication and concrete businesses. He’s attending Otero on rodeo and academic scholarships.
Creede looks up to other bareback riders, especially Orin Larsen and Logan Patterson. He loves how Orin rides. “It’s just awesome,” he said, of Orin’s riding style. “You never see tall, lanky guys ride (bareback horses), and he’s the definition of tall and lanky. It’s awesome to watch him ride.”
Patterson, who lives in Kim, Colo., has mentored Creede. “He’s been one of the best teachers I’ve had. Honestly, he makes it relatable to me. He goes for broke every time, and it’s awesome to watch.”
When the 2019-2020 season was concluded early due to Covid-19, Creede was ranked in the top five in the state in the bareback riding. In 2019, when he finished as state champ, he did not go on to Nationals due to a torn rotator cuff.
He jokes that he should have his own private room in the hospital, because of how much time he’s spent there. He had the rotator cuff fixed his sophomore year, and had two plates put in his right ankle after breaking his fibula.
Creede has two older brothers: Justin and Chance.
He is the son of Tom and Laura Guardamondo.
