story by Lindsay Humphrey
Until recently, the last time Greg Dickson slid his hand into a suitcase handle as a competitor was more than 30 years ago. Now in his second year with the PSRA, Greg cracked back out first as a bull rider and now in the bareback riding. “Last year a good friend and traveling partner, Wayne Boney, talked me into riding bulls again,” said the Arbuckle, California, native. “The first rodeo we entered was in Dillion, Montana. I was nervous about the whole thing because it had been so long.” With gear bags slung over their shoulders, the young hotshots started giving Greg and Wayne a hard time. “They pointed out that everyone else had wheels on their gear bags, so they weren’t packing them on their shoulders anymore. That was the real ice breaker and helped calm my nerves. At the end I rode my bull, won the buckle and the rodeo and we were off down the road.”
With a few more birthdays under his belt than his last rodeo, Greg was pleasantly surprised by how well his body responded. He attributes his ability to “ride well at his age” to a life spent primarily outside and remaining active no matter if he was competing or not. The last time Greg got on a bareback horse – 1991 – he broke his leg and his ankle was pointed in the opposite direction. “I really didn’t want that to be the last bareback horse I got on. I had a craving to get on one for that reason and a few others.” At 21, Greg started down the rodeo trail as a bareback rider. He even recalls thinking riding bulls was crazy. As it turns out, Greg had a natural talent for the event. Once he started riding bulls, Greg was winning enough that he could pay to enter the bareback riding.
“I always knew I wanted to try rodeo; I was fascinated by it. But I grew up in the Bay Area, in the suburbs. All my friends were into muscle cars and motocross, and I was into horses. I had one as a kid.” Greg found his way into the cowboy culture by working for ranchers as a teenager and into early adulthood. He finally went to a Lyle Sankey Rodeo School and got on his first bareback horse. “I had the opportunity to stay with Lyle for awhile in Missouri and travel to some rodeos with him. I even became a Christian at one of his rodeo schools. From there I continued working ranches and competing in the summer a little bit.” Eventually Greg started coaching at some of Lyle’s rodeo schools. That’s how Greg ended up in Ellensburg, Washington, where he met Frank Beard.
“Frank convinced me to come up for a summer and help him with his rodeos as a stock contractor. I did that for quite a few years and that’s how I got away from competing for awhile. The Beards became a second family for me, I’m close to them to this day.” In the early 2000s, Greg started a horse hauling business, working for Oswood Stallion Station out of Texas on a regular basis. The business was thriving until COVID hit. Greg has since found his way into construction which gives him a flexible schedule to rodeo across the country with the PSRA.
“I found that I had the same feelings getting on a bucking horse now at my age as I did when I was younger. The anticipation, the nerves and being just a little bit scared are all still the same.” The companionship the association provides is one of Greg’s favorite parts of competing, but he also appreciates that he can be a positive influence for some of the younger competitors. “The other thing is people are amazed at our age about what we’re doing. I can’t believe what’s happened to me, the way things have turned out. I’m amazed too and I just hope I can take it and use it in the right way and be a good role model for other people.” Greg finished off the 2021 season as the PSRA 60+ World Champion Bull Rider after only coming off one bull before the whistle. He was also the average winner at every rodeo he entered except one.
