“No matter where you go or what you’re doing, it’s not going to be easy to win first place,” says Myles Neighbors. The 18-year-old from Benton, Arkansas, has won numerous titles, including 2016 NLBRA World Champion Steer Wrestler, but he also knows the feeling of leaving empty-handed. Yet Myles’ approach to his favorite sport is always the same. “Whenever I’m not going to a rodeo, I’m at home practicing. I think about rodeo all the time. Whether it’s calf roping or steer wrestling or team roping, I’m thinking about a way I can make that run better.”
While Myles has gold buckle dreams now, he didn’t used to be so passionate about rodeo. “Myles was four or five when he started in the Southern Junior Rodeo Association. When he started, I didn’t think he’d have a competitive bone in his body,” says his mom, Sheila Neighbors. “I had to chase him down and throw him on his horse to do his events – he’d be under the bleachers playing or in someone’s trailer. I don’t remember when he turned competitive, but one year we were rodeoing and it just clicked.”
Rodeo started in the Neighbors family with Myles’ grandpa and great-uncle, James and Philip Neighbors. His grandpa James competed in tie-down roping and steer wrestling and his uncle, Philip, competed in steer wrestling. Both qualified for the IFR. His grandfather, James, served as president of the IPRA and worked as a stock contractor, producing ARA, CRRA, IPRA and PRCA rodeos. James passed away several years ago, but not before seeing his grandson compete. Myles’ dad, Howard Neighbors, carried on the tradition of steer wrestling. He runs his own plumbing business, and currently competes in team roping, entering ARA rodeos with Myles, who was the youngest contestant ever to win the all-around title in the ARA at age 16. He’s also won ARA rookie of the year titles in heading, steer wrestling, and tie-down roping, and currently competes in the ARA, ACA, CRRA, AHSRA, and NLBRA.
“I love the people in Little Britches,” says Myles, who won the 2014 NLBRA Rookie of the Year. “They are one of the nicest families in the rodeo world, and you don’t meet people like that everywhere you go. They always want to help you with something, and if there’s not one, there’s twenty people anytime you need something.” Sheila adds, “I loved every bit of the finals at the Lazy E. We stay at a friend’s house for the Little Britches finals and turn our horses out since Little Britches and the IFYR and NHSFR put us on the road for three weeks. We’re going into those three rodeos with a bit of a handicap this year – Myles’ good rope horse blinded himself in one eye a few weeks ago and his steer wrestling horse has been under the weather. He competed on friends’ horses at high school state finals and went in with the possibility to win four titles. He came out with one of those, the All Around, and that’s OK. God has a plan.”
As for the setbacks with his horses, the rodeo family readily came to his aid, and Myles was still able to qualify for the NHSFR in all three of his events. He’s been riding Jason Thomas’ steer wrestling horse, and his family’s horse trainer and close friend, Weldon Moore, sent Myles to state finals on his calf horse. “They were generous enough to let me borrow their horses so I could get it done. When I got to know Weldon, I stayed with him and worked on my roping, and now he and his wife are like my grandparents. Jason Thomas letting me ride his bull dogging horse was a big step for me, and his parents, Jim and Leann Thomas, do a lot for me. I go over and use their arena all the time. My mom and dad do a whole lot for me – they pay for everything and they never miss a high school or Little Britches rodeo. I would also like to thank Keith and Diane Everett for all they have done for me through the years. I travel a lot with two of my best friends, Austin Wake and Benjamin Cox. We’ve grown up together and they’re really good at keeping me going. We all help and support each other.”
Last winter, Myles moved his horses, calves, and steers to Benjamin’s house and stayed there a couple of months to practice in his indoor arena. “My good calf horse, Cadillac, is one of the ones that got hurt,” says Myles. “I just went to catch him one day to go to a rodeo and his eye was solid white. His retina is partially detached, so he might have to have his eye taken out. My mom will probably run barrels on him, and I’ll get another horse. Frosty is Jason Thomas’s horse that I’ve been riding lately, and I’ve been bouncing around on heel horses.”
Myles was still able to qualify for the NHSFR in all three of his events, including the team roping with header Jacob Scroggins. They have roped together in both Little Britches and high school rodeos since Myles’ junior year when he switched from heading to heeling. “Myles is a natural born header,” says Sheila, who grew up showing horses and took up barrel racing in rodeos after marrying Howard. “Myles got his first rope horse when he was seven, and the second time he roped off that horse, he caught his steer.” But ultimately, steer wrestling is Myles’ favorite event. “I like everything about it – I like the speed and I like when I get off and the steer hits flat on his side.” He’d love to spend a day dogging steers with Luke Branquinho, and roping with Clay O’Brien Cooper. His latest branch on the rodeo trail starts this fall competing on the Northeast Texas Community College rodeo team. “I’m going on a full-ride rodeo scholarship, and I like the coach there a lot,” says Myles. “I’m going for an Ag. business degree, and I’m hoping I can better myself at the college rodeo level and keep my grades up.” He had plenty of practice studying on the road since he was homeschooled all four years of high school. The flexibility allowed him more opportunities to rodeo, including competing in the first ever Jr. Ironman Championship at the Lazy E Arena this March. Selected from the top five of the world standings in team roping, steer wrestling, and tie-down roping, Myles won the first round of the Jr. Ironman Championship. “ It sure was competitive, and I didn’t go out of there with an empty pocket!”
Myles occasionally trades his rope for a fishing pole and goes to one of the numerous lakes near his home, but rodeo always takes priority. He likes that his hometown of Benton, Arkansas, is centrally located to a number of rodeos, and plans to buy his PRCA permit and start pro rodeoing this year. “I’m always wanting to better myself, whether it’s with my horses or my rope,” he finishes. “Some kids like football and basketball, and I like rodeo. My whole life, I’ve always wanted a gold buckle with my name on it.”
