Bruce Smith poses with his sons Taryl (on the left) and Tate (on the right). All three men have ridden bulls and all three have won the NDRA bull riding title. Photo courtesy Bruce and Connie Smith.
By Ruth Nicolaus
VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – When Bruce Smith attended the North Dakota Winter Show in Valley City, N.D., as a kid in the 1960s, he had no idea that he would later ride bulls at it, and that his sons would, too.
For the late Warren and Dolores Smith and their seven kids, including Bruce and his twin brother, Brent, going to the Winter Show was like going to the “Denver stock show, for us kids,” he laughed. “We were so excited about that.” The family, who lived near Kathryn, N.D., would come to the show for the day and watch the rodeo at night. “It was a real treat to go to a rodeo,” he remembered, “and the Winter Show was the biggest treat you could go to.”
And that’s where Bruce got the bug to ride bulls. He watched bull riding greats like Dave and Darrell Hermanson from Litchville, and Ronny Trapp, Marion, all North Dakota cowboys, get on bulls, and that’s what he wanted to do.
So he got the equipment, and by the time he was eighteen, he rode a bull at the Winter Show. It was 1979, and he hadn’t entered the rodeo, but he was behind the chutes, watching the rodeo, and had his gear. A cowboy didn’t show up, and it was a world champion bull that the no-show was supposed to get on. They wanted the crowd to see the award winning bull buck, so they asked Smith if he would get on. “Everybody thought I was crazy,” he remembers. The bull, Top Hand, owned by Bob Aber, bucked him off but Smith loved it. The ride “didn’t last long, but I was thrilled to get on him.”
Smith rode bulls at regional rodeos, winning the North Dakota Rodeo Association (NDRA) bull riding title twice (1981-82), and became a Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) cardholder in 1982. He rode at the Winter Show every year, from 1976 to 1984, and was even featured on the program cover a couple of times.
When the recession hit in the 1980s, it was hard to find a job, but Smith had one: riding bulls. His parents, who were not pleased with his decision to ride, told him he needed to find a job. Smith was successful enough that he could make more money riding bulls than working.
By 1984, Smith retired, and in 1987, he married Connie. They moved to Litchville in 1992.
They have two sons, Taryl and Tate, and both of them have ridden at the Winter Show.
Taryl, who is 30 years old, rode for several years at the Show before he retired. Tate, who is 27, hasn’t missed getting on a bull there since he was eighteen years old, and will ride again this year.
Tate remembers going to the rodeo as a kid, and like his dad, it was a real treat. “We would normally go for a day, then watch the rodeo at night.” Once the boys were old enough, they would sneak behind the chutes to hang out there during the rodeo.
When they decided to rodeo, Bruce didn’t give his boys much choice. Tate wanted to be a roper, but that required a horse and hauling it to rodeos, and that was expensive, so Bruce told him he had to choose between bucking horses and bucking bulls. Tate wasn’t keen on the bucking horses. The bareback and saddle bronc riders “are crazier than any bull rider out there,” he said. “I broke enough colts as a kid that I didn’t want to deal with them.”
When he was eight, he was at the North Star Classic with his family when they walked past the miniature bulls, for youth bull riding. Tate went to his dad and told him he wanted to ride them. “If you really do, I’ll buy the gear,” Bruce said.
Taryl and Tate have also each won an NDRA bull riding title.
Tate will keep the tradition going as he rides at the Winter Show again this year.
It’s a treat to attend it, he said. “The Winter Show pulls a lot of people in. People from all over the danged state come, get hotel rooms, and stay the entire eight days. It’s a pretty big deal for people around here.”
The PRCA rodeo, the climax of the eight days’ entertainment, takes place March 6-7 in Valley City. The show, which runs Feb. 29- March 7, includes a country music concert by Jerrod Niemann, horse and pony pulls, a truck and tractor pull, livestock shows, a crop show, ranch rodeo, craft fair, and more.
Tickets are available at the Winter Show office located at 700 Seventh Street SE, Valley City, N.D. Tickets are required for the truck and tractor pull and the rodeo. For more information, visit the website at www.northdakotawintershow.com or call 701.845.1401.