Stetson Thurman buckles up for a promising future in bull riding

 HARLAN — Stetson Thurman’s lifelong dream is to join the Professional Bull Riders association, and at just 10 years old, he’s well on his way to making it happen.
 The fifth grader was recently crowned the Junior Bull Riding World Champion of the International Miniature Rodeo Association. Only the top 10 in each division qualified for the championships based on their performances throughout the year.
 Stetson, the son of Chris and Lacey Thurman of rural Harlan, started riding before he turned 4. Chris was a bull rider himself, and Stetson got his start in mutton bustin’ competitions. The family began pursuing opportunities for him early on, eventually moving to Harlan in 2020 so they could keep their own livestock.
 Stetson is in his second year competing in the junior division for ages 9–12. The next level is seniors, ages 13–16, but he also rides in the high school series, where he competes against 16- and 17-year-olds.
 Bulls are selected for each age group based not on size, but on bucking ability. Stetson says he only gets nervous “when I draw a really, really big bull.”
 “In the championship round, he escaped breaking his leg by about half an inch—and that was about a 1,350-pound bull,” Chris said.
 The risks are real, and the Thurmans know it. “It makes it a bit nerve-wracking,” Chris said. “I know, and he knows, it’s not a matter of if he gets hurt, it’s when he gets hurt.”
 Stetson has had his share of close calls—kicked in the collarbone, stepped on, trampled, horned, and working through a wrist injury this year after a hang-up. “When he gets hurt, it doesn’t change his mindset at all,” Chris said. “He just goes out there and rides through the pain.” Sometimes, Chris added, his son even competes against his advice: “He proves me wrong and usually goes out and wins the dang thing.”
 The rodeo season runs from April through October, and the Thurmans spend most weekends on the road, traveling to competitions in Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, and throughout Iowa. “A lot of the long-distance ones are just me and him,” Chris said, though the whole family goes whenever they can.
 In recent years, Stetson has competed in the Shelby County Fair’s Bull Riding Competition, where he always draws a crowd as the local favorite.
 Outside of bull riding, Stetson plays basketball, football, and baseball, and he loves to hunt and fish. His favorite subjects in school are lunch and P.E. His favorite bull riders are Sage Vance and Dalton Krantz. 
 While he doesn’t have a good-luck charm, he believes in the “Power of Pink,” often wearing a hot pink helmet, shirt, and pink and purple chaps. “He likes to rock bright pink,” Chris said.
 With the support of his family and his determination to ride until the day he makes that PBR dream a reality, Stetson’s future in bull riding looks to be as bright as his favorite color.