BY MIKE CARROLL
OF THE PLAINSMAN
HURON — Tom Reeves of Eagle Butte, who is one of the top saddle bronc riders to come out of South Dakota, spent some time in Huron this past week helping the younger generation of riders understand what it takes to reach the world championship level in the sport.
Reeves capped his time in Huron with a saddle bronc riding school and pick-up man school at the DEX on the South Dakota State Fairgrounds.
“We do them all over the United States,” Reeves said of the schools. “We go as far back east as New York and do a couple of schools back there. We work with the church doing youth program stuff and we do stuff here in South Dakota.”
Reeves qualified for the National Finals Rodeo in saddle bronc for 18 consecutive years (1985-20020, winning the world championship in 2001. He finished in the top four in the world on six occasions and was the NFR saddle bronc average champion in 1993.
When Reeves retired in 2005 after a 23-year professional saddle bronc riding career, he was the world leader for most NFR qualifications in saddle bronc and had earned almost $1.8 million, which was 20th on the all-time career list at that time.
“I won pretty much every major rodeo in the United States and Canada,” said Reeves, who has been inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame and five other Hall of Fames.
During his run to the world title in 2001, Reeves was one of five saddle bronc riders from South Dakota to reach the NFR. He was joined by Billy Etbauer of Ree Heights, Red Lemmel of Faith, Jesse Bail of Camp Crook and Bud Longbreak of Dupree.
“We used to control the industry, and now we’ve had a real downfall,” Reeves said of South Dakota’s absence from the NFR in saddle bronc riding. “I mean, I blame it on the guys coaching our kids and stuff. We got guys coaching our kids that never won anything.
“They’re putting their BS on them, and we have, we hadn’t had a guy at the NFR in 8 years, and we used to control it,” he said. “Over half about half of the guys were from a 200-mile radius — myself, the Etbauers, Bud Longbrake, TC Holloway and Red Lemmel.”
During his riding career, Reeves earned a silver medallion for finishing second at the 2002 Olympic Command Performance Rodeo in Farmington, Utah, while serving as captain for the gold medal-winning United States team.
Following his saddle bronc riding career, Reeves served as a coach for Ranger (Texas) College, where he guided the men’s team to a title at the College National Finals Rodeo. In 2007, he received the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame Mentoring Award for his efforts in leading the team to a national title.
“As a coach, I coached guys as high as they want to go,” Reeves said. “I won the nation in college rodeo, coaching two years, and one of my proudest moments was one with four freshmen and two sophomores. The oldest kid on the team was 19.”
In addition to putting on several bronc riding schools throughout the year, Reeves continues to stay active with his ranch, where he raises bucking horses for their pro rodeo company.
The bronc riding school, which was held Saturday and Sunday at the DEX, had 20 participants, while there were 10 participants in the pick-up man school.
“One of our mottos is that broncs save kids’ lives. Kids now need to be able to go through something to prove themselves,” Reeves said. “Even if they ain’t a world champion, but they can get through something. push through something, persevere. instead of just going laying down and looking at their phone.
“It does something for themselves, and they’ll take that if they get through it and learn how to ride a bronc,” he said. “They’ll take that on with every aspect they do in their lives.”
The bronc riding school could be the first of several events Reeves hosts at the DEX.
“I love Huron, and I love the DEX center. It’s a great facility,” Reeves said. “We went around and talked to a lot of area businesses and stuff, and they’re real upbeat about the facility and what we’re doing here. Huron is all in.”
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