Wes Stevenson, born in Kaufman, TX, started riding bareback horses at the age of 17 and had his mind set he would go to the NFR. In 2000, his second year at Western Texas College, he was on his way to his first NFR, sitting in the top 15 of the World Standings.
August 25th, 2000, in Bremerton, Washington, Wes was care flighted out of the arena with a career-ending injury nearly severing his lower left leg. Seven surgeries later, a metal rod, several screws, and seven months of rehab, he came back to finish 18th in the 2001 World Standings.
In 2002 he dominated the competition by sitting #1 in the World Standings, until the end of September. A horse ran him into the chutes, causing the bone to re-break. Wes was resilient to ride at the NFR and fought his way back. He competed at The Texas Stampede, with a hole in his leg, where he tied Joe Alexander’s record of 93 points and went on to set a new World Record of 94 points, on Kesler’s Cover Girl, the very next night.
Wes competed at his first NFR, after dropping down to 130 pounds. December 16th, 2022, the day after the 10th round, Wes was lying in an operating room. Nine surgeries later, 1 ¼” of his bone length removed and an external fixator attached, he left the hospital.
During his time off to rehab and regrow his bone, Wes completed his degree from Texas Tech University. He also decided during that time to get in the bucking horse business by purchasing four mares and a stud from J-J Rodeo Company. Those bloodlines continue to build the Stevenson Ranch herd and go down the rodeo trail.
After being off over a year from rodeo, Wes came back to compete at the NFR a total of 9 times.
