Former Golden City man wins bull riding honor

Championship Bull Riding, Inc., has named Seth Reynolds, 25, a former Golden City resident, the January Crown Royal King of the Month. Following is the rest of the information from the news release sent by CBR:

Reynolds is a professional bull rider who competes in the CBR. He recently moved to Willow Springs from Golden City, where he was raised. In the 2008 CBR season opener in El Paso, TX, Reynolds won the long round of competition riding Casper Baca’s bull Soul Shaker for 89 points. The money earned in El Paso, brought Reynolds to a fifth place ranking in the world CBR standings.

Reynolds spent his entire youth with the ambition of becoming a marine. He had almost reached that goal, but was disqualified from the Navy Seals Program for being color blind. It was devastating for him. Luckily two things were waiting for him when he returned home: God and bulls.

For a while after coming home, he fell into an un-Christian lifestyle. But one night he got on a bull and everything changed. He discovered he had a passion and talent for riding bulls. He says that through the sport he re-found God and ultimately found his wonderful wife in church.

“As soon as I was willing to change my life and hand it over to Christ, he blessed me immediately. He gave me a beautiful Godly wife and a career in bull riding,” said Reynolds.

Reynolds grew up around rodeo, but never warmed up to it until after the Navy didn’t work out. Williams started his career by attending Gary Lefew ‘s bull riding school and continues Lefew’s training and mental techniques. Reynolds then earned an Associates of Science degree from Fort Scott, Kansas, where he was on full rodeo scholarship and continued to increase his bull riding skills.

Some of his career highlights include winning the PRCA Prairie Circuit Finals Championships in 2004 and qualifying to the CBR Finals. Reynolds says his goals include not only becoming a world champion, but to continue spreading the Gospel at every rodeo he travels to.

“I feel like God really wants me to be a speaker as well as a bull rider. There are times in my life when I don’t really feel like leaving the house and ride. But then I remember that when I go, I can share the word of God and it makes me excited to go. Bull riding is just a bonus on top of that,” said Reynolds.

A new member of the Reynolds family arrived recently as he and his wife Lacy had a baby boy on Saturday, February 16.

“I was in a bull riding Friday night and rode my long round bull. When I was getting ready to ride my short round bull, my sister-in-law ran over and told me that my wife’s water had broken. I rode my short round bull and then headed to the hospital. I got there at 4 am in the morning and then Colt was born at 9 am. I stayed with them in the hospital until about 3:30 pm, and then I drove back to the rodeo to ride again. I ended up riding my long round and short round bull again that night. Then I went back to the hospital and we were there until Monday morning,” said Reynolds.

The CBR Crown Royal King of the Month is featured on the organization’s website at www.cbrbull.com and in the world championship program at the end of the season. To see Reynolds and other professional bull riders in action, tune in to the CBR’s weekly program on Wednesday nights on RFD-TV beginning March 5. Or come to a live event! The full CBR schedule is posted on www.cbrbull.com.