Bareback rider continues family tradition

WINDOW ROCK

Shaun Tuni didn’t get on his first bareback horse until the end May of this year.

It took him some time to consider it but when he took that plunge the Dennehotso, Arizona, cowboy kept a family tradition going.

“My dad and brothers did it so I wanted to try it out,” Tuni said of his decision to follow in their footsteps.

“It turns out that I liked it,” he added.

Growing up, Tuni started wrestling at an early age, just like his older brothers did. And as they reached middle school his older brothers were already hooked with rodeo.

Shaun, however, took a different path as he waited until the end of his freshman year at Monument Valley High School to think about rodeoing.

“He’s a late bloomer,” Wilbert Tuni Sr., said of his son. “I’m just so proud of him. I don’t force my kids to get into rodeo. I just wait for them to tell me that they want to do it and as a parent I’m just supporting them.”

Shaun is one of four bareback riders in the Arizona High School Rodeo Association.

Leading up to the Wilcox rodeo this weekend, the 16 year-old Diné cowboy is currently in second place in the season standings with 19 points as he has covered 2-of-4 horses this season.

“I really didn’t expect this,” he said, adding that he thought it would take awhile to get his first qualified ride.

Instead, he meant business as he earned a first-place check with a 62-point ride in the first day of the Payson rodeo in mid-September.

Last month, Shaun placed second with a 66-point ride on the second day of the Buckeye rodeo.

“After my first horse in Payson I kind of knew that I could ride,” he said, while pointing out there is a big difference between the horses he rides at home and the ones that buck at the high school rodeo.

“They’re more stronger and faster,” Shaun said.

“He’s getting familiar with those horses,” Wilbert chimed in. “He’s kind of in that stage to where he’s testing everything out. The horses they have are bigger but I believe he’s going to do well.”

And although he’s a newcomer to the sport, Wilbert said this will be “a good experience” for Shaun to go through.

“I think this will get him ready for next year,” he said. “Most of the guys he competes with are seniors so he’s building for the next few years.”

Going into this weekend’s rodeo, San Tan Valley cowboy Kooper Heimburg leads the standings with 28 points, having covered 3-of-4 horses.

With 10 points, Coolidge cowboy Beau Kelley comes in at third while Wittman cowboy Boyce Kraut has nine.

“I just want to mark out all my horses,” Shaun said of his goals this year, as the “mark out” rule implies that all bareback riders must exit the chute with his boots above the horse’s shoulder before it makes its initial jump to make a qualified ride.

Nonetheless, a bid to nationals seems plausible as the top four contestants in the season standings will earn a trip to the National High School Finals Rodeo in Lincoln, Nebraska, next summer.

“I want him to experience that,” Wilbert said, who earned two qualifications to the College National Finals Rodeo back in his heyday, which includes a pair of top five finishes in the bull-riding event.

“I want him to see how that feels,” he said.

The Tuni patriarch said his oldest son, Will, qualified for nationals three times and his third oldest, Matthew, finished in the top 10 his senior year at nationals.

“He was a state champion two years ago,” Wilbert said of Matthew. “He enrolled at Fort Lewis College last year and he won the Grand Canyon Region in bareback at the collegiate level.”

In between Will and Matthew is the late Wilbert Tuni Jr., who passed away two years ago.

“He rode for the Arizona Junior High School Rodeo,” the Tuni patriarch said of his second oldest. “He was a chute dogger, bronc rider, tie-down roper and team roper. He did all of the events.

“All of my older kids went through high school rodeo and now Shaun is doing it,” he said. “He’s improved a lot and he’s getting the technique down.”

With it being his first year, Shaun said he doesn’t want to put any added pressure on himself even though he lives under the shadow of his dad and brothers’ success.

“I’m just want to go at my own pace,” he said.

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