Lane J. Silversmith Memorial champion: Tonalea cowboy wins bareback crown with 78-point ride

WIDE RUINS, Ariz.

A freak accident last fall sidelined Cauy Betony for the early part of the 2025 rodeo season.

The Tonalea, Ariz., cowboy broke his femur in October of last year during the Arizona State Fair Native American Rodeo in Phoenix, which suspended his rodeo profession for five months.

At that rodeo, the 21-year-old had a clean break in his upper thigh limb after successfully completing his ride in the bareback event.

“I had an odd dismount,” Betony said. “When I came down, I snapped my femur.”

That unfortunate accident was met with a desire to make a full recovery as Betony is looking to make the Indian National Finals Rodeo in late October, which will be his fourth qualification.

“That was a big injury that I had, but I went through a lot of physical therapy, and it helped me get back to being 100%,” he said. “Now that I have a rod in my leg, it’s made me mentally stronger, and it’s given me more confidence to ride.”

On Saturday, Betony showed no signs of being hindered during the Lane J Silversmith Memorial INFR Stand Alone Event, which featured the three disciplines in the rough stock events.

Betony was one a handful of contestants that took their plunge in the bareback event, as he emerged as champion with a 78-point ride aboard a horse owned by Triangle Rodeo Company.

“I really didn’t know my horse, but I had a good feeling about the horse,” Betony said of the equine identified as No. 667. “He was nice, and he was calm with me. I was talking with him, and he came out pretty good. He gave me a good score.”

In the May 23 INFR world standings, Betony was sitting fourth, but he’s bound to move up after claiming the top prize of $2,126.28 as the total purse from Saturday’s event topped out at $7,732, which included $6,000 in added money.

“This is going to give me a good boost,” he said. “This was a good opportunity for all of us because it’s nearby and there was a lot of added money.”

Riverton, Utah cowboy Clay Ramone was another cowboy that is expected to move up the season standings with his runner-up finish of 68 points atop No. 763 of the Beshbetoh Stampede Bucking Horses.

“This is awesome,” Ramone said of the event. “It’s rare that you see this many bareback riders at one event. I think we had like 14 today.

“Usually, you only get like four bareback riders at rodeos,” he added. “With 14 bareback riders today, that is saying something. If they continue these deals, especially down here, it’ll bring more riders.”

Despite his horse being one of the bigger ones in the pen, the 6-foot-1 cowboy handled his equine with some ease.

“I’ve seen that horse through YouTube and videos from my buddies,” Ramone said. “I’ve heard of it, and they said he’s real heavy. He’s a big horse, but I’m a big guy compared to a lot of these guys, so in a sense he didn’t really feel like that way.

“But he still yanked on me pretty good,” he added.

Through his efforts, Ramone collected $1,759.68 for his second-place showing as he is looking to move into the top 5 in the INFR season standings.

With a 67-point ride, Dennehotso, Ariz., cowboy Matthew Tuni took third as he claimed $1,393.08 at the Wide Ruins event. Tuni rode Triangle Rodeo Company’s Border Town for the required eight seconds to earn a check.

A total of $2,052.16 was split evenly between the three cowboys in ground money as there were no other qualified rides.

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