‘Something to ride for’: Creighton Curley takes third at Navajo Nation prorodeo

WINDOW ROCK

Diné saddle bronc rider Creighton Curley considers the Dean C. Jackson Memorial Arena an iconic venue.

In his 13 years of riding, Curley has had plenty of success competing at the annual Navajo Nation Fair which is held in early September.

Up until this year, he’s never duplicated that same success while riding in the PRCA in this same arena. That changed on Saturday night when Curley matched up with The Cervi Brothers’ Lost Hope during the 2025 Home of the Navajo PRCA Rodeo in Window Rock.

“It feels really good to ride in front of your home crowd, especially if the bronc riding is really competitive,” the 28-year-old cowboy said. “The horses were awesome, and this was something to ride for.”

The electric Saturday night crowd let Curley know his ride was special among the giants in the PRCA ranks as he finished with a respectable third place showing of 84 points.

Curley, who grew up in Allentown, Ariz., came up one point shy of matching the 85-point score turned in by event winner Houston Brown, who rode Make Your Move, a Cervi Brothers’ bronc horse.

Iowa cowboy Riggin Smith finished a close second at 84.5 points aboard R. Watson’s Hitman.

“We got our draws back on Tuesday and we got to see what horse we drew,” Curley said. “I didn’t do research on that horse, but I saw a video on him when Stetson Wright got on him at San Antonio back in February. He was like an 86 so I knew he was a good horse to win some money on.”

Even though he drew a good horse, Curley still had to make his ride count.

“I had to keep it simple, and I knew I had to get a solid mark out on him to start my ride,” Curley said. “From there, I picked him up right away. I was spurring him right away and it felt really good.”

When asked to elaborate on his ride, the Diné cowboy said it’s hard to explain.

“You have to be on that saddle and be on that horse to know what I’m talking about,” he said. “But it felt good. I could feel my spurs grabbing his neck when I was setting my feet and lifting my reins. I knew it was going to be good score. I felt like I was just sitting there. It was awesome.”

By placing third, Curley collected $2,141 which bumped him up to fourth in the Turquoise Circuit standings with $2,889 won.

“I get to go up in the circuit standings,” he said. “Hopefully, I get to entered in more bigger rodeos, but for this year I’m gonna do circuit rodeo and spend some time around the house.

“I hope to hit it harder next year, and get up there in the standings,” he added.

In addition to Curley, the Diné fans witnessed a great ride from Evan Betony as the Tonalea, Ariz., cowboy finished second in the bareback event with an 87.5-point ride on The Cervi Brothers’ On Second Thought.

Betony, who is ranked No. 39 in the world with $16,565, lost the event crown to Louisiana cowboy Waylon Bourgeois, who scored an 88-point ride aboard The Cervi Brothers’ Circle Eyes on Friday night.

“I knew coming I had a bucker,” Bourgeois said. “One of my buddies got on it at Rodeo Houston earlier in March and I knew it was bucker, so I was going to nail the mark out and try to stay ahead of him and that is what I did.”

In the bull riding, Flagstaff cowboy Wyatt Nez earned a fifth-place check of $934 with a 74-point ride on The Cervi Brothers’ Dim Tricks.

“I could have done a little bit better, honestly,” Nez said. “I kind of didn’t get points where I should have and that cost me some points. In rodeo, it’s kind of like a learning experience more than anything.”

Nonetheless, Nez was one of a few Native riders to cover his bull at the Window Rock prorodeo.

“It’s one of those things to where we’ve been going to rodeos throughout this whole weekend in Utah and Arizona and they’ve covered some and I bucked off some,” he said. “I rode today, and unfortunately, they didn’t.

“It just works out that way,” he added. “You just try to be as consistent as you can (and) I’m getting there.”

Chinle cowboy Robbie Taylor Jr., also covered his bull, riding R. Watson Keep Talkin for 70 points. That eight-second ride earned Taylor $534.

“It was alright. I wished it bucked a little better,” Taylor said. “Yeah, he was kind of a little sluggish but he was kind of small. I just got him rode today. It’s good day money.”

 

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