story by Ruth Nicolaus
Dalton Boyden knows how it feels to be unsuccessful at something, and because of that, he’s learned perseverance.
The eighteen year old cowboy, a bareback rider in the Utah High School Rodeo Association, started riding bucking horses as a freshman. He took plenty of hard knocks, learning how. “I was not very good at all, my freshman year,” he said. “I didn’t even ride one. It was hard.”
But he persisted, and now, in his senior year, is ranked third in the state in his event.
The Delta, Utah cowboy got the bug to ride bareback horses from his older brother, Kyler, also a bareback rider. He attended a school at which pro rodeo cowboy Caleb Bennett was an instructor. “He taught me a lot,” Dalton said.
As is par for the course, Dalton has had his share of injuries, including a broken riding hand suffered last May when he was hung up. He didn’t go to the doctor for four days after the accident, fearing to hear that it would be casted during state. And when he got to state finals, with a cast, he took it off so he could ride.
Dalton looks up to several pro bareback riders, especially those from Utah, including Bennett and Kaycee Feild.
He competed at state finals his sophomore and junior years, and last year went to Silver State, where he finished fourth.
In addition to Kyler, he has a younger brother, Brodey. Dalton is a senior at Delta High School and is the son of Corey and Cara Boyden.
