story by Lily Weinacht
“I have a love for the sport,” says 18-year-old Stocker Robbins of rodeo. “I do high school sports like football and wrestling, but once I started riding bulls, everything else went out the window!” The CSHSRA member from Ignacio, Colorado, grew up on his dad’s bull riding stories, and Stocker had his own stories to tell once he started riding bulls at 14. He entered high school rodeos the following year, and finished eighth at state finals, recently recovering from several broken ribs after a bull stepped on him at a rodeo in April. “As soon as I started riding bulls, I loved it, and I’ve had a passion for it ever since. It’s probably the thrill, and being able to ride one and step off.”
Along with high school rodeos, Stocker entered the American Youth Bull Riding Finals held in Ignacio in January. “It’s a pretty good bull riding to go to, and my friends have done all right there. I’ll also travel around to some open shows this summer. My dad, Joshua, and my cousin Dalton Sanchez have been the biggest influences on me,” Stocker adds. “My dad has hauled me around to rodeos and paid entry fees and gotten me everything I needed so I’m safe. Dalton went to a few bull riding schools and he’d come back with what he learned and teach me and my little brother what we should be doing. Dalton high school rodeoed with me and graduated last year, and now he’s riding bulls for a living.”
Stocker and his 16-year-old brother, Hunter, do most of their practicing and working out together. “Hunter broke his leg in a bucking chute two years ago, and he’s getting back into it this year and doing high school rodeo, so I’m excited to have him on the team.” The brothers also have a younger sister, Talia Sage Robbins, who rides calves when she comes to visit from Florida. “We live in the country between Ignacio and Pagosa, and I like that my family lives here,” says Stocker. “It’s a pretty tight-knit community, and everyone knows everybody. We’ve all been brought up around here.”
Stocker recently graduated from Ignacio High School, where classes like welding, woodshop, and fitness and conditioning were his favorites. “I also liked anything in my agricultural classes,” he adds. Stocker went to state in wrestling three times, placing second his freshman year and fourth his sophomore year, while he also played wide receiver and free safety for the Ignacio Bobcats football team. There were even a few occasions when Stocker would finish a football game and drive with his family overnight to make it to his rodeo the next morning. “I never leave for a rodeo without my auxiliary cord for music,” he says. “We listen to all kinds, except country rap. I’m not really into that.”
When he’s not at a bull riding, Stocker enjoys riding his horse, Luna, and roping, or helping his friends move cows. Before his family moved to Florida for several years, they owned an outfitting business and 40 horses and mules, which Stocker helped with. Today, his dad owns a construction company, where Stocker works. “We’re a big hunting and fishing family, and I like doing pretty much anything outside. I’d like to rodeo full time – that’s my dream – but I might go to college on a bull riding scholarship,” he finishes. “I’d like to get on a pro circuit and travel around a bit.”
