After taking nine months out to recover from a broken neck, the seasoned cowboy has returned to competition with a vengeance and amassed wealth. Derek Kolbaba has been picturing this moment for almost nine months.
The native of Walla Walla, Washington, knew that one day he would tie a rope around his hand, climb up on top of a bull, and watch the chute gate open. However, there is a distinction between accomplishing something and just seeing it.
“I don’t know how many mental reps, how many hours I spent in the gym, or how many hours I spent just studying footage before I got on that first bull coming back. It was just a matter of rekindling the desire for it.
And when you’re seeking something, as everybody in this sport knows, you want to win,” Kolbaba remarked. “If I was going to return, I wanted to prove to myself that I had made the right choice.”
After he started competing again, the 28-year-old has rapidly established himself as one of the world’s top bull riders. Kolbaba has ridden four of the five bulls he has been matched with since his debut competition on June 5.
These victories came last weekend at the Crooked River Roundup in Prineville, Oregon, and at the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show in Union, Oregon. He has already earned over $11,700 in Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association profits in less than two weeks.
which returns him for eight seconds to the arena and the chase. Kolbaba intends to attend every PBR team event this season as a member of the Carolina Cowboys.
He will also attend as many PRCA events as he can, particularly the nearby circuit rodeos. And the bull riding community needs to be on guard if preliminary findings are any guide.
And the bull riding community needs to be on guard if preliminary findings are any guide. “The past few months have been quite hectic, but I’m glad that things are progressing as they are,” Kolbaba remarked.
“I feel great, physically I feel perfect, and most importantly, mentally, I feel like I’m doing what I should be doing.”
