CAREER-BEST CAMPAIGN Nebraska cowboy in top 35 in the nation; will compete in Hastings at PRCA rodeo
Hastings, Neb. – August 10, 2026 – Nebraska cowboy Gauge McBride is having the best year of his rodeo career yet.
The Kearney man, a bareback rider, is ranked 31st in the PRCA world standings and is rodeoing across the nation.
He’s coming off big wins this summer, with a first-place finish in Laramie, Wyoming (a 91-point ride), a win in Westcliffe, Colo., a second-place finish in Burwell, and other monies won.
McBride, who is 24 years old, competed in high school rodeo, finishing as the Nebraska High School bareback riding champion three years and the bull riding champion once.
In college, first at Panola College (Carthage, Texas) then at Southeastern Oklahoma State University (Durant), he qualified for the College National Finals Rodeo, finishing this year in sixth place in the nation.
Being a bareback rider requires the cowboy to grip a rigging, similar to a suitcase handle, while spurring a bucking bronc, as the horse bucks across the arena, for eight seconds.
Of all the rodeo events, it’s often considered as the most physically demanding.
And being tough is part of the job, McBride said. “You definitely have to be tough. That’s probably the biggest part. And you have to be fairly athletic.”
He works out, running two to three miles a day when he’s not competing, lifting weights, and riding the “spur board” – a stationary training tool used by bareback riders to practice their timing, spurring motion, and for muscle memory.
The spur board helps him hone his technique. “I’ll notice myself slipping into bad habits,” he said. “You can always go back to the grindstone and work on things.”
Last week, McBride competed at rodeos in New Mexico and Idaho before making his way to Hastings for the Oregon Trail Rodeo on Sat., August 15. After Hastings, he’ll go on to the Northwest, to ride in Kennewick and Ellensburg, Wash. and Tremonton, Utah.
Between rodeos, he and his traveling partners golf or hike, or sit around in the evenings and play the guitar.
Hiking in national parks is something he enjoys.
“My favorite park so far is Yosemite (in California),” he said. “It’s probably one of the prettiest places I’ve ever seen.” McBride has been to national parks across the country: Yellowstone, the Arches National Park in Utah, the Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, the Redwood National Park, and the Rocky Mountain National Park.
When the rodeo season slows down in the winter, McBride is at home in Kearney, helping with the family business. The family has a pipeline business, running service lines from municipal pipes to residential homes. They work in Nebraska, Iowa and Wyoming, and it’s good incentive to win on the rodeo road.
“Digging holes in Wyoming during the winter definitely makes you want to ride bucking horses well,” he said.
He comes from rodeo stock.
His dad, Cooper McBride, rode saddle broncs for years. His mom, Jacque, was a breakaway roper and rodeo queen.
And his uncle, Justin McBride, was the 2005 and 2007 PBR World Champion.
Justin “gave me my first bareback rigging,” he said. “He helped me get on my first bucking horses.”
McBride wants to cement his place in the world standings, hopefully moving into the top thirty before the rodeo season ends September 30.
The world standings determine who enters the big lucrative winter rodeos. The top fifty in each event are invited to compete in Ft. Worth and Denver; the top thirty are invited to Houston and San Antonio, all rodeos where a cowboy can win a lot of money.
McBride can’t imagine doing anything other than ride bareback horses.
“I like that the bareback riding is physical,” he said. “You have to be a tough guy to be a bareback rider, like a gladiator.”
He will compete at the Oregon Trail Rodeo in Hastings on August 15.
The rodeo runs August 14-16, with nearly 200 contestants in eight events.
The rodeo starts at 7 pm nightly.
Ticket prices range from $15-$30 and can be purchased online at AdamsCountyFairgrounds.com, at the Adams County Fair office, and at the gate.