Rodeos collaborate to form a larger, suicide prevention awareness rodeo

RIVERTON, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) -

A local rodeo used its platform not only to gather a crowd to enjoy their freedoms, but also to promote suicide awareness. This is the first year that the Timmy Challenge partnered with the Braham Nettles Memorial UMB (Ultimate Miniature Bullriding) rodeo to create an event that honored the lives of two young men whose lives were lost to suicide.

Timmy Challenge Rodeo stock contractor and co-producer, Cody Scott stated, “Our main focus is to get bull riders to understand that just because you’re a big, bad, tough bull rider doesn’t mean that you’re not hurting in some way.”

Scott said that teenager Timmy Packard was a great bull rider. At a rodeo in Colorado, his head was tragically stepped on by a bull and he wasn’t wearing a proper bull riding helmet. This resulted in a brain injury that caused him to take his own life. Braham Nettles was a young man whose life was also cut short.

“Braham Nettles was a young man that rode bulls with the UMB, the Ultimate Miniature Bullriding years ago with us. He was a nice, quiet kid, everybody liked him,” said co-owner of Howl Rodeo Bulls, Tim O’Neal.

The O’Neals, who co-produced the rodeo, say that sponsorship was down this year, but they pressed on with the rodeo for the love of seeing the kids aspire to become better bull riders. JoAnn O’Neal emphasized that they care so much about the riders, and want them to be taken care of.

Timmy Challenge bull rider Landen Brownlee declared, ”My hope for tonight is everybody stays safe, all the bulls buck to their best abilities, and I go out there and I win the show.”

Jackson resident and bull rider Brody Hasenack mentioned, ”Anytime you’re doing a sport you love, you just really want to come out and have fun. If you worry about the money, or placing or winning, you don’t really have as much fun so I came out here to have fun.”

The rodeo was featured as a part of the Fremont County Fair this year, and was held on July 28th at the Fremont County Fairgrounds in Riverton.

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