HOUSTON – The stars of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo are looking for work after the historic cancelation cost them paychecks, time and world standings.
“My last night would have been tonight when I could have had a chance to move on to the semifinals,” said Parker Breding, who was the top rider at the Houston rodeo in 2018.
“A cancellation of one this magnitude is kinda devastating,” said rider Aaron Williams, who won the top prize Tuesday night.
“Now we’re not going to be able to go to rodeos that we could have but we didn’t enter because of Houston,” Williams said. “We [will] figure out what we’re going to do for the rest of the month for income.”
Riders are used to dealing with challenges at various rodeos, but Houston’s is one of the biggest and longest, and counts towards world rankings in the sport.
“To come back here was awesome to me and to have this happen was such a rollercoaster," Breding said.
On Thursday, Breding, Williams and other riders will pack up and look for another rodeo. They have considered entering in Austin but they said they worry that rodeo will also ultimately be canceled.
The Austin Rodeo had not been canceled as of Wednesday night.