Saratoga bareback rider wins big at Junior NFR

Las Vegas, Nev. – For Tuker Carricato, bareback riding is his passion, and he plans to make it back to Las Vegas, Nev. as a professional cowboy one day.

At the 2017 Junior National Finals Rodeo (JNFR) in Las Vegas, Nev., held Dec. 1-10, Tuker won the miniature bareback championship. 

The 12-year-old started in rodeo in 2015 after his parents, Tony and Trisha, brought home a video from the JNFR.

“My parents showed me a video of this mini bareback riding event from Las Vegas, and I just thought it was cool,” says Tuker. “My dad rode bareback, and I wanted to get involved, so I did.”

Getting started

Carricato was born and raised in Saratoga and has spent the past two years dedicating himself to the sport of rodeo.

“After we discussed getting into bareback bronc riding, Tony measured Tuker’s hand, then ordered a rigging, chaps and bought him a glove,” Trisha states. “We got all the equipment in March 2015, and Tuker got on his first horse in the same month.”

In 2016, Tuker rode 20 horses and won JNFR qualifier rodeos in Rocks Springs to make it to Las Vegas and compete at JNFR.

“He made it to JNFR in 2016, his first year in rodeo, and did well,” recalls Trisha. “Tuker was determined to do whatever it took to get back to JNFR in 2017, and he went crazy and did great.”

2017 year

Throughout 2017, Tuker went to 32 rodeos across the country and won 22 of the rodeos he competed in, notes Trisha.

“There are eight pro series rodeos that qualify for JNFR and Tuker won four of those qualifiers to make it to Las Vegas in 2017,” she adds.

“Tuker qualified for JNFR through the pro series and a few other ways because he went to so many rodeos,” Tony mentions. “He just did so well this year.”

Overall, the Carricatos traveled to 10 different states on Tuker’s quest to be the world champion mini bareback rider. 

Tuker also holds multiple rodeo sponsorships, including sponsorship from the American Hat Company, Golden Tiger, Chancey Williams and the Younger Brothers Band, Schnee’s Boots, the Carricato family outfitting business Battle Pass Outfitting and Champions GO 9-Oh by Kelly Timberman.

“I got started with Kelly when I went to one of his bareback riding schools in South Dakota,” says Tuker. “After that, I kept training with him every weekend in Casper.”

Timberman asked to sponsor Tuker and continues to coach and support Tuker through his rodeo career.

JNFR

Tuker said the 2017 JNFR was a lot bigger than any other rodeos he had competed in, and the event was bigger than even the 2016 JNFR.

“There was a lot more competition and more people than I’m used to,” Tuker says.

Regardless, Tuker rode all three of his horses at JNFR, with a high score of 85.75 in the short go.

“On the first day, Tuker placed second by a quarter of a point. The next day, he was second by three quarters of a point but was winning the average going into the short go by three points,” Trisha says. “He ended up winning the average by nine points, won the third round and the championship.”

“It feels good to be the JNFR world champion mini bareback rider,” Tuker states. “There are a lot of world champion bareback riders from Wyoming, and I’m just happy to be one of them.”

Future Plans

Tuker plans to win the bareback championship again but this time in the senior division at the 2018 JNFR.

“I’m also going to get involved in National Junior High School Rodeo, then compete in high school, college and make it as a professional cowboy,” he adds.

Along with rodeo, Tuker also shows livestock in 4-H and competes in multiple sports.

“I’ve been showing steers, sheep and goats for four years in 4-H,” adds Tuker. “Mostly, I’m into wrestling, but I play basketball and football, too.”

Tuker’s favorite sports are rodeo, wrestling and football, but he loves to go hunting when he’s not in school.

Of the 2017 rodeos, Tuker says his favorite rodeos were the Doxa Extreme Rodeo in Alex, Okla. and the Sandhills Stock Show and Rodeo in Odessa, Texas.

“In Odessa, Texas the rodeo was in this giant coliseum, and it was really cool to be around the professional bareback riders. They helped me, especially behind the chutes,” notes Tuker. “The Doxa Extreme Rodeo was pretty cool because there are five arenas with different events going on at the same time in a giant pasture.”

Outside of rodeo, Tuker plans to stick with 4-H and