November 23, 2025 – Weld Central High School freshman, Hayden Chambers, a resident of Roggen, Colorado, is headed to the bright lights of Las Vegas next week in hopes of bringing home a world championship bareback riding title. This 14-year-old isn’t nearly old enough to be allowed in any casinos, but he is tough enough to be climbing aboard some of the rankest junior bucking stock in the country, competing against bareback riders from the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
Hayden has been riding bareback horses for a little over a year. He climbed into his first chute at the age of 13 atop a Cervi bucking horse at the Ace High Roughstock Academy in Stoneham, Colorado, in September 2024. Due to excellent coaching by one of Hayden’s mentors and one of the best in the business, 15-time NFR qualifier and 3-time World Championship Bareback Rider, Will Lowe, Hayden was hooked.
Hayden is no stranger to the world arena. In 2024, he was ranked 2nd in the state of Colorado in junior high bareback riding and qualified for the Junior High School National Finals Rodeo in Des Moines, Iowa, where he competed against the best bareback riders from the USA, Mexico, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
This trip to Las Vegas will be even more special for Hayden as it almost didn’t happen. Hayden had a traumatic rodeo injury at his second high school rodeo of the 2025 spring season, which has had him sidelined for 12 weeks following major surgery for a compound tibia-fibula fracture. Hayden was cleared to ride with just a few weeks to get his mind and body ready to go, which meant as much time on the bucking machine and spurboard as he could get in as possible.
When asked what Hayden likes most about rodeo, he said, “My favorite thing about rodeo is the community and how everyone supports each other.” Hayden says he is most excited about riding in Las Vegas because it will be the first time he will be able to get on the back of a bucking horse since his injury in the spring rodeo season.
The Junior National Finals Rodeo runs from December 4th through 14th and hosts over 700 contestants in multiple events. The JR NFR will be broadcast live on the Cowboy Channel from the Wrangler Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. If you can’t make it to Las Vegas, tune in and cheer this local cowboy on.
