By: Jack Reaney
On the second night of three at the Big Sky PBR, everyone expected bucking bulls. But fewer expected a rare congregation of neighboring governors.
On the dirt, there were plenty of qualifying rides to keep the crowd entertained. In front of a calm, glowing sky after 9 p.m., Brazilian cowboy Vitor Losnake rode Viper—Friday’s “bounty bull” with a chance to win $20,000—and succeeded in a dramatic finale. Losnake is one of only four riders that qualified on both Thursday and Friday, and he’s confident heading into day three.
“It’s a dream coming true, since I was a kid,” Losnake told EBS after setting down the giant check he’d earned at his first Big Sky PBR. “[Since] my dad would put me on calves, I always dreamed of coming to America to ride bulls.”
And few would dispute the importance of mutton bustin’. This July in Big Sky, the same 6-year-old won three times in seven days—first at the Big Sky Community Rodeo, and sweeping both Thursday and Friday nights of the Big Sky PBR.
Quinn Welker put her head down, latched onto the sheep and even collided with the barrel in the center of the dirt, but she nearly rode across the entire arena.
“You have to hold onto the stomach and squeeze the wool,” she explained to EBS after winning. “You always have to close your eyes.”
