Derek Kolbaba has anticipated this moment for nearly nine months. The native of Walla Walla, Washington, envisioned the day he would wrap a rope around his hand, sit atop a bull, and await the chute gate’s opening. However, visualizing an event and experiencing it are two different things.
“Before I got on that first bull coming back, I don’t know how many mental reps and how many hours I spent in the gym and how many hours of just watching tape that I did. It was just kind of finding that craving again for it. And as anyone in this sport knows, when you’re craving it, you’re wanting to win,” Kolbaba said. “For me, if I was going to come back I wanted to come back and show myself that I made the right decision.”
Since his return to competition on June 5, Kolbaba has demonstrated why he is considered one of the top bull riders in the world. He has successfully ridden four out of five bulls he’s faced, securing victories at the Eastern Oregon Livestock Show in Union, Oregon, and the Crooked River Roundup in Prineville, Oregon. In less than two weeks, he has earned over $11,700 in Professional Rodeo Cowboy Association winnings.
Kolbaba’s return has been marked by both physical recovery and mental resilience. Last August, while competing in a Professional Bull Riding event in Nashville, he dismounted awkwardly, landing headfirst and fracturing his C7 vertebra. Initially, doctors believed the injury wouldn’t require surgery. However, subsequent X-rays revealed the fracture wasn’t healing as expected. This wasn’t Kolbaba’s first rodeo injury requiring surgery; he’s previously recovered from a punctured lung, broken leg, and broken jaw, among other injuries.
Yet, this particular injury felt different for Kolbaba. The journey back to bull riding has been a testament to his determination and love for the sport, as he continues to prove his place among the elite bull riders in the world.
