Young bull rider trains at Lane Frost school

The eight-second rush has a hold on 11-year-old Corbyn Vicker.

“The feeling is hard to explain,” said Corbyn of Creston. “It’s a little bit scary, but really fun. You don’t know what the bull’s going to do, so you have to be ready for anything.”

A simple desire to give bull riding a shot led him to win a champion title at his first competition last summer in Leon. In June, he received three-day training at the Lane Frost Memorial Christian Bull Riding and Bull Fighting School, which is taught by members of the Professional Bull Riders (PBR).

Though Corbyn comes from a rodeo-loving family, he is the first bull rider. Corbyn already had experience bareback horse riding. It was a combination of his friends riding bulls and him nearly wearing out his 8 Seconds DVD – the Hollywood rendition of Lane Frost's life as a bull rider – that had Corbyn fascinated by bull riding for a long time.

“We played around with not letting him, but we figured he’d try it once and wouldn’t like it,” said Corbyn’s mother, Amber.

Instead, Corbyn first got on a friend’s bucking dummy and loved it. He then started learning from local people, including John Young, a Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association bull rider who grew up in Orient and went to Creston High School.

In June 2014, Corbyn competed in bull riding for the first time at the Leon Youth Rodeo and won the buckle for champion senior steer rider. He then won reserve steer riding champion at Clarke County Youth Rodeo.

“He’s got some natural talent,” said Corbyn’s father, Clint. “I was hoping he’d just get hurt and quit,” he joked.

Clint and Amber’s concern for Corbyn’s safety, as well as Corbyn’s desire to improve, prompted Clint to fill out an application for the Lane Frost program in Lane, Okla. The school was established in 2005 by Frost’s parents, Clyde and Elsie, in memory of their son, who died in an arena in 1989. The school is taught by PBR, including former world champions, and held at the Frost Ranch. This year, 20 bull riding and 10 bull fighting students of a wide age range were accepted. Kids were chosen from several states, but Clint said Corbyn was the only one from Iowa.

“I’d rather he roped like his brother, but if he’s going to do it, I figured we’d better take him to a school so he could learn how to do things right and not get hurt,” Clint said.

Soon after Clint sent the application, which inquired about Corbyn’s experience and accomplishments, he received an email saying Corbyn had been accepted.

“I was pretty excited,” Corbyn said. “I thought it’d be so cool to see Lane’s arena he built and his trophies.”

The family made a week-long vacation out of the three-day school, which was held June 8 through 10. The training cost was $350 plus lodging. Clint said they have afforded fees for protection gear, competition entries and the training thanks to family, friends and local sponsors, such as Casa de Oro and Prairie Ridge Farms.

Once in Oklahoma, the Vickers first toured the ranch with Clyde and Elsie, which included seeing Lane’s bedroom, trophies and buckles. Then the training began.

“First, we had to go on a run, and they put us on a bucking dummy for practice. After that, we went to a horse, and then they put the horse in the bucking shoot and made it run around the arena,” Corbyn said. “Then we got on bulls and rode them all afternoon.”

One of the trainers who helped Corbyn is Mike Lee, 32, the 2004 PBR World Champion. Lee has been teaching at the school since it first opened.

“He got stepped on a few times, but he kind of shook it off and got up for more,” Lee said of Corbyn. “His family is really behind him. I think he’s got a real drive to become successful, and that’s what it takes.”

Corbyn’s previously clean cowboy hat is now marked with autographs of professional bull riders he admires and learned a lot from during the school, he said. With two years of competing, several awards and some professional training under his belt, Corbyn has decided his ultimate goal: “I want to join the PBR.”