RED LODGE — Parker Breding is still up to those same old tricks.
The 30-year-old Edgar cowboy finished third in Red Lodge in both the Xtreme Bulls and the Home of Champions Rodeo. His ride atop Cocktail on July 4 marked over $20,000 in earnings on that bull in the past three years.
Sandwiched between those two rides in Red Lodge were trips to Cody, Wyoming, and St. Paul, Oregon.
“Traveling and the amount of rodeos we're doing is dang sure taking it's toll now that I'm not as young as I wish I was," Breding told MTN Sports at the Home of Champions Rodeo on July 4. "Getting into a truck and driving 15 hours to Oregon and 15 hours back like we just did, and we slept in the truck. That was the only sleep we got. Definitely a little sore from that, then sore from bucking off."
Breding’s dad Scott rode until he was in his 40s, but Parker doesn’t know if he has that much gas in the tank. He did get a taste of life after bull riding recently, though.
“I took half the year off last year and that was kind of another wake-up call sitting there and wondering, 'What am I going to do now?' I took a part time job for a ranch over by Bridger just cowboying a little bit, which is fun, but it doesn't pay like bull riding does. And it can be just as hard on your body, too," Breding said. "I'm trying to maybe squeeze a few more years out of this, hopefully. I'm hoping something is just going to slap me in the face and make itself obvious that that's what I should be doing. I've got faith that that'll happen."
Now marketing or sales may not be in his future, but he’s got his leg in the door with Parker’s hangover tonic — a Caesar mix that’s quite versatile.
“They were explaining to me that they were putting it in scrambled eggs and making popcorn with it, stuff like that. I guarantee that's delicious, because I just pour it in beer. Just a splash in a beer and it tastes amazing," Breding said. "It's definitely good stuff. Sometimes I have a hard time finding it but when I do I stock up."
Breding isn’t ready to trade in the spurs just yet, and he showed he's still got plenty to give with an 86-point ride in Red Lodge on Wednesday night.
