Bull rider Ruger Piva made the ride of his life at the 2019 Caldwell Night Rodeo (CNR). Making the 8 seconds on World Champ bucking bull Bruiser was nothing short of a magic moment. And it was even better in front of a hometown crowd.
Ruger is an Idaho cowboy born and raised. When he’s not on the road at rodeos, he splits his time between his hometown of Challis and Caldwell. So, when he made the winning ride on Bruiser on championship night in front of a packed crowd full of family and friends in the Caldwell Night Rodeo arena on August 17, 2019, it was truly a night to remember.
Piva started riding at junior rodeos when he was 9 years old and got on his first full-sized bull at the age of 13. He went to the National High School Finals Rodeo his junior year of high school. He competed on the rodeo team at the University of Western Montana (Dillon) and competed in the National College Finals Rodeo in 2017. By the time Piva got his PRCA permit, he’d been to a lot of top tier amateur events and had been in a lot of pressure situations.
But, when Piva came to Caldwell as a PRCA contestant at the CNR, he got to see what a big-time pro rodeo event was all about.
“Growing up in Idaho, I knew about the CNR,” Piva said of the rodeo where he was the 2019 bull riding champ. “I had my permit in 2016 and I entered the CNR as a 19-year-old rookie.”
Riding as a rookie contestant in the PRCA Top Five Outdoor Rodeo, Piva had never experienced the level of bull power he was about to face.
“I looked at the list of bulls that were out the night before. They were bulls I’d seen on TV in the PBR,” Piva told us. “Seeing those bulls in person left me in awe. Bruiser and Long John and some of the other D&H Cattle Company bulls were there. Watching them on TV was nothing like experiencing it first-hand.”
When Piva saw Bruiser buck at the CNR in 2016, he felt destined to draw the D&H Cattle Company superstar somewhere down the line.
“Bruiser was the one bull I always wanted to get on,” said Piva with a hint of reverence in his voice. “That bull was one of the reasons I wanted to ride bulls professionally. For some reason, when I saw him in 2016 at the CNR, I just knew that I was going to draw him in Caldwell one day.”
When Piva did finally draw Bruiser in the 2019 CNR Saturday night performance, he got excited. But he was also scared he wouldn’t make good on his brags he’d made about what would happen if he drew the bull.
“I found out that I’d drawn Bruiser at Caldwell a week before the performance. For 6 days, I was excited and then it hit me the day before when I was at a rodeo in Gooding (Idaho). It was like ‘Oh boy!’ Piva laughed. “I always talked it up that someday I would draw Bruiser. I didn’t want to tell many people at home because I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out.”
But word got out and family, friends and neighbors showed up to watch Piva’s ride on the three-time champion bull Bruiser. And being championship Saturday night, the Caldwell arena crowd was standing room only.
With Covid-19 forcing the cancellation of the 2020 CNR, Piva went into the 2021 event the reigning champion. This time, things didn’t work out for Piva. But bull riding is a sport where you dust off your britches, get back up and go on to ride the next one.
At the writing of this article, Piva is currently in 16th place in the PRCA bull riding world standings. He’s a mere $228.23 in winnings short of the coveted 15th and final spot at the National Finals Rodeo. With the possibility of money earned at every rodeo entered, that 15th and final NFR spot is still up for grabs.
Check out the latest PRCA world standings here: https://prorodeo.com/standings?eventType=BR&standingType=world&id=&circuitId=&year=2021
One thing is for sure, Ruger Piva is a bull rider who knows what winning feels like. And the future looks bright for the 2019 Caldwell Night Rodeo Bull Riding Champion.
