Altamont cowboy Dean Thompson finished strong at his first National Finals Rodeo in what he called 10 days of essentially getting beat up. “Round No. 10 at the NFR is crazy,” said 21-year-old Thompson. “My body feels great. I feel like I’m riding bucking horses as good as I ever have before, but, man, I’ve never been through an emotional tester like that in my life.” Bareback riders went 10 rounds over 10 days with rounds paying out $100,000 dollars each. He earned some cash in the 4th round with a 6th place finish but it was Saturday’s ride during the 10th round that he earned the biggest one day payday of his young career. He finished 2nd with an 89 point ride worth $24,268 dollars. “I feel so blessed that the horse went out there and had an amazing day,” Thompson said. “I knew that at the end of the day, it’s still rodeo, and you need to go out and do the best possible spur ride you can on the horse…I’ll take this, and I’ll run from here right into next year’s NFR, because this is my No. 1 priority,” Thompson continued. “I’m young, I’m agile, I’m free and I’m hungry to be back.” Congratulations to Altamont’s own Dean Thompson!
