Korkow Rodeo’s Onion Ring Named 2021 PRCA Saddle Bronc Horse of the Year

Onion Ring of Korkow Rodeo started out in the bareback, but now he is a superstar in the saddle bronc riding. “This makes us quite proud to win a prestigious award like this,” said owner Jim Korkow of Korkow Rodeo. “I wasn’t surprised that he transitioned to saddle bronc so well because we have been doing that with horses for years and years. There are a lot of really great saddle broncs out there right now, but Onion Ring was at six PRCA stand alone bronc riding events this year and they won first place on him at five of them.”

Early on in the 2021 season, the 11-year-old bucker, Onion Ring, was nothing short of a top scoring horse. This is Onion Ring’s second season competing in saddle bronc. He is one of the few horses that have been selected to compete in both the bareback riding and saddle bronc riding at the NFR.

Onion Ring, who weighs 1,200 pounds, made multiple trips to the NFR as a bareback horse and was second in the 2018 Pendleton Whisky Let’er Buck Bucking Stock of the Year and tied for third in 2017.

Brody Cress drew Onion Ring at the Casey Tibbs Match of Champions in Fort Pierre, South Dakota and he tied for fourth with 88.5 points. Lefty Holman was 88.5 points as well to win Back When They Bucked in Deadwood, South Dakota. K's Thomson was also 88.5 at the Kitsap Stampede on him.

The 1,250 lb. gelding spent four years in the bareback riding before Jim and TJ Korkow switched him to the saddle bronc riding two years ago. TJ knew the horse was special; at the first futurity he went to he won first place. “He’s just a natural born bucker” TJ said, “right off the old Anchor K.”

He’s also a big teddy bear. “He’s a gentle horse,” he said. “You can walk up to him in the pen and pet him. He won’t run you over, he’s just a gentleman. He’s docile until he leaves the bucking chute.”

Clover Korkow, the daughter of TJ and Brie Korkow,

pets Onion Ring, the 2021 PRCA Saddle Bronc of the

Year. The horse is a “gentleman,” TJ said, “but a natural

born bucker.”

Photo courtesy Brie Korkow

TJ estimates there have been more than fifteen 99 point rides on Onion Ring. “They’ve won rounds on him at the NFR, they’ve won the $50,000 on him in Houston, and they’ve won the long round on him at the American.”

“The bronc is consistent,” he said. “He never fails me or the cowboy. The cowboy might buck off, but they’ve always got a chance to be in the money when they draw ‘the Ring.’” TJ said the horse stands in the chute. “It’s not like you’re getting on a wild orangutan. Cowboys don’t have to take the fight to him in the chute, they have to take the fight to him in the arena.”

Saddle Bronc rider Chase Brooks on Onion Ring in Round 10 of the 2021 NFR.

Photo courtesy Jackie Jenson Photography

Story Credit: Siri Stevens “Rodeo News”

Story Credit: Barth, T. (2021, December 17). Chiseled, Onion Ring, Xplosive Skies. ProRodeo Sports News. 96.