Aggie roughstock rider shines
Ken Lym may seem like the average Aggie Shuttle Bus driver, but he is in fact not. As Utah State’s only roughstock rider, the senior ended the spring rodeo season sitting on top of the saddle bronc leaderboard in the Rocky Mountain regional standings.
The agriculture education major was also an avid wrestler and football player in high school, but growing up in Fort Bridger, Wyoming, riding broncs is not just for sport, it’s a way of life. Lym saddled up five years ago learning the ropes of riding broncs from his ranching family.
“Growing up I always broke a lot of colts,” Lym said. “You learn to ride and how to handle yourself on the horse. When you get put on a saddle bronc it is a different type, but the horse still goes up and still goes down. It still bucks.”
The saddle bronc originated from the actual task of breaking a horse for the purpose of riding and uses a modified saddle — without a horn, for safety reasons — and stirrups that swing freely to give the cowboy more movement to spur the horse. The rider also uses a bronc rein, a cotton woven rope attached to a halter. The rein provides the cowboy with balance and leverage to time the horse while bucking.
While saddle bronc is considered rodeo’s classic sport, it differs from the other roughstock and rodeo events because points are not just earned by making the eight-second buzzer alone but also on how appealing the judges feel the ride looked.
Lym said saddle bronc is more of a technique event.
“There is a lot of finesse and timing than anything else,” Lym said. “If you get in time with the horse and everything hits just right, it’s like sitting in a rocking chair — just sit back and have fun.”
Before getting on a horse, Lym said he visualizes in his mind what a perfect ride would look and feel like. As soon as the chute opens, the horse is turned loose, and, Lym said, everything is about riding on instinct.
“When you are on a horse you don’t have time to think. It is a reaction,” Lym said. “If you have time to think, you are bucked off.”
Learning to ride saddle bronc horses takes hard work and patience above all else. Lym’s wife Jessica said he has a lot of perseverance.
“Ken is such a hard worker,” Jessica Lym said. “It is hard for him to give up, and I don’t think he ever has in his life.”
During the summer of 2010 Ken Lym sustained a season-ending injury when he broke his foot and tore his medial collateral ligament while riding in the amateur rodeo circuit. The injury forced him to start his collegiate rodeo season later than he planned.
“I’m never nervous that he will get hurt,” Jessica Lym said. “That is just part of the game.” Saddle bronc is also dangerous because it can be a hard event to practice. With only limited stock supplied by local contractors and limited training grounds, Ken Lym said he practices every other week.
When livestock is not available, Ken Lym said he uses a spur board made out of plywood that helps him practice spurring action, lifting, body control and form, among many other things. He said it’s not as good as using a live horse, but it provides the necessary practice to get by.
“Other schools in the region have bigger programs,” said USU Rodeo Club President Kate Clissold. “They have their own practice stock that they can practice on. Utah State doesn’t have its own bucking horses or bulls.”
Ken Lym has made an impact on the team and the program by leading the region in points in saddle bronc.
Clissold said the whole team is rooting for Ken Lym.
“With him sitting on top of the region, we would love to see him go to nationals,” Clissold said. “We have sent people to nationals every year for a while, but never a roughstock rider.”
Ken Lym said he has mixed results from the rodeos this season.
“I feel good and bad in both senses,” Lym said. “I’m glad to lead the region. “On the same sense, I have been bucked off a few horses I shouldn’t have been bucked off of. There is a lot of room for improvement, which I am focusing on now.”
Looking ahead to the spring season, Ken Lym said he is focusing on keeping the momentum rolling.
“I set high goals for myself; I come into the season, same as every season, wanting to win everything,” he said.
“It means a lot to him, it is his life,” Jessica Lym said. “It is something that he has always loved to do and been that one thing that he has been able to shine at.”
– mega.bodi@aggiemail.usu.edu