Joyce Beauchamp
Special to the Tribune
When Aiden Brear was 2 years old, he loved his stuffed cow. He put on his cowboy hat and watched the Calgary Stampede bull rides on TV. At Hallowe’en, he selected a cowboy costume. At age 7 or 8, he asked his dad, Sam Verlint, if he would put a cow in a chute and let him ride it out. He fell off.
After a year or two, though, he got back on. The family acquired a Dexter bull. Dexters are a small breed of cattle. A Dexter bull is half the size of a normal rodeo bull. Aiden managed to stay on a few seconds at a time. It was good practice.
During Covid, the family acquired a wild Paint Horse from Alberta. The truck driver who brought the Paint to West Nipissing said it was the wildest horse he had ever trailered. On June 4, 2022, Aiden mounted the Paint and hoped for the best. The horse bucked and bucked and threw Aiden off. The teen broke his wrist. This is where the rubber hit the road for Karla Evans, Aiden’s mother. Should she stop Aiden? A broken wrist and arm could affect the course of his life!
The thing was, Aiden had stayed on the Paint for 1 minute 32 seconds, which is an incredible length of time to stay on a bucking bronco. Evans wondered what was the right thing for a mother to do. It was clear her son had talent. After wrist surgery, she waited and watched for cues from Aiden. Would he stay interested in bull riding?
Then came the day when Aiden, now age 16, got back up on the Paint. Evans saw where things were going. She watched Aiden fill out an application to ride in the 2024 Ram Rodeo circuit. She knew what she had to do: support him 100%. She and Aiden’s dad took him to 80% of the Ram Rodeos and watched him ride a bull at each of these rodeos for 8 seconds or longer. Aiden’s dad was always at the chute with him. They were happy to see him ride twice at the Ram Rodeo in Verner, his home turf, on September 7 and 8.
The 2024 Ram Rodeo Tour Championship finals were held on October 18, 19 and 20, 2024 at the Ancaster Fairgrounds. Aiden had to ride each of those days and stay on that bull as long as he could. He was in his element and focused. On each ride he exceeded the 8-second standard to finish first in his division, earning him two shiny bull rider’s buckles, a set of chaps, a saddle, $1,500 and the title “Top Junior Bull Rider, 2024.”
That “ain’t his last rodeo,” however. Aiden now has his sights set on a scholarship – something that warms Kayla Evan’s heart. This time Aiden is registered for the Ontario High School Rodeo Association’s Fall Round up Rodeo in Ancaster, taking place November 9 and 10. If he achieves three qualifying rides of 8 seconds or more, he gets an invitation to ride in Wyoming, USA and could win a university scholarship. As Aiden is now in Grade 11 at Northern Secondary School, he is thinking a scholarship would be a wonderful thing – something certainly worth staying on that bull for, and hanging on tight!