In the back of his mind, Richmond Champion knew there was something wrong. His arms were numb; his fingers tingled. He is, after all, a bareback rider, and his body takes a beating. They are virtually locked onto every horse they ride. Arms are jerked, hands are mangled, elbows and shoulders feel the pressure on every ride. Groins are sore, hips ache and their spine can be contorted on every jump.
In the summer of , Champion recognized some significant symptoms to a neck injury. He took a few weeks away but resumed his schedule early the next calendar year. By March, he knew something had to be done. It usually takes 24 to 48 hours to hear anything about an MRI, but I got a call in under four hours. On the other end was Shawn Scott, a chiropractor with the Justin Sportsmedicine team. That was causing all the issues. Surgeons fused his vertebrae together April 1, and Champion took the remainder of the regular season off.
Over that span, he kept himself busy by guiding fishing adventures, handling the business around his Montana home and spending time with the love of his life, his wife, Paige. Sometimes the world makes that decision for you.
I enjoyed every minute of my year off. I got to hang out and do different stuff. I obviously missed being on the road, but that was just a phone call away.
Come October and November, I was getting the itch again. He gained a new perspective on his life in and out of rodeo. I wanted to see how I intended to finish the last half of my career. It will be on his terms. He realized the passion he has for riding bucking horses, animals that outweigh him by hundreds of pounds. He has an on-again, off-again relationship with the road. The time on injured reserve built a fire that continues to smolder, but it also created a spark in the relationship he and Paige share.
