Wyatt Casper sidelined with hamstring injury

Saddle bronc rider Wyatt Casper, who is sitting eighth in the PRCA | RAM World Standings with $123,802, will be sidelined indefinitely after suffering a hamstring tear on Aug. 5 at the Mountain Valley Stampede in Heber City, Utah.

Casper said the injury originally started bothering him after he partially tore it during the Fourth of July run in Red Lodge, Mont.

“I took a couple weeks off after I initially hurt it in Red Lodge,” said Casper, a two-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier. “I tried to come back, but it was still hurting me quite a bit.

“I kept rodeoing at Dodge City (Kan.), Lovington (N.M.), and Heber City. Then, I ended up tearing it completely there because it wasn’t quite healed up yet.”

The injury will not require surgery, just rest and rehab according to Casper. He said the timeline for the injury to heal is four to six weeks. The timeframe would put him near the end of the ProRodeo regular season, which ends on Sept. 30.

His first thought was that he would be forced to miss the remainder of the regular season with hopes of competing at this year’s Wrangler NFR in December, but he now said he’s not ruling out a return to action in September if his body feels right.

“My original plan was to be out for the rest of the regular season,” he said. “I’m thinking now that there’s a chance, I might try to make a return sometime in September. I’ll just have to play it by ear and see how I’m feeling.”

As of Aug. 24, Casper is sitting fifth in the NFR Playoff Series standings, which would qualify him for the $1 million Cinch Playoffs in Puyallup, Wash., Sept 8-11. He said whether he competes or not is still up in the air.

Courtesy of PRCA