They say nice guys finish last but that was not the case in the Junior World Finals in Las Vegas last week. Azreal Lara, an easygoing, low-key teenager out of Columbia Falls, competed in the senior bareback division and came home a World Champion.

It wasn’t Lara’s first rodeo. The Northwest Montana Rodeo Team member competed and took fifth place in the Junior World Finals last year. He also won NRA Rookie of the Year honors.

The champ had some good advice for any endeavor.

“You don’t want to think too much, because if you think too much you’re gonna mess up and it's gonna go bad,” Lara said. “Just think about one thing at a time.“

Lara, a 15-year-old sophomore at Columbia Falls High School, competed with about 25 other bareback riders in the senior division. He won the first round and after round two, was in the lead by only half a point. His win in round three secured the victory, the champion’s silver buckle and cash prizes.

“The first horse I got on, I was super nervous,” Lara said. “It kind of went away after the second round, but in the third round, it came back.”

Bareback is largely considered the toughest event in the rodeo and with good reason. The horse wears bareback rigging, which is basically a suitcase handle on a strap. Riders are equipped with a glove and grit.

Lara also has a custom-made leather protective vest and he opts to wear his hat, as the choice to wear a helmet is left up to personal preference. He also wears a neck brace he said he made “out of foam and tape and socks.”

His mom describes the champ as “so chill,” a trait Lara thinks is an asset when it comes to riding bareback.

“Some people tell me to get all mean right before I get on. I'm not like that,” he said. “I just like being calm. I don't like jumping around on chutes because that could scare the horse, and if a horse is scared when you get on, the horse could flip in there. 

“You don’t know what could happen,” he added. “The most dangerous is in the bucking chute because it's all metal.”

Instead, Lara said he just whispers in the horse’s ear prior to a ride.

While Lara is self-motivated and determined, his family has always been incredibly supportive. His three sisters all compete in rodeo and his mother, Natasha Alejandre, is proud of her only son.

“It's amazing,” Natasha said. “He's worked really hard all year.”

His grandmother, Joanie Alejandre, agreed and said he does whatever he needs to do to succeed. 

“He has made this happen from the time he wanted to do it (at age 12),” Joanie said. “He put in all the work. He asked questions, researched everything and spent all the time doing it.”

Lara explained the beginning of his bareback career began at the rodeo when he told his grandmother that he wanted to get on “those little ponies.” She said he was too big for them, but he was persistent, and she finally said OK. 

“I got up there and they ran up this big horse. I was like, what the heck?” Lara recalls. “I didn’t sit on him for the whole way, but it was fun. That’s where it all started.”

Perhaps Lara’s greatest support comes from his grandfather, Fidel Alejandre, who helps coach him and brings him to every rodeo.

The family’s support extends to riders all over the Flathead Valley. Kristi Bruyer, social media director for the Northwest Montana Rodeo Team, called Fidel the biggest cheerleader for kids in rodeo.

Last year, Fidel started a free, year-round school to help kids by giving them a place to ride and to practice. Each Wednesday, as many as 15 kids from 5 to 18 years old come to Alejandre's arena to ride steers and broncos.

“When I'm not riding, I go out there and help the little kids,” Lara said. 

Fidel bought more stock this year and Lara’s Uncle Hugh helped them build chutes last summer so kids can practice. Lara helps out and is a huge inspiration for the younger kids who look up to the new champion.

“We have a community every Wednesday of kids who really want to ride,” Natasha said. “For him to win this, [the kids] can come back and say, if he can do it, I can.”

Lara is not the only inspirational rider in the family. Joanie said when Fidel was 58 years old, he rode a bronc at the Brash Rodeo and took third place. 

“He had to show the kids he knew what he was talking about,” she said.

Fidel worked at the Majestic Valley Arena while Lara was growing up, so he was always at the rodeo and knew he wanted to play a part. Lara tried steer riding, then roping, briefly, before finding bareback. 

Although Natasha says she tends to be a chill person, too, she admits that watching her son ride is exciting and a little scary.

“It's so exciting and, at the same time, you're scared. It's amazing to watch him. You never lose that fear but you get a little more comfortable,” she said. “I trust in him and I know he knows what he's doing … and he’s safe about what he’s doing. I trust him and that's all I can do.”

Natasha added that when Lara started riding bareback he said he would go to the National Finals Rodeo. One day, his family expects to be watching him compete there.

    Some of Lara's winnings from the Yeti Junior World Finals include a bronc halter, silver buckles and a YETI cooler. (Julie Engler/Whitefish Pilot)
  

    Azreal Lara