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Kramer doing his thing. [Photo: 4-C Photography]
A leather riggin’, a pair of chaps, and drawing a good bareback bucking horse is what makes this Denbigh, North Dakota cowboy tick. Maybe riding at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo Finals had his Dakota fan club and family’s tickers beating a little faster, as the adrenaline from this rodeo is off the charts.
Ben Kramer brought the ‘little town’ to the big city of San Antonio, Texas and made 4 consistent, 80 point plus rides for the world to see this past February. Now sitting in the top 15 of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) in the bareback riding with 8 thousand more dollars to his name, the young cowboy at 21 years of age is sticking to what he has going.
“Bareback riding on the professional level is definitely a good dream to pursue. You get to meet once-in-a-lifetime people, see different country, and different ways of life,” said Kramer.
This was the first time Kramer had qualified for the San Antonio Stock Show and rodeo. Bigger rodeos in the PRCA require a certain amount of ‘money won’ to be eligible to enter.
“San Antonio was a really cool atmosphere, electric, and now, one of my favorite rodeos for sure,” explained Kramer. “I felt healthy going into it, wanted to draw three good horses and that sure helped things out a lot getting to the finals.”
Up until the success at this rodeo, he said some of his rodeo highlights in his young career have been winning 2nd in the average at the Badlands Circuit Finals this past October, next to NFR Bareback rider, Ty Breuer of Mandan, N.D.
Kramer at the 2021 Darby Riggin Rally Qualifier, splitting the win with Ty Breur, both 85 points. Steve Waagen Horse, #771 Keep It Rocking Me. [Photo: submitted]
“I give a lot of credit to my dad, Shawn Kramer, and Steve Waagen. Steve always set us up with good practice horses, but not just that, he made sure we had the right set of horses to nurture the skills evolving bareback riders need to get better.”
“The Kramers have ridden more bareback horses than anyone I know,” said Shane Gunderson of Bailey Pro Rodeo. Ben’s father, Shawn Kramer, holds his own bragging rights when it comes to spurring broncs across the country and is legendary when it comes to the sport in North Dakota. He is now a custom saddle maker in McHenry County.
Kramer added that growing up in North Dakota and this area has given him the chance to have access to some of the best stock and horses around, like Steve and Barb Waagen’s, and that made a huge difference in his career path with bucking horses.
“I will still see the Arrow SW brand on horses from Texas to Florida; it goes to show we have some really good stock around here,” said Kramer.
So what does a cowboy sitting in the top fifteen of the world do after a big win on the trail? He is already at home doing HVAC work installing furnaces across northern North Dakota and getting ready to keep going to as many big rodeos as he can. “A goal that I set for the year is to win the Badlands Circuit and keep going as much as I can and to stay healthy,” added Kramer.
The cowboy that acquired the nickname, ‘Blonde Bomber’, from his dad in high school due to his long blonde hair wagging atop bucking horses and began spurring broncs at the age of 16. He started in North Dakota high school rodeo as a sophomore. “I grew up with manual labor working on my uncle’s ranch and doing a lot of fencing, so I guess that kind of formed me,” Kramer said.
With hard work and knowing where he came from, the Blonde Bomber intends on continuing to learn from veterans along the way, but for the most part, his mission is to ride his own ride and keep doing what’s working, which is just doing his thing.
Tisa Peek is a long-time horse trainer, competitor in barrel racing and team roping, and writer about the equine. Rodeo and horses run deep in her roots. JT Family Equine is where she calls home, south of Bismarck, ND. Tisa, along with her husband, Jon, and boys, Blu and River, train horses and host clinics. Tisa is the host for Dakota Cowboy on BEK TV.