Riding into a new legacy

There may not be many 12 year olds who can make a 35-year-old, world champion bareback rider consider retirement, but Tuker Carricato isn't most 12 year olds. Having only been riding for 3 years total, the young Valley resident already has a win at the Junior National Finals Rodeo (JNFR) in Las Vegas under his belt.

This year, Carricato has added victories at Days of '47 in Salt Lake City (SLC), the Junior High National Finals Rodeo in Huron, S.D., where was placed on the Junior High World Finals Rodeo reserve list, and Cheyenne Frontier Days (CFD) to his list of accomplishments.

Three years ago, when Tuker was only nine years old, his parents, Tony and Trisha Carricato, attended the National Finals Rodeo (NFR) and watched an event called mini bareback riding.

"We had never seen that. So I videotaped a bunch of them," said Trisha.

Tony and Trisha headed home following the NFR and showed Tuker the videos.

"He said 'I'm going to go to Vegas this next year.' So we bought the rigging, bought his chaps and he got on his first horse the end of March and made it to Vegas that year," Trisha said.

Something else that influenced the younger Carricato's decision to ride was his own family history. Tony, who now does work throughout the Valley as a farrier, used to ride bareback. Tuker admits this swayed him to pick up the rigging himself. Now, though, Tuker is forging his own legacy as evidenced by his win in Vegas in 2017 and his invitation to CFD.

The event that Tuker took part in at CFD was called "Legends and Legacies" and was the world-famous rodeo's way of bringing family members of former Professional Cowboy Rodeo Association (PRCA) riders to Cheyenne to "bring back the name," according to Trisha.

Tuker, however, was the only one invited who didn't have a legacy.

"He was the only one from Wyoming and the only one who was wasn't in the legacy," said Trisha. "He got invited because he won Vegas last year."

Tuker also went on to win the Little Buckers Bareback Riding competition at CFD, catching the attention of multi-world champion bareback riders like Will Lowe.

"Will Lowe asked him (Tuker) how old he was and he said 'Okay, I have six more years, then I'm done,'" said Trisha.

Following his victory at CFD, a video was put on social media by Rodeo News and that was when Trisha knew that the 2017 win in Las Vegas was just the tip of the iceberg. Within three hours of the video being posted, Tuker received over 50 friend requests on Facebook. That number quickly went from 50 to 100 and then passed 150.

"Vegas was nothing compared to him winning Cheyenne," Trisha said.

One of the over 250 thousand people to watch the video was Tim O'Connell, another multi-world champion bareback rider who had met Tuker the year before during the Days of '47 in SLC. After the win in Cheyenne, the Carricato clan headed back to SLC to receive Tuker's buckle at the Days of '47. While there, they ran into O'Connell.

"Tim O'Connell told my husband, 'When I saw that video this morning, I probably watched it two dozen times,'" said Trisha.

Trisha admits that, as exciting as it is to see her son's name get out in the rodeo circuit, she is also protective. According to Tuker, of the over 150 people who sent him friend requests, he only recognized about 10 and those were the ones Trisha let him add. Other requests came from people as far away as Brazil and Australia.

With this increased interest in her young son, Trisha has made the decision to begin a fan page for Tuker so that he can still keep in contact with fans without letting people into his private life - especially since he still isn't even old enough to drive.

"We thought it was bad when he won Vegas last year and people just came out of the woodwork," Trisha said. "Mostly girls."

"I can't stop them," replied Tuker with a grin.

As for those interested in bareback riding, Tuker's advice was simple: "Hold on. Don't fall off. The ground hurts."

Following his success in SLC and CFD, Tuker has no time to rest. On Friday, Aug. 3, he competed and qualified in Yuba City, Calif. at an NFR qualifier rodeo. Tuker is heading to Vegas, again.