Veteran NFR Steer Wrestler Making a Comeback After 2024 Injury Sent Him Home

After a short break, 8-time steer wrestling National Finals Rodeo Qualifier (NFR) Nick Guy has come back with a vengeance.

Unfortunately in the heat of the 2024 rodeo season the Wisconsin born cowboy was forced to point his truck toward home.

Guy had separated a rib and cartilage next to his sternum in Sheridan, Wyo. Pushing on he continued to Elko, Nev. where he pocketed a good check. That gave him confidence that he could continue to rodeo through the injury. But after Nampa, Idaho Guy realized that this injury was going to need some time to heal.

"Every time I would sneeze or cough or simply move wrong it would separate and that's when I knew I'd better just head home," Guy explained.

Heading home is always a hard decision to make and like any dedicated cowboy his focus became, "How soon can I get back out there?"

But this injury was proving that allowing it time was the only way Guy could become competitive again. He felt he was behind the 8-ball for a 2024 NFR qualification and with a new baby boy at home it did not take him long to realize another side of life.

"Being home and enjoying all the cool things about being a new dad was way more important!"

Mid-August Guy started to feel "pretty good" however, he wasn't ready to run steers and had become custom to being home and being a dad.

"That is when i just called the 2024 season and started to focus on my 2025 comeback," Guy commented.

Though he had high hopes for 2024, especially after purchasing "DT", his new yellow horse, in May, the timing was not in his favor. Guy felt it was good for DT to get a good break as well. He became excited to start the 2025 season with DT and really see what he could do.

DT got the name in short for Down Town. His registered name is JustAnother PAC BAR, so DT fit as his barn name. Nick purchased DT from Rod Brown from Ponca, Nebr. He was on a large feed lot operation ran by Rod and his wife Holly who also operate a performance horse program called Arrow B Performance horses.

After purchasing DT as a yearling at the Fulton sale they made a solid ranch horse out of him. He was eventually started on the barrels, but it was not a good fit so they moved him to heading on him. He was super strong and really just wanted to run so Rod sent him to Eli Lord. Lord ran him by a few steers and took him to his first rodeo, the Badlands Circuit Finals. Eli had placed in a few rounds and the average on DT there.

Nick first saw the beautiful palomino in person in Spring of 2023 at a jackpot in South Dakota. Nick was able to ride DT in a match at the jackpot. Guy had no idea when he rode him that a year later he would own the big strong gelding. Lord was hauling and seasoning him and lots of different guys won money on him. In fact, last February Stetson Jorgensen won Tuscon, Ariz. on him.

Guy attributes a lot of his comeback in the 2025 season to DT. He says, "DT has been so consistent for me everywhere I've gone since coming back." The duo has put together some good runs and gained each others trust to really make the partnership work.

Guy's rest and healing span gave him time to focus on other things in life and only fed his craving to get back at bulldogging. The veteran steer wrestler has set some significant goals for 2025.

Guy plans to put DT and himself in a position to qualify for a ninth trip to the NFR. One of the steps along the way include winning enough money this winter and spring to get into the famed Calgary Stampede. He is also hoping to make it through the American Regionals and have a chance a the million dollars.

He is now a Kiowa, Colo. cowboy and hopes to get qualified for the 2025 Mountain States Circuit Finals as well. With a list of goals, he is taking the necessary actions to make each goal a reality. He is trying to get all the steps in to set himself up for bigger rodeos.

Guy plans to take his family along with him as much as possible this summer. It is important to him that his family gets to experiene this all with him. He wants to, "make some great memories this year that is a huge goal!"

The Colorado cowboy came back strong in October with a win at the Rodeo All Star in Denver, Colo. followed by winning money in Lubbock, Texas, qualifying for San Angelo through the Uvalde, Texas qualifier, then back to Denver he advanced into the National Western Stock Show performances through the qualifier. He kept it going by winning the Colorado VS The World rodeo.

Guy and DT have definitely been a force early on in the 2025 rodeo season and the talented steer wrestler plans to keep that momentum rolling.

He will be hitting the winter rodeos pretty hard. His immediate schedule includes stops at Rapid City, S. D. on the Feb 6, San Antonio, Texas Feb. 8 - 9, Tulsa American Contender Regionals Feb. 15, and finally Tuscon, Ariz. Feb. 16 - 17. He then plans to spend March at home, before heading south to San Angelo, Texas and hopefully the American Rodeo in the first part of April.

Guy has set some big goals but being a veteran rodeo cowboy, he knows the stops he needs to make to chase his 2025 goals down and make them a reality.

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