When he was a younger cowboy, LeRoy Eash watched the older saddle bronc riders slowly climb into the bucking chute to ride another horse.

Eash would observe the grimace on their faces, the way arms and legs moved a bit slower.

“I’d see those older guys going and think, ‘Just give it up,’” recalled Eash.

“Now I understand,” he finished with a soft chuckle.

After some time away, the 40-year-old Fortine family man has returned to the rodeo arena.

Eash badly injured his shoulder a few years ago at a rodeo in Augusta.

“I took a year off and that turned into two years,” he said. “I was the driver and that kind of sucked. I got that itch to ride again. I thought, ‘What the heck,’ and decided to enter this year.

“it’s been fun, just entering and riding. I’m having a great year.”

Eash is drinking from the fountain of youth, riding better than ever. Entering last weekend’s Mountain Health Co-op Tour rodeos in Deer Lodge and Livingston, he is second in the saddle bronc standings.

Eash won at East Helena and Shelby, placed second at Choteau and Three Forks, was third at Townsend and fourth at Ennis and Eureka. He also placed fifth at Twin Bridges and Deer Lodge.

“It is definitely a different mindset” said Eash of being the veteran. “I decided I’m going to enter and whatever happens, happens. I can still do it.”

Some of his saddle bronc competitors are more than half his age.

“I kid the younger guys, I left my walker in the truck,” Eash said with a laugh. “I love being around them. I’m a huge fan of helping the kids.

“The Northern Rodeo Association is a fantastic organization. It’s great for kids starting out. There is a lot of talent out there.”

He also served a term as bull riding director. “That helped me learn how an organization works,” Eash said.

Eash is from Fortine, a community of 200 or so tucked in the northwest part of Montana, approaching the Canadian border. “No stop light, has a bar, church, post office and a little school,” he said of his hometown.

Eash graduated from Lincoln County High School in Eureka and played hockey through high school in Whitefish.

His entry into rodeo was self-made.

“I didn’t start in rodeo until after high school We didn’t come from a rodeo family We always had some animals around … horses and cows,” said Eash. “My brother had a 4H steer but it didn’t make weight so he couldn’t take it to the fair. We said, ‘Let’s ride him.’

“Definitely didn’t know what we were doing.”

Eash finished third in the NRA saddle bronc standings in 2014 and was fourth in 2011.

Brother Gerald Eash is a four-time all-around cowboy champion (2008, 2011, 2013, 2019) competing in saddle bronc riding and bull riding. Gerald Eash won the Triple Crown in 2011, winning the all-around, saddle bronc and bull riding year-end titles.

All four Eash brothers – LeRoy, Gerald, Marion and Steven – are farriers. LeRoy travels with his tools, lending a hand to competitors when asked. “It keeps me going down the road,” he said.

Eash is traveling with his wife Shaleen and son Cooper. Shaleen competes in barrel racing and Cooper is in the junior barrel racing. Niece Sylvia Eash, who leads the junior barrel racing standings, occasionally jumps in the rig with her uncle and aunt.

“The goal is to ride with my son,” said Eash. “He’s starting to take an interest in saddle broncs. Of course, he needs to be a few years older, he’s not old enough yet. I have to wait.”

And he will continue to ride.

“It’s just the adrenaline rush,” Eash said of the pull to the bucking chutes. “My goal is to make the Finals. I’m not going to change that up now.

“I’m going to keep having fun.”

Last week

Hear that noise?

That’s the shakeup in the standings.

There were 20 checks of $1,000 or more handed out at Livingston and Deer Lodge.

Livingston paid out a Mountain Health Co-op Tour-high 18 four-figure checks, including eight of $1,500 or more.

Colton Haase swept the saddle bronc titles at both rodeos, making it three straight wins for the East Helena teenager.

Jhet Murphy won the Deer Lodge steer wrestling with a time of 3.8 seconds, the fastest of the summer.

Deer Lodge winners: Dalton May, Coram, bareback; Colton Haase, East Helena, saddle bronc; Devyn Hundley, Darby, bull riding; Jhet Murphy, Helena, steer wrestling; Quinn McQueary, Belgrade, tie-down roping; Preston Bird-Chad Glumbik, Cut Bank, team roping; Brittany Sporer, Cody, Wyoming, barrel racing; Tiffany Schieck, Floresville, Texas, breakaway roping; Reagan Barnell, Dillon, junior barrel racing; Carson Eash, Fortine, junior breakaway roping.

Livingston winners: Trapper McAllister, Ronan, bareback; Colton Haase, East Helena, saddle bronc; Owen Manfeldt, Cody, Wyoming, bull riding; Sherrick Sanborn, Wilcox, Arizona, steer wrestling; Jade Gardner, Ballantine, tie-down roping; Easton Bowers-Chris White, Livingston, team roping; Lisa Warfield, Helena, barrel racing; Chalee Harms, Miles City and Tiffany Schieck, Floresville, Texas, breakaway roping; Reagan Barnell, Dillon, junior barrel racing; Rylee Ogren, Hysham, junior breakaway roping.

Up next

Buckle up and grab some snacks.

For those pushing to qualify for the NRA Finals presented by nuWest Builders, you’ve got a lot of miles to drive this weekend.

The Mountain Health Co-op Tour has four rodeos in three days scheduled, stretching from Darby to Wibaux.

The trip begins with the Darby Wild West Rodeo, Aug. 22-23 and the Jefferson County Rodeo in Boulder, Aug. 22-23.

Darby performances are 7 p.m. each night while Jefferson County will begin at 6 p.m. each day.

On the eastern part of the state, the Wibaux County Fair Rodeo is on Aug. 23 at 7 p.m.

The weekend concludes in Chinook with the 1 p.m. Treasure State Rodeo on Aug. 24.

The regular season concludes in Hamilton (Aug. 29-30) and Helmville (Aug. 31-Sept. 1).

The top 10 in each event qualify for the NRA Finals presented by nuWest Builders, Oct. 30-Nov. 1, at Majestic Valley Arena in Kalispell.