By Rich Winter

605 Sports

With the high school rodeo season underway, Chase Brunsch returns as South Dakota’s top rider in the reined cow horse competition.

After finishing third in state competition in 2023, Brunsch got his feet wet with scores of 281.5 and 279.5 at the National High School Finals Rodeo. He finished 38th and 48th in his respective go rounds and hopes that experience will help in his final high school season. 

“Making it there reminds me I’m one of the best in the country to do this,” he said. “It is going to be tough to make the team in South Dakota because everyone has improved so much.”

Brunsch graduated from Hay Springs High School in Nebraska and his family resides in South Dakota. He competes to represent South Dakota at the National High School Finals Rodeo. He now has the experience and he has the rodeo genetics and pedigree to have another outstanding season. His 2023 appearance at the National High School Finals Rodeo only cemented his place in the family's rodeo history. 

Older brother, Cadell, was a three-time participant in the reined cow horse competition at the National High School Finals Rodeo and father, Chad, was a legend on the Indian National Finals Rodeo circuit.

“My dad was a really, really good bareback rider,” Chase Brunsch said. “He was the Indian National Finals Rodeo Champion in 2006 in the bareback competition.”

The Brunsch's, including Chase’s mother, Crystal, hail from south of Chadron, Nebraska. With his father rodeoing the sport was a natural choice to pursue. Brunsch said the two biggest keys to his rodeo success come from 4-H rodeo and a sibling rivalry with his brother.

“I think it kinda started in junior high and we hated each other,” he said. “I tried to live up to him but never could.”

As sibling rivalries go, Chase Brunsch started listening to his brother and refining his reined cow horse skills during his freshman year of high school. Brunsch gave up his love of football after encountering six-man football prior to the start of his sophomore year. Brunsch gave up his favorite non-rodeo sports after injuring his knee.

Brunsch has been riding his horse, “That Time Shiner” also named “Lakota” since his sophomore year. He said “Lakota” is Show sour, something he and others have been working to fix. 

“Show sour is when the horse will start to predict the pattern,” Brunsch said. “We’ve been working on that quite a bit.”

Everyday Chase and “Lakota” go for a ride varying from 30-minutes to an hour. Brunsch said the rides are mostly just to keep his horse’s legs up but also to further strengthen the bond between horse and rider.

“I think it just helps build your horse’s confidence,” he said. “You can tell exactly what your horse is feeling and the horse can tell how I’m feeling.”

Brunsch earned 17 points from his first regional rodeo in Wall after scores of 135.5 and 140.