At ‘The World’s Largest Rodeo,’ Teens Ride for Scholarships, Careers, Cowboy Culture

More than 1,700 cowboys and cowgirls from six nations turn out for High School National Rodeo Finals, which has doubled in size in two decades.

The traditional flag ceremony kicks off the “Day Two Second Throw”—essentially, a second full rodeo of the day—on July 16 during the 2025 National Finals Rodeo in Rock Springs, Wyoming. John Haughey/The Epoch Times

ROCK SPRINGS, Wyoming—Jock Maxwell trekked more than 8,000 miles to ride a bull for 8 seconds but after failing to do so twice, his rodeo was over in two skewed eye-blinks.

“I was alright,” he said after being thrown from 1,500 pounds of snorting, snarly beef in 3.4 seconds, noting he and the bull were in trouble from the start when they “got knocked into” the chute gate as it swung open.