Born to be a cowboy and an Outlaw
Chase is most at home in rural, southeast Arkansas, living with his wife, Nicole, and two children. “I’ve been all over the world but I’m living in the perfect spot right here in southeast Arkansas,” he said, “to be a country boy.”
When she first met her future husband, Nicole was bewildered. “I can’t believe somebody does this, somebody puts himself through this,” she said.
She soon realized that putting himself through so much danger in the ring and overcoming injuries was to become a better person. “Being a cowboy is a lifestyle. It’s something that’s more than just the riding, it’s striving and compassion,” says Mike Richard, a family friend. “It teaches accountability, it teaches the value of life.”
He’s a champion in life—and bull riding
Being a country boy means living and subsiding from his land. Whether he’s injured or not, Chase runs the family farm and takes care of their animals.
That’s what keeps his mind off of the injuries. “Life doesn’t stop just because you had surgery or you’re injured. You have to always be moving forward,” he says. That’s what Chase does every day: working on the farm and inspiring people to live up to their potential. What’s most important to him is passing on his knowledge to the next generation of bull riders. He and Nicole host rodeos locally for aspiring riders, and Chase is always willing to chip in and go beyond.
Among professional bull riders, even the next generation sees Chase as a success story worth looking up to. It’s not something he takes lightly. “This is what it’s all about, helping one another. And you helping someone better themselves is going to help you better yourself,” he says. “Always strive to better yourself, to better the people around you.”
Do bull riders ever retire?
Chase will keep livin’ the land and preaching the virtues of this life to his family as long as he lives. “If we don’t show our children how to do it, then before you know it, nobody’s gonna know it,” he says.
Chase fights every day of his life to give his family “plenty of land to run and roam and be free.” In short, he wants his kids to be kids. “This is what a kid needs,” he says, “having animals and learning responsibilities for your actions.”
He just wants to be happy—as a bull rider, husband, father, farmer, leader—and cowboy.
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