Guess who’s back?

Bullfighter Cheyne Anderson returns to Newport Rodeo

NEWPORT – If you ask bullfighter Cheyne Anderson, 35, if the bulls relaxing in the pens behind the Newport arena have names, he’ll not only not look at you funny, but he’ll tell you their names and personalities.

“That’s Sketchy,” he says, pointing to a bull whose horns grow down, framing its face. “He’s the hardest for bull riders to stay on, but he’s super sweet. Likes to be around people.”

Anderson motions to a bull with a brown and black coat that’s rubbing his face against the hindquarters of another bull.

“That’s Brown Smoke, he’s the spiciest,” Anderson says. “I wouldn’t call him mean; you just have to keep an eye on him.”

Though it’s impressive to see Anderson’s recall when it comes to his cattle coworkers, he’s quick to point out that it’s not something that’s unique to only him.

“Everybody knows their names,” he says of people in the rodeo circuit. “They are athletes in their own right. In a lot of ways, they are like people. They have good days, and they have bad days, just like you and me.”

Anderson is returning to the Newport Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Rodeo this week after a six-year hiatus. He joins professional bullfighters Roy Jackson and Kaleb Barrett in the arena to help keep bull riders and animals safe. This is his first time working in the Newport Rodeo since it became PRCA sanctioned in 2021.

“I’m so excited to be back at my local rodeo,” he says. “I was born in Spokane, but my grandparents own land in Pend Oreille County, so I’ve been coming to the Newport Rodeo since I was about three years old. This is special for me.”

Besides being a bullfighter, who spends the summer season working at professional rodeos, Anderson volunteers with South Pend Oreille Fire and Rescue (SPOFR) and he also joins other volunteers in preparing the arena and rodeo grounds for rodeo weekend.

“It takes a community,” he says of the effort. “This rodeo means something to people, and they work hard to make it happen.”

Anderson started as a bull rider when he was 19, but quit after five years because, “I was tired of getting hurt. Plus, I was a lousy bull rider.”

Anderson became a bullfighter in 2015 and worked at the Newport Rodeo and Rough Stock Rodeo, the latter of which is held every July in Newport. At the 2018 Rough Stock event he suffered a split pelvis when a bull threw him into a fence, twice.

“I thought I could get around him and get him to turn where we wanted him to go,” Anderson says. “It didn’t happen that way. He hit me and I slammed into the fence, went into the air, landed on my hands and knees and just had enough time to see him coming at me before he threw me again.”

He’s obviously since recovered, but Anderson says that was his worst injury. While he returned to the Newport Rodeo and Rough Stock in 2019, no one did in 2020 when the events were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After the Newport Rodeo became PRCA sanctioned in 2021, Anderson knew he would have to as well in order be a bullfighter for the event again. It’s an extensive process that can take from one to two years, despite prior experience.

“You have to show that you’ve worked at amateur rodeos, you have to have at least three letters of recommendation, and you need to send in your application with a $500 evaluation fee,” Anderson says. “If your application is approved, you pay $300 and get your permit status, and then you have to work a minimum of five PRCA sanctioned events. While you’re doing that, PRCA is sending out performance surveys to rodeo personnel, stock contractors, rodeo committee chairman—people who have worked with you in the past to give their assessment of your skills and whether or not you’re good to work with.”

The final step is to be anonymously evaluated by PRCA officials at an event the bullfighter is working.

“You don’t know which one they are going to show up to, but they come and watch you do your thing and decide if you’re ready,” Anderson says.

After they are approved, bullfighters are responsible for renewing their PRCA membership and paying dues and insurance premiums every year.

In Anderson’s opinion, being a bullfighter is well worth it. He’s worked with numerous stock contractors, including Newport Rodeo’s stock contractor Ace’s Wild ProRodeo, has worked the Reno Rodeo in Reno, Nevada, which is the fifth largest rodeo in the country, and he gets to spend his summer traveling the country with his eldest daughter working at rodeos.

“I just really enjoy it, and I’m thankful to all of my sponsors and other people who support and encourage me so I can be a bullfighter and make money doing what I love,” he says. “You meet so many cool people, you get to meet up-and-coming riders, and everyone is there because they love rodeo.”

People can meet Anderson, his fellow bullfighters, rodeo royalty and competing cowboys and cowgirls at the end of each rodeo night, June 25-27.

SOPHIA MATTICE-ALDOUS IS A MURROW NEWS FELLOW WORKING DIRECTLY WITH NEWSROOMS AT THE NEWPORT MINER AND RANGE MEDIA THROUGH A PROGRAM ADMINISTERED BY WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY. HER REPORTING IS AVAILABLE FOR USE VIA CREATIVE COMMONS WITH CREDIT.