Cash Fred at his home in Tumalo. 07/01/25 (Dean Guernsey/The Bulletin)

TUMALO – Cash Fred knows all too well what it’s like to be stepped on by a bull. He can count four different times that it has happened. He even knows what it’s like to have clothing ripped off by a bull after being tossed off its back.

All those experiences have given him the incentive to keep holding on and staying on the bull’s back.

“If I get bucked off there is a big chance that I will get stepped on,” Fred said.

But more times than not, Fred’s grip is strong enough to hold on to keep him astride the bull. Only two years into the sport and Fred is already among one of the nation’s best young bull riders.

Fred, who’s 14, won the state championship in 2025 Oregon Jr. High Rodeo Association in June, which qualified him for the National Junior High FInals Rodeo in Des Moines, Iowa.

In just his second year competing, had two top 10 finishes with a sixth-place finish in bull riding and eighth-place finish in bareback riding against the top rodeo athletes from across 43 states and parts of Canada, Mexico and Australia after three days of competition.

“It was super fun meeting a whole bunch of people from all across the United States and from different countries,” Fred said. “I didn’t perform the best that I could and I also didn’t draw the best, I didn’t get very big steers. ”

But for eight long seconds, Fred tries to hold on while those watching hold their breath that he makes it through the turbulent ride unscathed.

“Last year was super nerve-wracking because he was so new,” said Cash’s mother, Debbie Fred. “But this year hasn’t been as nerve-wracking except for bull riding because they are mean and want to chase you when you fall off.”

Scoring for the bareback and bull riding events are broken up into two parts. One half of the total score is based on the rider’s performance and their ability to stay in control while using proper spur technique and placement. The other half of the score is how the steer performs with its bucking actions. Some buck more aggressively than others.

In finishing eighth in bareback, Fred scored a 168.5 average. And in the bull riding where he finished sixth, he scored a 127.

Competing in a pair of other sports has helped Fred make the transition to rodeo where animals weighing as much as 1,500 pounds try their best to send him flying off their backs. He raced BMX bikes and wrestled at Sky View Middle School this past year.

Now that he has aged out of the Jr. High Rodeo Association, he wants to continue competing at a higher level the next four years.

“I definitely want to keep doing this though high school,” Fred said. “I’m hoping to do more associations. I want to do a high school rodeo.”