Six-time World Champion to entertain rodeo fans in Libby
The 2025 Kootenai River Stampede PRCA Rodeo is rapidly approaching and the details are coming together for the rodeo committee as they continue to work toward providing the Libby community and surrounding areas with the professionalism associated with a PRCA event.
This year’s rodeo is scheduled for Friday, July 25 and Saturday, July 26.
Cowboys and their Western lives are unique. Their traditions grew from the need to work in a way that was compatible with their environment as they settled the West. Cowboys honed the skills necessary to perform their job and survive. Proud and confident in these honed skills, the cowboy would often boast around the campfire in the evenings. So, as the saying goes, “Put up or shut up.”
The cowboys would go about “proving” they were the best. From these competitions grew the modern competition we enjoy as RODEO.
Kicking off the 2025 Kootenai River Stampede PRCA Rodeo in spectacular fashion will be six-time World Champion trick rider Madison McDonald Thomas bursting through the arena gate at full speed carrying Old Glory! She wowed the Libby crowds in 2020 and now she’s back!
Thomas is originally from Alberta, Canada, growing up with her mother, who not only rode horses but also worked for the Calgary Stampede and produced Wild West shows. Madison’s future career performing stunts on horseback is no surprise. She began trick riding lessons at just 6 years old, sealing her fate and the trajectory of her career.
Now 28, Madison and her act are a fixture at major rodeos across the U.S. and are a constant presence at the annual Wrangler National Finals Rodeo where she heats up the crowd inside the Thomas & Mack Coliseum in Las Vegas in December.
Hot weather is typical for this annual event but the location of the arena, nestled in the trees at the J. Neils Memorial Park, normally sees the temperature drop as the sun drops behind the tree tops at about 7 p.m. each evening. To take advantage of this natural occurrence, the starting time for the rodeo will continue to be at 7:30 p.m. Gates will open at 5:30 p.m. so spectators can stake out their favorite spot in the grandstands, explore the vendors’ booths and grab a bite to eat before they settle in for the action.
To keep spectators entertained between rodeo action in the arena, the crowds will be thoroughly entertained this season by rodeo clown Mike Wallace. His interaction with the announcer and the audience maintains the high energy pace of a fast action, two-and-one-half hour show. He serves double duty once the bull-riding event commences. Wallace climbs into his custom, heavily-padded barrel, then positions it in the arena to assist the bullfighters by providing a safety zone for bull riders who have come off before or after the conclusion of their ride and need to seek protection behind the barrel from the bull, who may be seeking retribution.
Wallace is relatively new to the PRCA scene but he has over 15 years of experience making crowds roar with laughter and keeping bull riders safe. In addition to traveling across the country, in 2019, Mike performed in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia at the first-ever American bull riding event.
Presale tickets remain affordable at $19 for adults, while those tickets will be $22 at the gate. Veterans, seniors (age 60 and over) and students (age 7-15) can purchase tickets for the presale price of $14 or at the gate for only $17. Kids 6 and under are admitted free.
Tickets are available from the following ticket outlets until noon Friday, July 25, at the Libby Area Chamber, Timberline Auto Center, The Printing Press, High Spirits Liquor and Homesteaders Farm & Ranch Supply. In Troy, tickets can be obtained at The Silver Spur Restaurant.
Gates open at 5:30 p.m. with rodeo action commencing at 7:30 p.m. at the J. Neils Rodeo Arena north of Libby, over the Kootenai River on Highway 37.
Mike Wallace