PUEBLO, Colo. – There was a little boy 16 years ago at the annual Chiquimulilla Rodeo in Santa Rosa, Guatemala, who had run off from the mutton busting competition to get a sneak peek at his heroes behind the steel bucking chutes.
These were your everyday 8-second warriors, and they were not the same as eventual PBR legends Guilherme Marchi and Silvano Alves, who this little kid would one day learn about on social media.
Instead, Rodrigo Melgar looked on in awe and admiration as a group of Guatemalan professional bull riders began to prepare their bull ropes and gear for competition at the rodeo in Chiquimulilla – a city in southern Guatemala just 12 miles from the Pacific Ocean.
Melgar would take mental notes of what the pros did, and he would cheer them on as they tried to reach the 8-second mark to the roar of the deafening crowd.
The son of a bareback rider and the grandson of a saddle bronc rider, Melgar had a special love for bull riding from an early age. He would take the lessons he learned at his hometown’s annual rodeo and then sneak off with his brother, Renato, at home to get on the family’s mini bulls for practice when his father was out running errands.
“My family are ranchers, and this has always been a lifestyle for us,” Melgar told PBR.com Wednesday with the help of his girlfriend, Diana, translating.
Three, four, six mini bulls were never enough for Melgar to practice on.
He craved it.
He loved it.
“My dad owned mini bulls, and I would secretly go to where they were at, and I would ride them without his permission,” Melgar recalled before laughing. “No one was there to tell me to stop, so I would ride as many as I wanted. My dad didn’t like when I would do that behind his back because something bad could happen. But me and my brother would still secretly go riding.”
Melgar’s father, Rene, was a successful bareback rider and helped build his son’s bull riding foundation.
“My dad would put me on small calves since I was very little,” Melgar continued. “Every year, there is a carnival in Chiquimulilla, Guatemala, and they do a rodeo. I would enter the contest for little kids, and I would always go to the back where the chutes are at, and I would go see the professional bull riders there and see how they would do stuff.”
Now, Melgar is hopeful he can inspire a new generation of Guatemalan bull riders who may hear of his story this weekend when he becomes the first Guatemala native to compete on the PBR’s premier series.
Melgar, 23, is set to take on Safety Meeting (10-8, UTB/METC) in Round 1 of the PBR Pendleton Whisky Invitational in Arcadia, Florida. Fans in the United States can watch Round 1 on CBS Sports Network Saturday at 9 p.m. ET, as well as on RidePass at 2 p.m. ET. The championship round of the weekend’s first competition airs Sunday on CBS national television (check local listings). Fans in Guatemala can tune into RidePass for all the action.
“I am really excited and really focused right now,” Melgar said. “Since I was little, this is something I have always wanted to do, and I am looking forward to it. My family and everyone in Guatemala are very excited. I told them to record videos because it will be a historical day with being the first Guatemalan.
“Kids need to know to fight and to never give up on their dreams because there will always be up and downs. And sometimes you are going to feel like you have done nothing, but out of nowhere, there will be a great opportunity. From there, you go on.”
Melgar is one of 11 Guatemalan bull riders ever to purchase their PBR card, but he will be the first to make it to the sport's grandest stage. He is currently the No. 23-ranked bull rider in the extremely early world standings.
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Melgar began to dream of competing in the United States when he was a teenager scrolling through Facebook.
He would come across videos of World Champions Guilherme Marchi, Silvano Alves, Jess Lockwood and Kaique Pacheco, and he began to wonder about what his future could be.
Melgar would practice tirelessly and enter rodeos throughout Guatemala in any association he could ride in. He began to develop what he describes as a hybrid bull riding style.
“I don’t use a lot of force like the Brazilians do, but I also do not do use a lot of style like Americans,” Melgar said. “It is a mixture.”
In 2018, he finished runner-up to Erik Rosa, who Melgar considers one of the best bull riders in Guatemala, for the Jinetes Profesionales de Guatemala (JPG) bull riding championship.
Melgar, looking to perfect his craft further, then packed his bags and went to Brazil for two months to compete alongside bull riders from the South American bull riding powerhouse.
“I look up to the Brazilians because, in order for them to ride on the big events in Brazil, they have to go through a lot,” he said. “They have to force themselves to do more and more each and every day. I have seen that.”
Melgar decided in 2019, at 21 years old, it was time to chase his dreams further, and he traveled to the United States for a brief introduction to the PBR and the American way of life. He rode Stole the Show for 70 points in Belton, Texas, at his debut Touring Pro Division event on March 15, 2019. He would compete at one more event, going 1-for-2, before heading back to Guatemala for a few months.
Melgar decided it was time to fully take the plunge into the PBR, moving to Texas full-time in late 2019, even visiting with Alves at his ranch that fall.
Last year, Melgar competed where he could during the COVID-19 pandemic-riddled season. He would go 1-for-2 in three PBR Touring Pro Division events and 2-for-6 at a few PRCA rodeos, winning the PPCLA PRCA Rodeo with an 88.5-point ride on Market Garden last September.
“At first it was difficult, but then I started seeing how it is and how to do it,” Melgar, who also credits his bilingual girlfriend for helping him enter events and adjust to the U.S., said. “Then, within time, I got the hang of it all.”
Melgar won his first-ever PBR event during the 2021 PBR Touring Pro Division season-opener in Fort Worth, Texas, just 20 miles away from AT&T Stadium, where the Top 35 bull riders in the world were competing at the 2020 PBR World Finals at the same time.
Melgar rode Midnight Rider for 88.5 points before notching the victory with 88 points on Whisker Biscuit – the same bull who bucked off Mason Taylor at RFD-TV’s The American last year.
The 15 points Melgar earned with that Fort Worth victory were enough for him to sneak into this weekend’s Unleash The Beast event as the ninth alternate after he went 0-for-2 last weekend at the Pendleton Whisky Velocity Tour season-opener in Cedar Park, Texas.
It’s been a long journey for Melgar from those days as a kid at the Chiquimulilla Rodeo, and Saturday will be a moment he never forgets.
“This is just something I really love, and I will love it for the rest of my life,” Melgar said. “I really loved it since I was little and I would get very excited. From there, that inspired me to keep on going and follow my dreams and do what I have to do to get here and now.”
Follow Justin Felisko on Twitter @jfelisko
Photo courtesy of Andre Silva/Bull Stock Media