OKLAHOMA CITY – The 1992 PRCA World Champion and a PBR co-founder, Cody Custer knows a few things about bull riding.

And when he saw Kody Lostroh ride for the first time, he knew.

That guy is going to be somebody in this sport.

Years later, Custer stood onstage at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City at the PBR Heroes and Legends celebration to induct his friend into the PBR Ring of Honor.

“The main requirement of being in the Ring of Honor is being a great bull rider, and when I think of Kody Lostroh, I think of honor,” Custer said. “First and foremost is his respect, his love for God, is very evident if you’re around him very much. And honor with (wife) Candice and the girls, being a good dad, a good husband, and representing the sport in the way that you have. And at the end of the day, just your friendship with us and the way you honor everybody around you.”

It was a day a long time in the making for Lostroh, the 2009 PBR World Champion. In his career, Lostroh qualified for the PBR World Finals 10 times, won 10 premier series events and notched 313 rides on the premier series before stepping away from the sport in 2015. He retired for good in 2018.

“I know in my mind, and I’ve said it the last few years – I think Kody Lostroh’s the most underrated World Champion in the history of the PBR,” Flint Rasmussen said. “It’s more than just riding. It’s what he brings to everyone else around him, and now we’re seeing that.”

Indeed, when Lostroh took to the microphone to accept his ring, he began by thanking everyone else. God, his parents and family, his wife, his friends, sponsors, fans, and the PBR founders and organization.

“Growing up, I always looked at the PBR as an elite brotherhood,” Lostroh said. “The best of the best competed there because it was the toughest competition available. I saw men who refused to be average and pushed themselves every day to be better. And like so many young bull riders, that’s what I wanted to be a part of, and I was determined to become one of the guys in the brotherhood of the PBR.”

Lostroh began bull riding when he was 7 or 8 years old and admits he was pretty terrible for a long time. Switching his riding hand eventually helped him succeed, but the real key was hard work. He says he was never the most talented guy, but he wasn’t going to give up and figured he could work his way into it.

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Onstage in Oklahoma City, Lostroh shared a story about that legendary work ethic and refusal to give up.

When he was 18 and trying to make it onto the premier series, the qualifying events were extremely difficult to get into. So the weekend he found himself in the draw in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada, and Hidalgo, Texas, he was going to move mountains to compete in both.

“Now, Canada and Texas aren’t very close together, in case you didn’t know,” Lostroh joked. “So I planned my trip, spent every dollar I had to my name to get to these events, but I didn’t have enough money to fly my way home. I just had the money to get there. And I was certain I’d win enough money to figure out the exit later.”

Lostroh drove to Medicine Hat with some friends to compete on Friday, where he rode his long-round bull but got bucked off in the short round.

“I mean, get wiped out,” Lostroh said. “Head stomped, swelled up like a watermelon. Pretty rough shape. Didn’t win no money there.”

The following day, he and his watermelon head get on a plane to San Antonio, Texas, where he then boards a Greyhound bus bound for Hidalgo, on the Mexican border.

“Since I was too young to rent a car, that was my only option and the only thing I could afford,” he said. “I remember this very vividly. The bus was packed, I’m desperate for sleep, and the only thing I could think of is Nyquil. So I downed a bottle of Nyquil to try to get some sleep, pass out on this bus. That doesn’t work.”

Lostroh arrived in Hidalgo just in time for the event, where he again rode his long-round bull but bucked off in the short round.

“So now my weekend is done,” Lostroh said. “I’ve spent all my money, won nothing, and have nothing to show for it except for a concussion and a migraine that won’t go away, plus I’m on the border of Mexico with no way to get home. Fortunately, I ended up catching a ride with some guys that were headed north and got home eventually.

“But that trip taught me an important lesson that I’ll never forget. It taught me that in bull riding, in sports and life, there are times you’ve got to go 100%, all in, with no backup plan. In your mind, success is the only option, but in real life, failure can still happen. But either way, we learn that failure is not the end of the world. It teaches us how to succeed, how to push past our limits, and how to be part of the elite group that won’t accept mediocrity. And I’m thankful for those lessons learned riding bulls.”

Lostroh has spent the years following his career giving back to the sport and the next generation of bull riders. He’s poured countless hours into Western Sports Foundation events and is now the assistant coach of the Oklahoma Freedom in the PBR Camping World Team Series.

With his new ring, the hardest-working, most selfless PBR World Champion joins his heroes in bull riding immortality.

“Nearly every man on the Ring of Honor list has impacted my career and my life in some way, and I’m honored to join this group, this elite brotherhood,” Lostroh said. “I’ll continue to do my part to represent the PBR and the sport of bull riding with the same professionalism, authenticity, and dedication to greatness that I see in all the others who have come before me to make a positive impact on the sport and a positive impact on the world. Thank you all so much for this day and for being here. It means more to me than you’ll ever know.”

Photo courtesy of Andy Watson/Bull Stock Media