PUEBLO, Colo. – When Kody Lostroh saw that he had an incoming call from PBR Commissioner and CEO Sean Gleason, he groaned inwardly.

The assistant coach of the Oklahoma Freedom thought, “Crap, who screwed up now?”

“I thought we had problems in the PBR Teams with maybe some of my guys, and that’s what the call was about,” Lostroh said. “I was thinking, ‘What fire do I have to put out?’”

But Gleason wasn’t calling about a problem. He was calling to inform Lostroh that he was to be inducted into the PBR Ring of Honor at the 2023 Heroes and Legends celebration on Sept. 9.

“I really didn’t know what to say. I think I maybe even said, ‘Holy crap, are you serious?’” Lostroh said with a laugh. “I just was super shocked because that was totally off the radar for what I was thinking we were about to talk about. But as far as emotions, I’m super happy, super humbled and grateful.”

The 2009 PBR World Champion qualified for the PBR World Finals 10 times, won 10 premier series events and notched 313 rides on the premier series. But he says that the PBR Ring of Honor was never something he expected to happen to him.

RELATED: PBR announces 2023 class of Heroes and Legends inductees to be honored Sept. 9 at National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City

“Being inducted into the Ring of Honor – honestly, I don’t know if I really have words that express what it means to me,” Lostroh said. “All our careers, all us bull riders are trying to win something, and this isn’t one of those things. This isn’t something anybody sets out to win. This is just an honor that you may or may not ever receive. Nobody expects it, and nobody tries to win it, and to be part of that group now that’s received it is super humbling for me because my heroes are in that group as well. So it’s pretty cool to be part of that group of guys.

“You just look at guys that have come before you, and you see the great things they’ve done – I don’t consider myself to have done anything great. I just tried to do my best. Never thought of myself being included.”

Lostroh got into bull riding at 7 or 8 years old. He had an old tape of Cheyenne Frontier Days and was fascinated with bull riding, so he watched it repeatedly until his mother decided it’d be fun for him to ride a steer at the county fair.

He was immediately hooked and never stopped, though he says he was really bad for a long time. He eventually went to some schools and figured out how to do it, but there were two keys to his improvement to a World Champion.

“I went for years without being able to stay on nothing, and I actually switched riding hands and saw immediate success. I rode my first one when I switched hands, and I hadn’t rode any to that point, so that was a big turning point,” Lostroh said. “But then, really, just hard work. I wasn’t ever the most talented guy, but I was stubborn, and I wasn’t ever going to give up because I didn’t have the talent. I always figured I could work my way into it. And that’s exactly what happened. Just being stubborn.”

That stubbornness paid off to the tune of $1 million in 2009, when he won his world title, beating the likes of future two-time World Champion J.B. Mauney, who finished No. 2, and 2008 World Champion Guilherme Marchi, who was No. 3.

Despite the result, it was a challenging year for Lostroh, who had torn up his elbow midway through the season.

“The doctors said that I shouldn’t ride anymore, that I needed to get it fixed and everything,” Lostroh said. “And I didn’t want to quit that easy. I felt like I could fight my way through it and hopefully make it work. So that’s actually what ended up happening. A challenge that could’ve ended my season that year ended up just being an obstacle to overcome, and to win a world title in that same season was pretty special to me, honestly.

“The memories of battling it out with J.B., Guilherme, and all these awesome bull riders is what matters to me, and it’s what I remember more so than the buckle or the money or anything like that. Those experiences, you value them more when you don’t get to do it anymore. I didn’t beat Guilherme and J.B. a whole lot of times, but it was sure fun to kick their asses for a year at least,” he added with a laugh.

Looking back on his career, that’s a recurring theme. Lostroh says the journey is what he appreciates the most and recalls his last PBR World Finals in 2014 as a particular highlight.

“All the challenges, getting up and riding through them when you didn’t really know if you were strong enough or tough enough to get through it and ride through it – those moments stick out to me the most,” he said. “I’d been hurt all year and made the Finals, and I broke my leg at the final event right before the World Finals. And I could’ve sat out. I wasn’t in the running for a world title or anything, but I wanted to see if I could push through it. And I was able to ride at the Finals and make some really good rides and win money and do really well. And I guess just pushing through that when you don’t know if you can physically stand the pain, and somehow, you figure out a way to get through that challenge – those moments stick out a lot to me.”

Lostroh’s most significant challenge came in early 2015 when he suddenly had a complete breakdown in his balance, eyesight, and speech. He could no longer ride a horse, let alone a bucking bull, and spent two years trying to get answers as to what was wrong. After ruling out a stroke and concussion symptoms, doctors discovered he had a tumor wrapped around the carotid artery in his neck, pressing on nerves and choking blood flow to his brain.

When the tumor was removed, he was again able to live a normal life, but his eyes could no longer track quick movements, making bull riding at the highest level extremely difficult, and he officially retired in 2018.

“I was fortunate enough to have a long career and stay healthy enough to do what I did,” Lostroh said. “I didn’t ever picture my career ending like that. It’s not the way I wanted to do it, but life throws you curveballs, and you’ve got to deal with them.”

Lostroh says his health scare gave him a new perspective on life and allows him to be grateful for what he has every day.

“We take for granted the things we have all the time. ‘You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone’ is a pretty true statement,” he said. “I didn’t know if I was ever going to feel normal again. So, to be normal again and be able to do all the things I enjoy doing and live a normal life again – it made me realize that in the grand scheme of things, all the little problems and challenges you have, they seem like such a big obstacle at the time, but things can change in an instant, and they can always be way worse, and there’s always somebody out there that’s dealing with more than you are and has overcome more than you have. So that gives perspective. I try to look at it like, whatever challenge I’m facing, whether it’s that health issue or any other issue in life, there’s somebody there that’s been there, done that, and pushed through it. And if they can do it, we can, too.”

Nowadays, Lostroh is passing this perspective and the rest of his bull riding knowledge on to the next generation of bull riders on the Freedom. The squad is ranked No. 3 in the standings at the midway point of the season with an 8-5 record, and Lostroh likes the team chemistry he’s seen thus far.

The Heroes and Legends ceremony takes place at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City during the Freedom’s homestand, Freedom Fest, so Lostroh will receive the sport’s highest honor on home turf.

“You know, I think that’s pretty darn cool,” Lostroh said. “I don’t know if they planned it that way or if that’s just how it worked out, but being able to be part of the Oklahoma Freedom, having our event in Oklahoma City at the brand new opening of the PBR Hall of Fame in the National Cowboy Museum there, and to be inducted at the same time, it’s a really cool chain of events that I’ll never forget, I promise you that.”

Photo courtesy of Josh Homer/Bull Stock Media