Minot – Max cowboy Ben Kramer is having the best year of his life.
The bareback rider enters this weekend’s Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo in Minot in first place in his event, and is ranked 34th in the PRCA world standings.
He’s won first place at rodeos in the Badlands Circuit, like Clear Lake, Brookings and Watertown, S.D., and at nation-wide rodeos, he’s ridden well enough to win good money at Ft. Worth, San Antonio, and Cheyenne (Wyo.) Frontier Days.
Kramer is about $3,000 ahead of the number two man, Shane O’Connell, Rapid City.
The cowboy, who grew up in Denbigh, N.D., is from a long line of rodeo competitors. His granddad, Jack Kramer, and his dad, Shawn, also rode barebacks; Shawn qualified for the Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo three times in the 1990s. His mom, Melissa, competed in the barrel racing and goat tying in high school and Rough Rider Rodeo. His uncles, Reed Kramer, Kurt Kramer, Jeff Kramer, and Scott Dockter all rode either bareback horses or saddle bronc horses.
And his three older brothers were all competitors or are still involved: Payton, who rodeoed in high school, Jack, who is a pickup man at regional rodeos, and Parker, a saddle bronc rider.
In high school, Ben competed in the N.D. High School Association and Little Britches Rodeo, as well as the regional associations: Rough Riders Rodeo, the N.D. Rodeo Association.
Now 22 years old, Kramer is sticking with PRCA rodeo only this year, focusing on a top forty year-end finish at the national level. A top-forty finish will allow him to compete at the big winter rodeos like San Antonio and Ft. Worth, which pay well and are in warmer climates when it’s cold in North Dakota.
Kramer works for a heating and air conditioning company when he’s not rodeoing, and his boss is flexible with his rodeo schedule. “I’ll map out a few weeks ahead, what rodeos I’m going to, so he has notice,” he said, of his travel schedule. “My boss is pretty flexible about letting me work when I’m home and letting me rodeo when I need to go.”
Kramer suffered a separated AC joint this summer, during the first round of the Calgary (Alb.) Stampede. The joint runs from the neck to the tip of the shoulder, which was “pretty painful,” he said. He taped the injury and rode two more horses while at Calgary, which hurt, but “after the whistle, was even more painful,” as he worked his hand out of the bareback rigging.
He's done some physical therapy for it, and the injury is nearly healed.
He loves the camaraderie between cowboys and fellow competitors.
“We’re all riding for first place, but when your buddies ride, you’re standing on the back of the chutes and rooting for them,” he said. “You want the next guy to win just as much as you want to win.”
This is Kramer’s fourth qualification to the Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo, where the best twelve cowboys and cowgirls after the regular season of rodeo in the Badlands, pro rodeos in North Dakota and South Dakota, qualify to compete.
The rodeo takes place at 7 pm on Oct. 13-14 and at 1 pm on Oct. 15 at the North Dakota State Fair Center.
Tickets are $25 for adult general admission and $10 for kids ages 3-10. Gold buckle seats, the five rows closest to the arena floor, are $35 for all ages. The October 15 performance is Family Day with all general admission tickets at $10.
Tickets are available online at RodeoMinot.com and at North Country Mercantile in Minot (2000 20th Avenue SE).
For more information, visit the website at RodeoMinot.com or Facebook and Instagram (search for Badlands Circuit Finals Rodeo.)
