Cody Snyder (born March 28, 1963) is a Canadian former professional rodeo cowboy who specialized in bull riding and is a current bull riding event producer. In 1983, Snyder became the first Canadian to win the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) bull riding world championship at the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). He holds the highest-scored ride in Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) history, scoring 95 points in 1983. He is an inductee of the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame, Professional Bull Riders (PBR) Ring of Honor, Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and most recently the Bull Riding Hall of Fame. Since his retirement in 1993, Snyder has produced over 400 bull riding events across North America under his company Bullbustin' Inc. He has also appeared as a color commentator for rodeo events on ESPN, OLN, Sportsnet, TSN, and CBC.

Early life

Cody Snyder was born on March 28, 1963, in Redcliff, Alberta. At five years old, he rode a calf in a local rodeo competition and has been involved in the sport ever since. He began riding junior steers when he was eight years old, rode his first bull at the age of 12, and at 15 earned the Canadian Amateur bull riding title. One year later at the age of 16, he won the Canadian Cowboys Association bull riding championship and obtained his official competitor cards to compete as a member of the Rodeo Cowboys Association (RCA) and the Canadian  Rodeo Cowboys Association (CRCA). Both organizations would be renamed as the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) in 1975, and the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) in 1980.

Career

In 1982, when he was 19 years old, Snyder led the CPRA national bull riding standings and finished in 19th place in the PRCA bull riding world standings. Intending to build on his CPRA success the prior year, Snyder began the 1983 season with his sights set on making the National Finals Rodeo (NFR). Ranked second in the world in during that season, Cody was invited to the Presidential Command Performance Rodeo in Landover, Maryland. Concluding the performance, he was invited to the White House in Washington, DC, where he met the 40th President of the United States, Ronald Reagan.

Snyder not only achieved his goal of qualifying for the 1983 NFR in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, but he ended up winning the  PRCA bull riding world championship. That same year, Snyder made history by scoring the highest-scored bull ride in CPRA history. The historic 95-point ride on Northcott's #96 Confusion at the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) in Edmonton, Alberta, still stands to this day.

At the start of the 1985 rodeo season, Snyder was drafted by Wrangler to ride for the Willie Nelson Wranglers Team for the PRCA Winston Pro Tour. The tour consisted of top-tier professional rodeo contestants who were divided into 18 individually sponsored teams. The Willie Nelson Wranglers debuted in Austin, Texas,  at the Coors Challenge on September 5, 1985.

In 1986, Snyder won the CPRA bull riding championship to conclude another successful rodeo season. In 1987, he sustained a severe wrist injury, breaking his scaphoid bone at the CFR. The injury went undetected for the next five years, and in February 1992, Dr. J. Pat Evans diagnosed what would be Snyder's career-ending injury. After requiring three screws and a partial wrist fusion, Snyder took the rest of the 1992 rodeo season off to recover from surgery.

Snyder returned after his year long hiatus and started the 1993 season off at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colorado, competing post-wrist surgery. After dislocating his shoulder in February at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, Snyder officially announced his retirement.

Snyder ended his career with four National Finals Rodeo qualifications in 1983, 1984, 1986, and 1987, and held the record at the time for the most Canadian Finals Rodeo qualifications for a bull rider with nine.

Retirement

In May 1993, just three months after his retirement, Snyder alongside his wife Rhonda co-founded Bullbustin' Inc., a professional bull riding production company. Together they produced the first standalone bull riding event in Canada at the Stampede Corral in Calgary, Alberta. Bullbustin' Inc. was also the first production company to incorporate pyrotechnics into their bull riding events, a feature that is widespread across rodeo today.

Bullbustin' Inc. has produced over 400 events across North America since 1993. This includes over 250 Professional Bull Riders (PBR) sanctioned events, the first ever Canadian PBR event in 1993, the PBR Bud Light Cup Series events that were held in Canada, and the first ever PBR Canadian National Finals at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary in 2006. They have also produced over 30 events for the PRCA Xtreme Bulls tour, including the largest one-day bull riding event in history at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, in 2003, with over 70,000 people in attendance.

Bullbustin' Inc. also produces various charity and private events that have been televised on TSN, Versus, NBC, CBS, and Fox. Most notably, the Cody Snyder Charity Bullbustin' held in Calgary, Alberta, has raised over $3 million for local charities and has been a landmark event in the city since 1999.

Snyder has been seen as a rodeo color commentator on OLN, ESPN, TSN, Sportsnet and CBC covering rodeo and bull riding events across the world. Snyder was chosen as a color commentator for the exclusive 11-event PRCA ProRodeo Winter Tour featured on OLN in 2003 and 2004, and was the voice of the Calgary Stampede from 1997 to 2020.

Snyder was also selected as the team Canada coach for the PBR World Cup Series in 2007 (Gold Coast, Australia), 2008 (Chihuahua, Mexico), 2009 (Barretos, Brazil), and 2010 (Las Vegas, United States).

Snyder now resides on a ranch west of Okotoks, Alberta, with his wife Rhonda and two daughters, Jordyn and Reese.

Honours and awards

1983 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association World Champion bull rider
1986 Canadian Professional Rodeo Association bull riding champion
1994 Awarded Cowboy of the Year
2002 Alberta Sports Hall of Fame inductee
2005 Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame inductee
2006 Professional Bull Riders Ring of Honor inductee
2023 Bull Riding Hall of Fame inductee

References

External links
Cody Snyder's Bullbustin'

1963 births
Cowboys
Living people
Rodeo announcers
Sportspeople from Calgary
Sportspeople from Alberta
Bull riders
Alberta Sports Hall of Fame inductees
Professional Bull Riders: Heroes and Legends
Bull Riding Hall of Fame inductees