After a decade of injuries and being thrown from the back of hundreds of bulls, the ‘world’s oldest cowboy’ has made a triumphant return to the show ring.
Clayton Savage, 37, started competing in rodeos two decades ago, rising rapidly through the circuit to reach the National Finals Rodeo in 2009, 2011 and 2012.
But sixty notable injuries and an epilepsy diagnosis knocked him out of the game for a decade, with him only returning to the circuit in a big way in 2021 as the oldest bull rider in the top 50.
Savage told Cowboy State Daily: ‘I just love it. There’s just no better feeling than entering a rodeo and showing up just wanting to stay on.’
The father-of-three’s inspiring journey was captured in a new documentary, ‘Savage, the Relentless Pursuit of a Dream’.
Clayton Savage, 37, started competing at rodeos two decades ago
But sixty notable injuries and an epilepsy diagnosis knocked him out of the game for a decade
Filmmaker Morgan Law went to school with Savage and was inspired to make a documentary about his journey when she bumped into him at a rodeo.
Law worked in construction and had never made a film before, but she sold her house to finance the project and googled ‘how to make a film’.
She roped Savage into the project and started following him on the road for 14 months.
She told Cowboy State Daily: ‘Traveling in his van with him, you really get to see what it’s like trying to cover up all the injuries and then drive 12 hours through the night to do it again.
‘There’s no offseason, it’s 12 months at a time. His wife and three little girls are back home, and he’s on the road trying to provide for his family.
‘So, it was exciting and exhausting and really trying at times.’
He only returned to the circuit in a big way in 2021 as the oldest bull rider in the top 50
Savage hopes his journey will be seen by future bull riders so they understand what they’re getting into. He is pictured in the ring in 2013
When Savage watched the documentary, he said: ‘I’ve had different emotions every time I’ve seen it.
‘The first time it’s kind of sad, and then the second time it was really an adrenaline rush pumping me up. The last time I saw it, it was just kind of like, “I’ve already seen it”.’
Savage hopes his journey will be seen by future bull riders so they understand what they’re getting into.
Documentary maker Law said: ‘There’s no offseason, it’s 12 months at a time. His wife and three little girls are back home, and he’s on the road trying to provide for his family’
Having made his triumphant return to the top 50 in 2021, Savage is weighing up his next steps
He said: ‘I definitely don’t plan on traveling hard or trying to make the finals again’
‘I want them to know how tough of a sport it is and how hard it is just riding and being away from your family.
‘It’s not really what TV makes it all look like it’s going to be.’
Having made his triumphant return to the top 50 in 2021, Savage is weighing up his next steps.
He said: ‘I definitely don’t plan on traveling hard or trying to make the finals again.
‘It’s been tough leaving my family all year long. I’ve got a 10-year-old, 8-year-old and almost 4-year-old, and I’m just getting to the point where I’m tired of missing all their sporting events and activities and want to sleep in my own bed.
‘But I’ve got some smaller goals I’d like to accomplish. I still want to win the circuit finals and have a good riding percentage.’