Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Sweet Home residents could take some pride during Saturday night’s Sweet Home Rodeo performance.
They had one of their own among the bull riders. Leif Erickson, 16, showed up at Sweet Home Rodeo for a wild ride that left him excited, if not a winner that night.
Erickson, the son of Donna and Eric Erickson, was 10 when he started riding bulls, he said. “My cousin (Robert Haverly) called me up one day and said, ‘Do you want to ride?'”
Erickson said he thought Haverly was just joking around, but he joined his cousin and started riding junior bulls at Redmond.
Erickson has been around horses and cattle most of his life, growing up on ranches in Lakeview. He has lived in Sweet Home for three years.
He will be a junior at Sweet Home High School next school year. During the school year, he wrestles and plays football and baseball.
Erickson said he rides in probably 100 rodeos a year.
“I did it because I heard it was a rush, and no one else in my town had even tried it. I wanted to be the one kid crazy enough to try it. After that, it’s been an adrenaline rush.”
He enjoyed getting the chance to ride at home Saturday, he said.
“It was a blast hearing the crowd yelling. It got my heart pumping.”
He didn’t win or finish his ride, but he had a good time. He said he wanted to thank Sweet Home for supporting him Saturday night.
On the first jump, he came off Night Light, a big black bull with flat horns. Erickson’s feet were “lit