Riding home: Rodeo family returns for Coulee City Last Stand

COULEE CITY — Shane Proctor, of Grand Coulee, has ridden bulls in professional rodeos across the globe. Of them all, Coulee City PRCA Last Stand Rodeo was one of the most nerve-wracking, he said.

“They always say the hardest rodeo to win is your hometown rodeo, because that’s where all the pressure is,” he said.

His wife, renowned trick rider Haley Proctor, initially from Collinsville, Oklahoma, might even feel more pressure than her husband, she said. She’s got a lot of people to impress.

According to their collective resumes, it couldn’t have been overly difficult.

Haley’s been nominated three times for the PRCA top five dress act of the year, a “huge honor” to even be nominated once, she said. She’s performed in the country’s most acclaimed stadiums, including The American Rodeo at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

Shane won PRCA World Champion bull rider in 2011, the second person in Washington history to do so. He’s a five-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier and nine-time Professional Bull Riders World Finals qualifier. In total, he’s earned around $3 million competing.

“I’ve ridden bulls in Australia, Alaska, Mexico, Canada,” he said. “I’ve been everywhere, done everything, and it’s just fun to get back home.”

Both Shane and Haley grew up in rodeo families, participating for as long as they can remember.

Haley is the daughter of a bull rider and the niece of a trick rider, she said. She started taking notes from her uncle when she was just 4 years old.

“I was watching all the time at my grandparents’,” she said. “I came off the side of my horse and stood up and got in trouble. My mom and dad decided if I was going to do it I needed to learn the proper way to do it and the fundamentals.”

She competed in her first professional rodeo at 6 years old, she said.

Beyond all of their accolades, their proudest moment in rodeo was getting married, Haley said. The two met early on, running in the same circles, she said. When they ended up traveling to five rodeos in a row, they became really close friends and it bloomed from there.

“You have to have familiar faces when you’re on the road,” she said. “We’re friends with so many people, but he’s my best friend.”

Shane and Haley married in 2019 and the following year had their daughter, Coulee. Haley was blown away by the area’s beauty, she said. No other names were really on the table.

“She has three towns named after her,” Shane said. “That’s how popular she is.”

At just 6 months old, Coulee has already traveled to 16 states and has become accustomed to rodeo life, he said. Their family and their lifestyle, “we owe it all to this sport,” Haley said.

Haley came out standing on her horse during the national anthem at the start of the May 29 rodeo, sparks flying from her American flag. At her show, she stood on two horses as they jumped through a ring of fire.

While Shane didn’t place bull riding, he placed third on saddle bronc riding the next day. As he said, hometown’s the hardest. He hadn’t competed at Coulee City’s stadium since just after high school.

The second rodeo weekend in Washington in almost two years, the two are thrilled to simply be on the road again, Haley said.

Now that they live in Texas, spending that time with family is number one over competing, said Shane.

“I always claimed Washington as my home state no matter where I lived at that time because I had a lot of pride in where I grew up and what I’ve been able to accomplish and the people that have helped me get to where I am,” he said. “That’s what makes you, is your upbringing and they instill the beliefs that you follow.”

It was a memorable weekend, Haley said.

“They made it special for us to be here,” she said. “It has made the performances all that more special. I get to show off a little bit more and smile a little bigger while I’m out there.”

Sam Fletcher can be reached via email at sfletcher@columbiabasinherald.com.