Cash Myers, absent from the rodeo arena for most of 2004 with a back injury, is pumped up about his prospects for 2005.
"It's been one step at a time, one piece of the puzzle," said Myers, who turns 25 in March and is regarded as one of the elite timed-event cowboys in the world. "I'm ready emotionally and physically. The time off was great and I really think it's lit a fire under me."
The five-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier's 2004 campaign came to a screeching halt last spring when he suffered a stress fracture in his lower back prior to the start of the Wendy Ryon roping in May.
"I took two months off the rest of May and most of June and got ready for the Reno (Nev.) Rodeo," Myers said. "My stress fracture was good, but in 1996 I had a horse roll over on me and had a herniated disc. It hadn't really bothered me over the years, but I think I aggravated it when I injured the other part."
From Reno through the Fourth of July run, Myers became extremely sore. Then at the rodeo in Vernal, Utah, in mid-July, Myers told his new wife, Lacey, that he'd had enough, he was heading home to Athens, Texas, to recuperate.
Eight-time world champion Joe Beaver recommended to Myers that he seek out the services of a retired doctor, who resides in Tucson, Ariz.
That suggestion proved a to be a winner for Myers, who didn't hesitate.
"He worked a ton on me down there," said Myers, whose dad, Butch, and older brother, Rope, own world steer wrestling titles. "He's the one who got me over it in about a month. By then, though, I thought I should just concentrate on getting healthy and ready for next year. It's been a blessing. God really put it on our hearts to do that because I could have went back and made the finals and struggled through it, but being home this year and the way things worked out has been a blessing."
Myers, who touts career earnings of nearly $900,000, rested through late August before heading to some Texas Circuit rodeos in the late summer and fall.
"I didn't practice much," Myers said. "I bought a new calf horse and worked with him. At the time it just felt so detrimental to not go back, but the Lord knew what he was doing by having me go home and getting ready for next year.
"I got to do a lot of deer and duck hunting, stuff I haven't been able to do the last six years."
Myers, an endorsee for Pace, said he didn't miss the traveling, but admits he did miss the boisterous fans and big purses when he attended the electrifying Pace Picante ProRodeo Challenge in Omaha, Neb., in September and the Pace Classic in Dallas in November.
"I'm excited for the new year," he said.
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