Source: mynews4.com
Author: Kenzie Bales
Date: June 13th, 2017

RENO, Nev. (News 4 & Fox 11) — As a country phenomenon, Garth Brooks once said, “It’s bulls and blood, it’s dust and mud, it’s the roar of a Sunday crowd. It’s the white in his knuckles, the gold in the buckle, he’ll win the next go ’round. It’s boots and chaps, it’s cowboy hats, it’s spurs and latigo, it’s the ropes and the reins, and the joy and the pain and they call the thing rodeo.”

2017 Reno Rodeo competitor Cody Z Kiser has been riding and roping for as long as he can remember.

Born and raised to Carrie and P.D. Kiser in Carson City, Nevada, Cody started riding bulls as a Dayton High School student.

A horrific injury would set Kiser back, but by no means did it keep him from chasing his dreams.

Kiser says a bull stepped on his face and crushed all the bones in the left side of his face. After recovering, Kiser transitioned from bull riding to bareback bucking horses and hasn’t looked back since.

If traveling to rodeos all the time wasn’t enough to keep someone completely preoccupied, Cody competed while pursuing a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering at the University of Nevada, Reno.

After testing the waters in the engineering field for awhile, Kiser decided it was time to chase his lifelong dream and give rodeo his full attention.

During his endeavors as a cowboy, Cody was fortunate enough to establish a partnership with the Oral Cancer Foundation.

Everyone knows it is terrible for you, yet they still do it.

He says that being tobacco-free is something he advocates for because he understands the huge health risks that come along with it.

I have seen the impact it can have on a human’s health and it is something that I want no part of, and if I can help others from starting it, then I am happy.

Kiser says he is always willing to answer questions pre-existing tobacco users may have, but by no means is he trying to tell people how to live their life.

A big goal of his: to show people that you don’t have to smoke or chew to be a real cowboy or to be successful in the sport you love. Primarily focusing on kids, Kiser hopes to spread the movement to younger generations who haven’t picked up the bad habit yet.

The sport is hard enough on your body, no sense in making in harder on yourself.

Kiser says he strays away from just throwing facts and statistics at people, but rather making a positive, memorable impact and associating with people without the use of tobacco.

After partnering with the OCF three years ago, the cowboy says that he has had nothing but positive feedback and calls himself the “luckiest guy in the world.”

If you are interested in watching Cody Kiser compete in the 2017 Reno Rodeo, you can catch him on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 18 (making his dad, a former bucking horse rider proud) or Monday, June 19.