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Former champ Will Lowe sidelinedafter riding Virgil

Will Lowe, a three-time PRCA world champion bareback rider and a 15-time Wrangler National Finals Rodeo qualifier, will be sidelined for a month after suffering facial fractures and a facial laceration following his 77-point ride on C5 Rodeo’s Virgil during the short round at the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver, Jan. 26.

“I rode him, and when I double-grabbed, I was there for about a jump and he cranked to the left pretty hard and clicked my heels behind and I got my feet behind me,” said Lowe, who won world titles in 2003, 2005 and 2006. “So I just dove off into my hand so I wouldn’t get bucked off and my hand hung just long enough there to put me by his rear-end and his back foot kicked my face off and pulled my hand out of my rigging for me.”

Lowe was kicked in the right side of the face. He had surgery Jan. 27 to repair the orbital bone in his right eye. He also broke his nose and received more than 20 stitches where Virgil’s hoof split open Lowe’s lip and sliced into his cheek.



“I can see and everything is good there, and I got my stitches out (Feb. 3),” said Lowe, 37. “I had to turn out of Fort Worth and San Antonio, but I should be ready to go for The American qualifiers at the end of February.”

–PRCA