Eddy Akridge

Bareback Riding • Inducted 1979

Courage and determination helped earn Eddy Akridge his fourth world bareback riding championship. The cowboy, born Jan. 8, 1929, in Pampa, Texas, had rolled to three consecutive world titles in the early 1950s before suffering a potentially career-ending knee injury. Ignoring his doctors’ advice to quit rodeo, he went on to have his best season ever. Akridge later reinjured his knee and was forced to retire. At the same time, he gave up his seat as bareback riding director on the PRCA Board of Directors. He wore a heavy brace for two years. But in 1959, Akridge decided to pursue a fourth world title. He retired the brace, endured the pain, and in 1961 captured his fourth world title.

World Championships: 4

Bareback Riding: 1953, 1954, 1955, 1961

Born: January 8, 1929 in Pampa, Texas
Died: July 25, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada

California Rodeo Salinas / Salinas, CA
Bareback Riding: 1956, 1957 (tie), 1961

Cheyenne Frontier Days / Cheyenne, WY
Bareback Riding: 1955, 1957 (tie)

Clovis Rodeo / Clovis, CA
Bareback Riding: 1956, 1959 (tie), 1964
Saddle Bronc Riding: 1954

Ellensburg Rodeo / Ellensburg, WA
All-Around: 1956
Bareback Riding: 1951, 1953, 1956
Saddle Bronc Riding: 1956

Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo / Fort Worth, TX
Bareback Riding: 1950, 1961

Guymon Pioneer Days Rodeo / Guymon, OK
Bareback Riding: 1954

La Fiesta de los Vaqueros Rodeo / Tucson, AZ
Bareback Riding: 1948

Ogden Pioneer Days Rodeo / Ogden, UT
All-Around: 1957
Bareback Riding: 1957
Saddle Bronc Riding: 1957 (tie)

Pendleton Round-Up / Pendleton, OR
All-Around: 1953
Bareback Riding: 1953

Red Bluff Round-Up / Red Bluff, CA
Bareback Riding: 1954
Saddle Bronc Riding: 1952

Redding Rodeo / Redding, CA
Bareback Riding: 1955 (tie)

Reno Rodeo / Reno, NV
Bareback Riding: 1960 (tie), 1962

Rowell Ranch Rodeo / Hayward, CA
Barebacking Riding: 1951, 1958

San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo / San Antonio, TX
Bareback Riding: 1952