Colorado's Lostroh relying on arm brace to maintain lead

PUEBLO, Colo. - Kody Lostroh has notified the PBR that he will compete this weekend at the Genuity Invitational in Des Moines, Iowa.

The current points leader in the world standings will don a brace in order to stabilize his injured left riding elbow. This new development follows a week’s worth of concerns that led to a failed attempt at switching riding hands.

Lostroh expects to receive the brace first thing Wednesday morning, at which point he will once again visit with Dr. Yem at The Orthopedic Center of the Rockies.

The brace, which Lostroh is purchasing from Don Joy, Inc., will keep him from fully extending his left arm, and the metal rods on either side will prevent his elbow from moving side to side.

According their Web site, Don Joy is the “leading global provider of high-quality, orthopedic devices, with a broad range of products used for rehabilitation, pain management and physical therapy.” Lostroh also said the company has a history of helping western sports athletes.

“I’m more excited about this than I was riding right-handed,” admitted Lostroh. “There will obviously be some pain, but it’ll be a lot better as far as actually being able to be competitive.

“The arm doesn’t really bother me that much as long as I don’t lift anything heavy. It’s just a dull ache most of the time.”

Although he hasn’t spoken with PBR orthopedic surgeon Dr. Tandy Freeman, the fourth-year veteran of the Built Ford Tough Series said he expects he’ll visit the sports medicine room for treatment – ice and an electric stimulant – following each of his rides for the next two weeks.

“I’m just excited to get on again,” Lostroh said, “Shoot, just sitting out a week felt like a year.”

Lostroh, who broke his nose in Round 1 of the Bass Pro Shops Shootout when he was struck in the face by a bull horn, also hyper-extended his arm, which in turn tore a tendon on the outside portion of the elbow. Another older injury was also discovered last week after Dr. Yem examined the results of an MRI.

A sense of urgency to compete was further motivated by the fact that this past weekend, both Guilherme Marchi and J.B. Mauney made substantial gains on Lostroh’s quickly diminishing lead in the world standings.

Lostroh spoke with Josh Koschel at the conclusion of all three days of the U.S. Air Force Invitational just “to see how he did, and then I (saw) on TV how (those) other guys did.”

Marchi’s second-place finish got him to within 386 points of Lostroh. Mauney finished in third and is now just 1,076.25 points off the lead.

Looking strictly at the past five BFTS events, Marchi has made all five championship rounds and finished in the Top 10 four of those times. In fact, going back one more event he has three second-place finishes.

In that same timeframe, Mauney, who admitted he was struggling until he came to Omaha, has three Top 10 finishes, including a second and third-place finish the past two weeks to reestablish himself as true contender for a world title.

Until he was injured, Lostroh had been the most consistent rider on the BFTS.

His 69-percent riding average is more than five percent better than Guilherme Marchi. Six other riders are within 3,000 points of his lead. Lostroh has three event wins in 2009 – Nampa, Anaheim and Fresno – to complement his eleven Top-10 finishes in 19 events.

“The right hand was a good thought,” he explained, “but it just wasn’t quite realistic.

“I just need to get set up on that brace and I already told Jay [Daugherty, vice president of events] I’m coming, so we’re good to go.”