The Austin Gamblers shocked the audience with an unusual addition to their roster at the 2022 PBR Team’s season. Five-year-old Hayze Louis transitioned from the locker room to riding bulls, becoming an instant sensation on the internet. Little Hayze would tag along daily with his father, Dakota Louis, in his tiny Gamblers jersey. The father and son have a strong bond that the viewers of the series “The Ride” love.

Dakota has raised Hayze alone for most of the young kid’s life. In episode five of the series, the single father goes into detail about the challenges he faced as a young parent and also how he managed to overcome them.

The Struggles of Dakota Louis

In episode 5 of the popular Amazon series, Dakota talks about how he had to balance his responsibilities as a father and his bull riding career. It was very difficult for him to leave Hayze alone at home while he went riding. Dakota had separated from Hayze’s mother when the kid was very young. He then had to decide if he really wanted to have this career. He stated, “I separated from his mom, and I definitely had to provide. Being a single father at a young age and having a career as a bull rider, it was hard because I had to leave and go to bull riding. I was really having to sit down and see, ‘Is this really what I want to do?’”

He finally made the decision to follow his passion for bull riding, which he inherited from his father. Dakota said to PBR, “Rodeo, the sport, is something that our family has loved to do for generations”. Dakota is the fifth-generation cowboy from his family, and it looks like Hayze will carry on with the family tradition. Little Hayze is growing into a fine young man like his father did on a ranch in Browning, Montana.

Dakota credits his time on the ranch as the foundation for his love of nature and animals. He said, “Growing up with animals, horses and cows,…It was definitely a blessing to be born and raised on a ranch where you have things that you have to take care of. Makes you who you are.” He hopes these experiences on the farm will rub off on his own child.

A Long Family Tradition To Continue

Dakota’s dad had won the Indian National Finals Rodeo back into his day. In 2022, he was also rewarded with the Billing event winner’s buckle. Just like young Hayze now, Dakota, too, used to accompany his grandmother to the PBR premier series events in his town. As a child, he used to imagine himself as the PBR champion. He worked hard towards that dream and finally achieved it.

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Now Dakota is a free agent and uses every opportunity to teach Hayze how to use a failure as an opportunity. Dakota also thinks it would be wrong to earmark a bull riding career for Hayze. He said, “He could be an astronaut or a professional soccer player.” Dakota has truly provided a good life for his son and is also a worthy role model for the kid.

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