McFarland goes back on the injured list with broken femur
Courtesy PRCA

 
Bareback rider Tom McFarland, who missed the second half of the 2009 season with a devastating arm injury, is back on the sidelines after suffering a broken right femur March 10 at RodeoHouston.

McFarland, 26, was stepped on by a horse – it is unclear whether it was the bronc he was riding or a pickup man’s horse – after completing a third-place ride on the final night of Super Series III that would have assured him a spot in the semifinals.

He underwent surgery in Houston on March 11, during which doctors inserted pins just above the knee, and is expected to miss three months of competition.

“The doctor told us that if the break had been a half-inch higher, he probably would have had to sit out the rest of the year,” said McFarland’s wife, Ashley.

McFarland, a four-time Wrangler NFR qualifier, had his right arm broken in more than 25 places last June in Pecos, Texas, when his bareback mount reared up in the chutes and then fell on him.

Aided by funding from the Justin Cowboy Crisis Fund and benefits put on by his many friends in the rodeo community, McFarland, 26, got through the enforced hiatus and rehabbed so well that he was second to Kaycee Feild in the world standings with $22,157 at the time of his latest injury.

Bull rider R.C. Landingham of Pendleton, Ore., suffered broken ribs, a fractured scapula, a collapsed lung and a lacerated liver March 5 at RodeoHouston. He also is expected to miss three months.

Idaho bull rider Marcus Michaelis, second in the world standings, suffered a dislocated left thumb at RodeoHouston last week and was to have X-rays taken today to determine the extent of the injury.

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