Professional rodeo is tough to crack into — there are no manuals, no levels, and unless you’ve got a veteran to show you the ropes, you may experience many learning curves that have nothing to do with competing inside the arena.

Here’s a look at some competitors who defied the rookie odds and are showing they may have what it takes to be champions in the pro rodeo game in FloRodeo's "Promising Futures."

Boudreaux Campbell: Highest Earning PRCA Rookie Of 2017

With a grand total of $144,601.30, Campbell was the highest earning rookie of the 2017 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association season. In just his first year of full-fledged professional competition, the bull rider proved he could hold his own against the big dogs of the sport.

The Texas cowboy had some home-state wins in Wichita Falls and Bandera, along with wins at Cave Creek, Arizona, Casper Wyoming, Othello, Washington, and more en route to his first WNFR qualification.

Campbell showed promise early by grabbing his first WNFR check in the first round, then after having some trouble showed exactly why we think he’s a promising rookie with an 88-point score to split the win in round nine. Those were the only two qualified rides for Campbell at his first WNFR, but you can bet the shiny gold buckle from his round win will be all the motivation the 19-year-old needs to get back there to try for another.

Westyn Hughes: 2017 CINCH Chute-Out Champion

Winning the title of rookie of the year in the PRCA is always a good indication of future greatness, but there are a lot of variables that come in to play in order to be a successful rodeo cowboy. The 2016 PRCA Tie-Down Roping Rookie of the Year Hughes will slowly be learning each of those variables after two full years of professional rodeo competition.

Wins at the Red Bluff Round Up in California, Walla Walla, Washington, the Rooftop Rodeo in Estes Park, Colorado, and several wins in Texas followed up his rookie year and proved his winning ways were not just beginners luck. Hughes completed his second PRCA season in 20th place.

Perhaps his most impressive performance came in December at the Cinch Boyd Gaming Chute-Out when Hughes took fourth place in round one with a 8.54, and then never left the first-place podium with his 7.30, 7.85, 7.60 second runs to win the second, semifinal, and final rounds respectively.

Shade Etbauer: Future All-Around Champion?

What do you do when your dad and uncles have seven world titles and many more WNFR qualifications between them? Well, you become a cowboy.

The name Etbauer became synonymous with the event of saddle bronc riding when brothers Robert, Billy, and Dan dominated the sport in the '90s and early 2000s. Dan qualified for 10 national finals, Robert earned two world titles, and Billy earned five. There was an Etbauer engraved on the world champion buckles for half the saddle bronc riding world titles given away throughout the entire 1990s decade.

Fast forward to the next generation, and big brother Trell is paving his own way in the rodeo world for Shade. Trell already has three Linderman awards to his name for excellence on both ends of the rodeo arena, winning checks in the steer wrestling, tie-down roping, and saddle bronc riding.

So young Shade Etbauer has some big shoes to fill, but he’s already shown great promise as a several time National Little Britches all-around world champion, in his rookie year after winning $41,725.67 to top the saddle bronc riding rookie of the year standings. He’s also shown the inkling for a world all-around title and Linderman award in the future, with $2,486.34 in rookie tie-down roping earnings and skills as a steer wrestler to add to his promising repertoire.

Stetson Wright: International Finals Youth Rodeo All-Around Champion

Another competitor looking for a future filled with All-Around world titles is Stetson Wright of Milford, Utah. With that information you’ve no-doubt put together that he is a part of “The” Wright family, but just in case you’re not completely up to date on the family tree, Stetson is the son of Cody and younger brother to Ryder.

When your dad and big bro are world champions the pressure is on to follow in those footsteps, but it’s not something this youngster seems to shy from. Not only is this Wright excelling in the family trade of Saddle Bronc Riding, but he’s also making a name for himself as a future all-around contender with winning ways in the bull riding.

We saw just what he was capable of at this year’s International Finals Youth Rodeo as Wright took home the Saddle Bronc, Bull Riding and All-Around titles.

Check out the rides that got him the 2017 IFYR titles here:

Bridger Anderson: First-Ever Junior Steer Wrestling World Champion

The field of competitors was tough at the inaugural Ote Berry Junior Steer Wrestling World Championships during the 2017 Junior NFR, and Bridger Anderson was right in the thick of it.

“The more they threw them fast, the faster I wanted to be,” Anderson later said in an interview about anticipating his final run at the Junior NFR.

The young steer wrestler had a wealth of knowledge on his side though, with five-time world champion Luke Branquinho giving him the final piece of advice to “look at your feet” in order to place his feet properly when he sets the steer. The advice worked and his 4.0-second run was enough to secure the title.

Anderson won a semifinal spot in the American for his efforts at the Junior NFR, and later doubled his chances in Rapid City, South Dakota, when he won the American qualifier there with another impressive string of runs.