Ben was born February of 1969 on a military base in White Sands, New Mexico. His father was an army veteran who served in Vietnam, and his mother is a retired Ogden City dispatcher. Ben grew up in Roy, Utah where he graduated from Roy High School in 1987. In 1989 he married his high school sweetheart, Jennifer and together they have three children, Jordan, Ashton, and Wyatt. They have been married for 33 years and currently live in West Haven.
As owner of the Broken Heart Rodeo Company Ben produces over 100 rodeo performances annually for RMPRA, UHSRA, NIRA, and numerous open rodeos. He has won countless awards for his outstanding bucking stock, some of which have made appearances at the National Finals Rodeo.
In a partnership with Weber County, Ben produces the Intermountain Icebreaker and Kickin’ Corona rodeos. The Ice breaker is in its 11th year and hosts over 1,000 contestants from 17 different states and Canada. Kickin’ Corona held in 2020 was one of the few rodeos that provided an opportunity for junior high and high school competitors an opportunity to compete. Ben understands that the future of rodeo lies solely with our youth and does what he can to support them.
During his time as a USHRA Board Member, the balance of the general fund went from 10k to over 150k. In addition, with Ben’s oversight the scholarship account had ~ 250k to award rodeo athletes upon his departure.
Above all else, Ben is a family man. His children and grandchildren are the love of his life—his pride and joy. Each of them help produce Broken Heart Rodeos in some way or another.
When you become friends with Ben, you are friends for life. He is blessed to have countless life-long friends, many of which are from his involvement in rodeo.
Ben has a tremendous love for the outdoors. Fishing and hunting are his favorite things to do when he gets time out of his busy schedule.
“Ben has been such a huge part of the success of many Utah cowboys and cowgirls, including my family! The impact he has made in our state and with our youth and keeping the sport of rodeo alive and prosperous is second to none. Utah is known for having some of the most talented rodeo athletes in the nation and if you look into it, Ben has been a huge part of all of them”.
– Cody Wright, World Champion Cowboy
“I know Ben to be a man of exceptional integrity and a man of his word. I have witnessed his large heart in action as he secretly paid for entry fees, has given away free tickets to his events and has gone out of his way to help the underprivileged. I have seen him fight to keep our western heritage alive and stand up for what is right and fair, even if it’s unpopular”.
– Wendy Dahl, Rodeo Secretary