With the 2023 rodeo season almost here, the CPRA welcomes new partners and celebrates the return of others.
Buckle Vodka comes on board as the Official Vodka of the CPRA and has some exciting plans for working with the association and with our member committees as well. And Peavey Mart, a 100 per cent Canadian and employee-owned farm and ranch retailer that dates back to 1967, joins the CPRA as the presentation sponsor of our rodeo schedule for the upcoming season. We welcome these organizations into our CPRA family and invite our members to support all of our sponsors whenever possible. We are excited as well to announce the return of Wrangler as the official sponsor of our judging program. Wrangler’s long association with rodeo in Canada and the United States is well-known, and it’s great to have them working alongside us once again.
As we head into the second year of our partnership with SMS Equipment, we are especially pleased to see the SMS Equipment Pro Rodeo Tour expand to fifteen rodeos for 2023, including the newest addition — the Buffalo Lake Métis Settlement Rodeo. Clearly, our CPRA team is hard at work putting together a strong sponsorship base that will serve our association well in the coming years.
2023 promises to be one of our best seasons ever. Last year we were all the way back from the COVID-shortened schedules of 2020 and 2021, and the best part was the excitement of the crowds. Not only were grandstands and bleachers full at almost every venue, but the energy of our fans told us how much they missed this great sport.
So, let’s go out and enjoy every minute of every rodeo — win or lose, rain or shine.
APRIL
Medicine Hat, AB April 14-16
Dawson Creek, BC April 21-22
Crowsnest Pass, AB April 28-29
Taber, AB April 28-29
MAY
Drayton Valley, AB .................................. May 5-7
Falkland, BC May 20-22
Buffalo Lake Métis Settlement, AB May 27-28
JUNE
Grande Prairie, AB
June 1-4
Leduc, AB June 1-3
Hand Hills, AB June 2-4
Brooks, AB June 9-10
Rocky Mountain House, AB June 9-11
Lea Park, AB ...................... June 9-11
Bonnyville, AB June 10-11
Gleichen, AB **(SB) June 14
Stavely, AB June 15-17
Innisfail, AB June 16-18
Wildwood, AB **(SB) June 17
Wainwright, AB June 23-25
Sundre, AB June 23-25
High River, AB June 23-24
Ponoka, AB June 26-July 2
Williams Lake, BC June 30-July 2
Raymond, AB ............................... June 29-July 1
SMS Equipment Pro Tour Rodeo
** SB=Saddle Bronc
Terry Cooke, President, Canadian Professional Rodeo Association
It was a dominating performance by a Canadian rodeo athlete who knows how to dominate. Dawson Hay, the third-generation bronc riding superstar, put on some kind of show at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, and the result was a share of a championship at one of North America’s oldest (dating back to 1918) and best-loved rodeos.
The Wildwood, Alta, cowboy put up 89.5 and 88.5 scores to lead the way out of his bracket into the semi-finals,
where he posted an 88 to gain a spot in the Final. Hay then went toe-to-toe with Stetson Wright, fresh from a two-title WNFR. Wright put together a stellar 90.5 performance on the back of the Calgary Stampede’s X-55 Xena Warrior. But Hay was not to be outdone as he partnered with another Stampede bronc, T-77 Tokyo Bubbles, for a spectacular 90.5 of his own to share the title with the Utah cowboy. The resulting $21,000+ injection to the Hay bank account vaulted him from 31st
in the World standings all the way to the top half dozen in the world as he vies for another trip to Las Vegas come December.
“That rodeo has always been good to me,” Hay remarked. “I won it the last time I was there and I won the short round the year before that. I always seem to draw really well there, and the atmosphere — I don’t know, I always have a really good feeling going into Fort Worth.”
The 24-year-old got it going right from the outset at Fort Worth.
“In the first round I had an NFR horse called Joker Poker that I’ve won a lot of money on, and that went good. Then I had a stronger kind of horse in the second round — Orange Crush — he’ll let you win, but it won’t be easy. Then it was off to the semifinals, and that went awesome too. In the short round, I looked at the list, and I either wanted Xplosive Skies or Tokyo Bubbles. I’d never been on Tokyo, but I really thought I’d like to try her finally. Then, when I saw the draw and Tokyo Bubbles was next to my name, I thought, ‘shoot, the stars are lining up pretty good here.’”
And 90.5 points later, the stars (and one superstar bronc rider) had their way as the three-time NFR qualifier won his second Fort Worth title.
All this happened just a few weeks after Hay’s memorable 92-point ride on Killer Bee at the NFR. It was the mare’s final trip before heading to retirement, and both the horse and the rider were at their very best in a fitting sendoff for one of the greatest bucking horses of all time.
“We all knew this was going to be Killer Bee’s last rodeo, and a couple of months before the NFR, I said to my wife, Lily, that I was pretty sure I was going to draw Killer Bee in the first elimination round. I’d never had her before, but I just had this feeling. Then when I didn’t — Chase Brooks had her that night — I didn’t think about it much after that. I sure didn’t think I’d have her for that final time. But shoot, I checked the draw and there was my name next to hers. She’s one of those horses you don’t really think about as far as how you’re going to ride her because you just don’t know what to expect. Benny (Killer Bee’s owner, Benny Beutler) and I, we got a bit of a game plan going. He wanted her in a certain chute and I disagreed — she ended up where he wanted — and luckily he knows that horse better than I do. To be honest, the ride felt like one of the first broncs I ever got on; it was just a complete blur. But when I got off her, I really felt that it was my favourite ride of my career so far and probably the best bronc ride I’d ever made as well. It was pretty special knowing that it was her last trip and I was the guy. It was fun to live that moment.”
As for his approach to the rest of 2023, Hay is very analytical. “The one thing I’ve battled with in my career is consistency. I’ve changed a lot of things in my riding style
Jackie Ganter competing in the Finals at Fort Worth. Ganter is a familiar face in Canada, and is a two-time Canadian Finals Rodeo competitor. FWSSR photos by James Phifer.the last couple of years, and now I feel like I’ve reached a point in my career where I’m more comfortable and excited instead of nervous getting on. I think I ride my best when I’m out there having the most fun I possibly can.”
The talented Canadian also had some thoughts about how rodeo has changed for him with the addition of his daughter, Honey Belle, to the family. “It’s definitely different now. When I leave home to rodeo… it doesn’t take much of an excuse to get home as quick as possible now.”
For Hay, the one disappointment in 2022 was not being at the Canadian Finals Rodeo as injuries and his commitments south with an NFR berth on the line resulted in his not being among the twelve bronc riders at Red Deer’s Peavey Mart Centrium in November.
”Watching it from home, I honestly thought it was one of the best CFRs ever — especially the bronc riding — and some
of the rides guys made there in Red Deer. It was hard not being there — tough to just watch, that’s for sure. If I can stay healthy, I’d sure love to be there this year and push for a Canadian title. It’s something I’ve dreamed about pretty much all my life.”
Another CPRA athlete enjoying a successful winter run south of 49 is Texas barrel racer Jackie Ganter (CFR 2017, 2019). In addition to a big win at Fort Worth, the second-generation cowgirl scripted a rarity in the first two rounds of her pool at San Antonio as she posted back-to-back identical 13.95-second winning runs to move on to the playoff rounds.
As of this writing, World Champion Zeke Thurston is in his customary spot near the top of the world standings (2nd). Ben Andersen sits 13th; Dawson Hay is in 16th, with brother Logan in 17th spot. Dawson Hay is in 16th place with brother Logan in 17th spot. Many-time Canadian
champion, Curtis Cassidy, occupies 25th spot in the steer wrestling World standings; former Canadian tie-down roping titleists, Tuf Cooper and Matt Shiozawa are sixth and 15th respectively and are joined by 2019 Canadian runner-up Haven Meged (6th). Ganter is first in the barrel racing standings while four-time Canadian Champion, Lisa Lockhart, sits 3rd overall.
And a tough break for 2016 Canadian bull riding champion Jordan Hansen. The two-time NFR qualifier suffered an injury after his 88-point ride to win the wild card round at Fort Worth.
“I dislocated my left shoulder coming off, my riding arm, and I’m not sure if there is any other damage on it or not,” the two-time NFR qualifier commented. “I’m waiting to get an MRI to find out if there’s anything else wrong. I have to get X-rays, and I was talking to Dr Tandy Freeman and he said there might be a fracture in there as well.” c
When your last name is Schmidt, and you grow up on a ranch near Barrhead, Alberta, it’s a pretty sure bet you’ll be a team roper.
“It’s kind of like a cutting horse; you’re bred into it,” chuckles Kagen Schmidt, one of the third-generation family ropers. “We really didn’t have a choice.”
The passion for team roping was passed down from their grandpa, Leonard, president of the Wildrose Rodeo Assoc., for several years. His indoor arena southwest of Barrhead served as a training ground for his family and plenty of other ropers.
“He taught us everything pretty much,” says the 24-year-old Schmidt, who won back-to-back Canadian junior steer riding championships in 2012-13. “Taught us about horses, roping, everything.”
Kagen and his younger brother, Tate, now live on their grandpa’s farm, where they train horses between team roping jackpots and rodeos.
“We wake up and take thirty steps to the arena and don’t leave,” said Tate, now 21. “We’re always roping, riding and training horses.”
The pair were among the hundreds of young ropers attending the TRASH Roping schools started nearly twenty years ago by their Uncle Ronald at his hilltop outdoor arena.
“It was so big that there’d be one group at dad’s (David) arena next door,” recalls Kagen of the number of participants at the schools. “And there would be another two groups at Ronald’s.”
“There were people everywhere,” chimes in Tate, who won the 2017 Alberta High School Rodeo Assoc., heading championship. “I think there were 75-80 kids there roping near the end.
“It’s kind of cool that all of us who are now competing against each other at the pro rodeos were at those schools, competed against each other at the junior, high school and amateur rodeos and now here we are. None of us are scared to go fast. There’s always another one.”
Combine their grandpa’s teachings, knowledge gained at their hometown roping schools and a conservative estimate of running over 200 steers a week for much of the year, and you can see why the Schmidt brothers have a bright future. A second straight trip to the Canadian Finals Rodeo last fall and a record run on their last steer of 2022 is evidence that a bright future may already be here.
“It was pretty cool,” said Kagen of the pair’s Canadian pro rodeo record 3.3-second run at the Maple Leaf Circuit Finals in Regina, Saskatchewan, last December. “I just wish it would have been the first run of the year, not the last, so that we could keep the momentum from it.”
“I didn’t think we were going to be that fast,” admits Tate. “But it was nice because we were having a rough go at the end of the season.”
The two now hope they can pick up where they left off with the start of the 2023 pro rodeo season.
“Making the CFR again is ‘goal Number One.’” c
"We don't usually like to brag about going on expensive trips ….. but we just came back from the grocery store.”