Pro Rodeo Canada Insider October/November 2023

INSIDER

Lynette Brodoway riding SR Boots on Fire on Day 6 of the Ponoka Stampede.

Photo by Shellie Scott.

A SEASON TO REMEMBER

It’s almost Canadian Finals time at the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association.

Congratulations to all those athletes — cowboys, cowgirls and the livestock of rodeo — for their 2023 accomplishments and CFR qualifications. This year’s Finals takes place Nov 1-5 at Peavey Mart Centrium at Westerner Park in Red Deer, Alberta. Check out rodeocanada.com for an official roster of CFR contenders. Follow CFRRedDeer. com for details about the Finals, including performance times, tickets, entertainment and additional related events.

2023 saw amazing sell-out crowds at numerous events — a credit to the entertainment value our sport offers and to the partners, sponsors, athletes, stock contractors, personnel and rodeo committees. Special recognition to the volunteers, without whom, these events would not succeed.

As well, with the SMS Equipment Pro Tour just concluded at Armstrong, BC’s Interior Provincial Exhibition and Stampede, we’d like to recognize this year’s Pro Tour Champions. The 2023 Tour was bigger and better than ever with a number of new events coming on board. Thank you all for your participation in the Tour and thank you competitors, from both sides of the border, for supporting these rodeos. And most of all, thank you to SMS Equipment.

2023 CPRA SCHEDULE

PRESENTED BY PEAVEY MART

The Maple Leaf Circuit Finals is also on the horizon — slated for November 22-25 at Agribition in Regina, Sask. Circuit Finals qualifiers have the opportunity to get a head start on the 2024 season as monies earned at Agribition Rodeo count for next year.

This year has also been special as we’ve enjoyed cheering on a record number of CPRA athletes competing for a spot at the National Finals Rodeo. Well done everyone and good luck in Las Vegas come December.

It’s been exciting to take Canadian rodeos to The Cowboy Channel’s world-wide audience. Both CFR and the Maple Leaf Circuit Finals will be streamed live on this platform.

We value all of our media partners. With that in mind, we thank Canadian Cowboy Country magazine for their partnership and support over the last several years. We appreciate all you have done to promote Canadian Professional Rodeo and hope to enjoy continued coverage of Canadian Rodeo within your pages as we move forward.

See you at the Canadian Finals Rodeo!

Terry Cooke, President, Canadian Professional Rodeo Association

SEPTEMBER

Armstrong, BC Sept 2

Merritt, BC Sept 2-3

Langley, BC (SB, BB, BR, LBR) Sept 2-4

Coronation, AB Sept 8-9

Medicine Lodge, AB Sept 9

Olds, AB Sept 15-16

Hanna, AB ........................................... Sept 16-17

Edmonton, AB ** Sept 29-30

* indicates Special Event

** Points earned at Edmonton Pro Tour Rodeo count for 2023

SMS Equipment Pro Tour Rodeo

*SB — Saddle Bronc | BB - Bareback | BR — Bull Riding | LBR — Ladies Barrel Racing

NOVEMBER

Red Deer, AB ** Nov 1 - 5

Cowboy Channel broadcasts the Canadian Finals Rodeo, Maple Leaf Circuit Finals and (maple leaf) SMS Equipment Pro Rodeo Tour rodeos. Visit RodeoCanada.com for updates

Maple Leaf Circuit Finals ** ............ Nov 22 - 25

FINAL SEASON DRAMA

BY CPRA

As the 2023 CPRA season races toward a dramatic conclusion with tense battles shaping up for those coveted CFR berths, it’s time to look back at the last few weeks and see how they got us to where we are now.

Three-time Canadian and World Champion Zeke Thurston notched his third Ponoka Stampede title with a 92.5-point Showdown ride on Calgary Stampede’s Dandy Delight. The Showdown pits the top four finishers through the Stampede head-to-head on the final night for a shot at $15,000 in bonus money.

“Rodeos of this stature are hard to win,” Thurston noted. “There’s guys go through their whole career and not win here. So it doesn’t get old.” The second-generation mega-talent pocketed just over $18,000 for his Ponoka efforts.

At the other end of the arena, the world’s number one steer wrestler, Dalton Massey, brought his Showdown round steer down in 4.6 seconds to collect the $9750 bonus check as he too topped $18,000 in Ponoka earnings. The Oregon cowboy then added $4620 for a 2-3-4 split at the Williams Lake Stampede (another SMS Equipment Pro Tour event). “I’ll probably never have a better opportunity to get to the CFR,” Massey stated. “I think it would be pretty cool to have a Canadian back number on my wall at home."

Coy Robbins swept the bull riding at the next two weekend CPRA events. The Camrose, AB cowboy put up an 87-point score at Bowden Daze on Macza Rodeo’s 8681 Dirty Money for a $1647 payday, then topped the field at the SMS Equipment Pro Tour Teepee Creek Stampede stop

with an 88-pointer aboard Duane Kesler Championship Rodeo’s Perlich Brothers Ivy League for a tidy $2838 injection into the bank account.

Claresholm’s Shaya Biever went sub-2.0 on back-to-back runs that led to a pair of wins for the 23-year-old. Biever posted a 1.9-second run at Teepee Creek for a $2876 first-place finish and was a tick faster at Bowden, roping her stock in a blistering 1.8 seconds for another $1292.

Among the big winners in the CPRA’s “Eastern swing” were barrel racer Traci MacDonald, steer wrestler Scott Guenthner and bull rider Cauy Schmidt. MacDonald smoked the field at the Moose Mountain Pro Rodeo in Kennedy, Sask. with a 15.64-second run to take home $1303, then added another $1842 with a third place run at the Manitoba Stampede in Morris — stop number nine on the SMS Equipment Pro Rodeo Tour.

Ben Andersen scored 87.5 points for the win on Duane Kesler’s 522 Daisy Duke at the 2023 edition of Whoop-Up Days in Lethbridge. Photo by Sean Libin.

Three-time Canadian Champion steer wrestler Scott Guenthner was at his Guenthnerian best on the weekend with back-to-back wins. The four-time NFR qualifier nailed the first-place cheque at Kennedy with a 4.1-second run for $1297 and then, in front of a packed Morris grandstand, blistered a 3.6-second run for the win and $2089.

Coronation, Alta. bull rider Cauy Schmidt continued his remarkable comeback with back-to-back wins as well. The young talent, who suffered a career-threatening injury at a late 2022 PBR event, was the only cowboy to ride at either weekend event — mastering Big Stone Rodeo’s 924 Watermelon Sugar for 77 points at Kennedy. Then, at Manitoba’s only pro rodeo, Schmidt put up a terrific 84.5 effort on Vold Rodeo’s 708 Clear the Village. With ground money (essentially all the bull riding money at both rodeos), the sophomore hand-pocketed $15,755.

Ben Andersen’s Pollockville, Alberta Hardgrass Bronc Match victory and the accompanying $16,238 payday included a thrilling 94-point ride in the Finals to clinch one of rodeo’s most sought titles. Andersen rode for eight on the Calgary Stampede’s superstar mare, X-9 Xplosive Skies, the same horse that carried Logan Hay to the Hardgrass win and world record 95.5-point ride one year earlier.

Beau Cooper turned in a 9.2-second winning run at the Medicine Hat Stampede, stop number ten on the SMS Pro Rodeo Tour. The win was his second in a row at Medicine Hat, and netted the Stettler cowboy $3396.

2019 Bull Riding Champion Edgar Durazo was victorious at the Rockyford Rodeo with an 86.5 point ride on Northcott-Yule’s 932 Redneck Raisin for $1090.40, then added a second place cheque at Medicine Hat with an 87.5 effort for $2741. The team roping tandem, Dawson and Dillon Graham, took top honours at Medicine Hat with a 5.0 run, pocketing $2795.38 each with the win.

22-year-old Mandan, North Dakota bulldogger Riley Reiss blazed a 3.9-second run at the Field of Dreams Stampede in La Crete, Alta, to take another step toward a first CFR appearance. “Scott Guenthner is a really good friend, and we talked about it this spring.

That’s when I decided to spend as much time as I could up here.” Like so many contestants, Reiss was quick to sing the praises of the committee at La Crete. “I loved it up there,” he enthused. “They took really good care of us, fed us in the morning and every night and gave us a chance to hang out with the other contestants and the committee people and meet everybody. It was great.”

Rolling ahead to the following weekend, 2021 Tie Down Roping Champion Riley Warren did just what he had to, posting an 8.9-second winning run at Dawson Creek Stampede for $2508.

“I’ve had some bad luck for sure, and you just can’t stub your toe anymore. The roping is tougher now than it was a couple of years ago. There’s a bunch of young guys that just rope so well.”

Another veteran timed event cowboy, Morgan Grant, also topped the field at the Dawson Creek Pro Tour event – this time in the steer wrestling — with a 4.2-second run to take home the $2216 winner’s cheque.

Saddle bronc rider Dawson Dahm continued his string of successes as he put up a solid 83.5 score on Duffy Rodeo’s 10 Bootilear to capture the win at the Rimbey Pro Rodeo and add $940 to his season’s earnings.

Still recovering from the knee reconstruction that kept him out of action for a year, Spur Lacasse found his A-game and captured wins at the Pincher Creek Pro Rodeo and the BCNE Rodeo (Prince George, BC).

“That was my best-feeling ride of the season,” the second-generation bareback rider said of his eight seconds on the Calgary Stampede five-year-old F-28 Fresh Chick. The result was 87 points for a welcome $1104 payday.” Lacasse followed that up with an 84-point effort on C+ Rodeo’s veteran CFR horse CY47 Ginger for an additional $932. Lacasse is locked in a four-way battle for the final two spots on this year’s CFR roster with Wyatt Maines, Ethan Mazurenko and Australian Dallas Hay.

Jesse Popescul clocked a sizzling 6.7-second run at the Okotoks Rodeo held in Millarville, Alta.

Photo by Billie-Jean Duff.

Breakaway roper Macy Auclair won Cranbrook with a 2.1-second run for $1444 and split the win at Pincher Creek with World Rookie contender Shaya Biever (1.9, $1001 each). “This weekend was pretty crucial as I wasn’t quite where I want to be in the standings,” Auclair said. Maci counts among her mentors her dad, Scott Auclair, her mom, Michelle Auclair and World Champion, Cody Ohl.

Ben Andersen was both consistent and excellent during weekend stops in Lethbridge and Okotoks. The number one ranked saddle bronc rider in Canada took his A-game to both places with back-toback 87.5 scores and back-to-back wins.

The Eckville, Alta cowboy combined with Duane Kesler Championship Rodeo’s 522 Daisy Duke for the Lethbridge Pro Rodeo (Whoop-Up Days), the critical second last stop in the SMS Equipment Pro

Rodeo Tour, for 87.5 points and a $3053 first-place cheque.

“We were in Kennewick the night before, then headed up to Lethbridge and back down to Bremerton. It was a bit out of our way, but it was definitely worth it.”

The second-generation 23-year-old talent wasn’t done yet. He then raced back up to Canada and dialled up a second 87.5-pointer at the Okotoks Pro Rodeo, this time on Vold Rodeo’s 11 Shorty for $1663.

2021 Bareback Riding Champion Clint Laye equalled Andersen’s feat, first taking top honours at Lethbridge with an 84.5point effort of Duane Kesler Championship Rodeo’s 660 Crown Jewel for $2500, then capturing another title at Okotoks with an eye-popping 87.5-point ride on Vold Rodeo’s terrific T1 Dancing Queen for an additional $1513.

Glentworth, Saskatchewan’s two-event cowboy Jesse Popescul brought the heat at

Okotoks as the five-time CFR qualifier turned in a brilliant 6.7-second run (fastest roping run of the season to date). The $2518 victory enabled Popescul to close ground on All Around race leader Logan Spady as they and Morgan Grant duel for the All-Around title.

Dalton Massey was at it again. The Oregon steer wrestler who leads both the World and Canadian standings bulldogged his steer at Okotoks in 3.0, one-tenth of a second off the Canadian record for a $1918 win.

Barrel racer Celeste Montpellier turned in an outstanding 15.13-second run on Saturday night in front of a packed Lethbridge grandstand for a $3360 payday and her first pro rodeo win. And Lynette Brodoway increased her season lead in barrel racing with a third-place finish at Lethbridge ($2352) and a fifth at Okotoks for another $1090.

Head to rodeocanada.com to see how the dust settled on the 2023 CPRA season. c

ROAD TO THE CFR

DANTAN BERTSCH

ON TIME, ON POINT

BY TIM ELLIS

Dantan Bertsch was getting tired of pouting and getting tired of watching his buddies on the Cowboy Channel. Now, those bareback riding friends are wishing he would have stayed on the couch.

“I knew I had about seven to eight weeks of healing time,” says Bertsch of his recovery from a spiral fracture in his leg, sustained in early June at the re-scheduled Drayton Valley Pro Rodeo. “I told them (Acumen Performance) to do what they had to so I could be back soon after.”

The injury was not for the faint of heart.

“It happened right when I left the chute,” recalls the six-time Canadian Finals Rodeo bareback riding qualifier. “A horse ran me down the chutes, and my leg got stuck in the gate.”

“On the second jump, it pried my left leg in between the pipes and twisted it. It wasn’t much fun. I knew when it happened that something was seriously wrong. When I got back to the chutes, it was either ‘grit your teeth and pull the boot off, or we’re cutting it off.’”

“There was no surgery. I started with a cast and then a walking boot with crutches. I ditched the crutches the week before I came back, so it was a quick week of learning to walk again and using the spur board to see how bad it was going to hurt.”

The return to the rodeo trail was on time and on point. Upon his return, Bertsch placed at six of his first seven rodeos to win $6,928.

“On the horses, it didn’t hurt at all,” suggests Bertsch, who had slipped outside the top fifteen of the Pro Rodeo Canada standings while on the shelf. “There’s so much going on around you that a sore ankle is the least of your worries.”

“Eight seconds can seem like a long time, but you can block out the pain. I talked with the pickup men to make sure

they’d be there when the ride was done. If I had stepped on a clump of dirt and twisted my ankle, I would have been done again.”

It was also as if the contractors were part of the return plan.

“My draws that first weekend back were decent,” says Bertsch, who won both the Bruce Stampede and the Rockyford Lions Rodeo and placed third at the Medicine Hat Stampede in his return. “They were good enough to test my leg, but they could have bucked me off if I stubbed a toe.”

“The main thing I was worried about was getting squished in the chute or something. But they all stood good and gave me a fair shot. It worked out good.”

In fact, it worked out well enough to put the 29-year-old right back into CFR contention.

“I thought it would take a bit longer to move back up in the standings,” confides Bertsch. “That first weekend put me back in the hunt. It got me back shooting for the CFR.”c

Dantan Bertsch scored 82.5 pts on Duffy Rodeo's X-82 E-Ticket at 2022 CFR.

Photo by Wildwood Imagery/Chantelle Bowman.

“I’m thankful I don’t come from a generation that is offended by pancake syrup.”