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THE CPRA CELEBRATES CANADA’S 150TH BIRTHDAY WITH 150 OF CANADIAN RODEO’S GREATEST MOMENTS
 
* Send in your ideas for Great Canadian Rodeo Moments to be included in this feature - which will run throughout the 2017 & 2018 CPRA seasons. Contributors whose suggestions are used will be eligible for CPRA merchandise prize draws. Email media@rodeocanada.com
 

Great Canadian Rodeo Moments #44 and #45

Hats Off to 44 Years - Northlands ColliseumThe year was 2017

There were plenty of sad faces and great memories as the curtain came down on the last performance of the 2017 Canadian Finals Rodeo.
It marked the final time cowboys and cowgirls would ever compete in Edmonton’s venerable Coliseum as forty four years of CFR history, 43 of them in the Coliseum and the other, the first, in the old Edmonton Gardens, came to a bittersweet conclusion.

So much history was recorded in that 44 year span the saw the purse climb from $29,000 in that first year to a million and a half dollars, over three million fans march through the turnstiles and Canadian professional rodeo move into the realm of major sport in Canada.

It was, as one of this year’s promotional slogans proclaimed, “A Hell of a Ride”.


The year was 2018

Enmax Centrium - home of CFR #45The Canadian Professional Rodeo Association and the Westerner Exhibition alongside the Red Deer Chamber of Commerce, announced that the Canadian Finals Rodeo would be making its home in the central Alberta city for the next ten years.


Excitement and enthusiasm greeted the announcement that CFR ’45, the first Red Deer edition of the Finals, is slated for October 30 to November 4 in Red Deer’s Enmax Centrium at Westerner Park.

And the Red Deer Group, working with the CPRA is already putting its own stamp on the Finals. There will be six performances from Tuesday through Sunday with contestants vying for over 1.6 million in prize money. Saturday afternoon will see a junior rodeo that will feature the top junior competitors from an earlier (August) event—also being staged at Westerner Park.

Organizers are working with hotels and businesses in Red Deer and the surrounding area as plans move forward for CFR ’45. Sponsorship, ancillary events, accommodation, the establishment of a host hotel for the week and ticket sales—those are just a few of the areas that will be addressed as the work schedule rolls out in the coming weeks and months.

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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #43

Bob Robinson - pro bull riderThe year was 2014

It’s not often that someone could go into the Hall of Fame in either the competitor or builder category. But that was certainly the case with great Canadian cowboy Bob Robinson as he was honoured by the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum in Oklahoma City.

Bob’s first big competitive win came in 1953, when he won the All Around Championship at the Edmonton Spring Rodeo. Bob Robinson - HOFBy 1955 he was competing full time as a professional, and the following year was a banner year for him; he won the Saddle Bronc Riding at the Calgary Stampede and the Canadian Championship in the Saddle Bronc Riding. In 1962 Bob qualified for his first National Finals Rodeo in Oklahoma City - where he won the average in the bull riding. He was back again in 1964 after missing the cut in ’63 by just $16.

Bob was elected President of the Canadian Rodeo Cowboys Association in 1973 and his greatest achievement came in 1974 when he and the Board of Directors inaugurated the Canadian Finals Rodeo.

He was again elected President in 1980 when the CRCA was re-organized to the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association, representing an equal Board of contestants, stock contractors and committee people.

Bob Robinson was inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1997 prior to his induction into the Cowboy Hall of Fame (Oklahoma City) in 2014.

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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #42

Monica Wilson & Giz
The year was 1999

Barrel racer Monica Wilson made history as the first woman to be named Canadian Professional Rodeo Association ‘Cowboy of the Year’
… a long standing and prestigious accolade, sponsored by the Douglas Lake Ranch, and awarded to an individual for his/her ability, sportsmanship and contributions to rodeo.

Wilson played an instrumental role in barrel racers winning the right to vote as members of the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association, receiving formal recognition of the sport as a major rodeo event and receiving equal prize money at CPRA rodeos and the Calgary Stampede.

A talented horse trainer and athlete herself, Wilson enjoyed a successful semi-pro career, then joined the barrel racing pro ranks in 1990, competing at nine consecutive Canadian Finals Rodeos and two $50,000 Final Rounds at the Calgary Stampede. In 1996, Wilson also received the Calgary Stampede’s Guy Weadick Award - again, the first woman to do so. The Cardston, Alberta resident has twice served as CPRA Board of Directors Ladies Barrel Racing representative - including her present tenure.

And 19 years ago this month, Wilson and her amazing gelding, Giz, won one of the biggest PRCA rodeos on the circuit - the National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver.

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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #41

The year was 1974.

An eighteen year-old saddle bronc rider from Pierceland, Saskatchewan burst onto the Canadian professional rodeo scene, winning Canadian Rookie of the Year honours and the Canadian Saddle Bronc Riding title that same year at the first CFR.


Mel Coleman was the first to win the rookie title and a major championship the same season. He also earned PRCA Saddle Bronc Rookie of the Year, qualified for the National Finals Rodeo and was Calgary Stampede Champion, all in that memorable rookie campaign. It was one of the most auspicious starts to a rodeo career in the history of the sport.

And that was just the beginning. Coleman would go on to compete at twenty CFR’s (nineteen in a row—a record in the bronc riding), sixteen NFR’s, and would win the Canadian bronc riding title six more times to go along with five All-Around titles.

Mel Coleman was inducted into the Canadian Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2001.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #40
Justin & Brett McCarroll
The year was 2007.

The team roping brothers, header Justin McCarroll and heeler Brett McCarroll, won the second of back to back Canadian titles.


The duo, long considered among the most consistent athletes in Canadian rodeo, with ten and fourteen CFR qualifications respectively, remain the only team in CPRA team roping history, to have won consecutive Canadian championships.

And that consistency was in evidence, once again, as the Camrose, Alberta cowboys were the Average winners this past November at #CFR44.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #39
Gary Rempel
The year was 2016.

The ageless Gary Rempel rode into the Northlands Coliseum for the 19th time as a Canadian Finals Rodeo pickup man, extending a record of excellence that began with his first CFR appearance in 1986.
In a Finals career that included his famed roping of a bull as it leaped into the Coliseum stands, thus undoubtedly mitigating what might have been a disaster, Rempel’s calm demeanour and superior horsemanship have been his trademarks.

Gary has also garnered respect on the south side of the 49th parallel and has made several appearances at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo as well. The talented cowboy is the standard by which pickup men everywhere are measured. Gary Rempel was named Canadian “Cowboy of the Year” in 2009... and in 2017, the Saskatchewan native was awarded PRCA Pick Up Man of the Year!

* Thank you to Terri Mason - editor of Canadian Cowboy Country magazine - for this suggestion
.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #38
Al Bouchard - Canadian Champion
The year was 2009

Long and lean Al Bouchard of Scandia took a solid season performance into the Canadian Finals Rodeo and when the dust had settled in the Northlands Coliseum, the veteran tie down roper had won his first Canadian title—all the more significant as it was the last time a Canadian won that buckle.


Bouchard, who has also posted a Calgary Stampede $50,000 win, just missed winning a second title in 2016, finishing right behind Matt Shiozawa. With 16 CFR qualifications to his credit (including 14 in a row), the amazingly consistent cowboy is once again in a solid position in the standings headed to the CFR.

As well, the personable Bouchard wears a CPRA Board of Directors hat and was named the #GuyWeadick Award Winner at this year's Stampede

Could the last Canadian to win the tie down roping be the next Canadian to win that title? Don’t bet against it.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #37
Jim Dunn - Champion Bareback RiderJim Dunn - record setting cowoby
The year was 1983.

A talented bareback rider from Balzac, Alberta became the first Canadian to top the $100,000 mark in season earnings as he qualified for one of his twenty CFR appearances (including bull riding) and won the $50,000 at the Calgary Stampede.

Jim Dunn also won three Canadian bareback riding titles (1980, 1985 and 1986) and made the cut for six National Finals Rodeos. He later served as President of the CPRA and has been one of our judges for the last several years.

Jim was inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2002.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #36

Cowboy Christmas
The year is 2017.

There’s no snow on the ground and none in the forecast but check in with professional rodeo athletes on either side of the 49th parallel and they’ll confirm, in late June and early July, it’s Cowboy Christmas.


The time frame in and around July 1 in Canada and July 4 in the U.S. has long been regarded as “Cowboy Christmas” due to the huge number of lucrative pro rodeos staged during this season... upwards of 30 stops on the trail.

Nevada’s PRCA Reno Rodeo unofficially starts the run… which extends for roughly two weeks and could be said to include the first Canadian Pro Tour Rodeo of the season (the Wainwright Stampede) as well as the Ponoka Stampede, Williams Lake Stampede and Airdrie Pro Rodeo in Canada. Add such U.S. venues as Greeley, CO, Prescott, AZ, St Paul, OR, Cody, WY, Livingston and Red Lodge, MT and Vernal, UT to name a few and you have a run that's fast, fun and filled with financial opportunity.

With the huge dollars up for grabs, Canadian and World standings change radically as contestants crisscross North America to compete at as many rodeos as possible in an effort to gain solid footing on CFR and WNFR rosters.

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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #35
Guy Weadick & Flores LaDueThe year was 1912

Guy Weadick was born in 1885 in Rochester New York. He fell in love with the cowboy way of life and headed west as a teenager to work on ranches. He learned to ride and rope but his biggest asset was his knack for storytelling and promoting. When Weadick arrived in Calgary in 1912, he and his wife Flores LeDue had built a solid reputation as western entertainers. Weadick was well aware of the powerful marketing attraction of the old West even in 1912.


Weadick's idea of a wild west show in combination with the Calgary's Dominion Exhibition was initially turned down by the Exhibition Board who felt it was “incompatible with an urban environment”.

But when the owner of the Bar U Ranch, George Lane, heard about the idea, he suggested a meeting with prominent businessmen Pat Burns and A.E. Cross. They loved the concept and pledged to backstop Weadick’s plan to the tune of $100,000. Rancher A.J. McLean also supported the ambitious scheme and together they formed the “Big Four". Weadick was given one simple instruction, “Make it the greatest thing of its kind in the world." 

After the first 1912 Calgary Stampede (which was held in September not July), Calgary wouldn’t host another one until 1919. But the “Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth" has been an iconic Canadian western festival ever since... and for many years was one of the largest rodeos under the CPRA flag.

Weadick and LaDue (his talented and devoted wife and partner) lived in the High River area, ranching near Longview to the west. Both are buried in the High River cemetery and the High River Rodeo commemorates Weadick's memory with Guy Weadick Days in June each year.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #34
Kesler Rodeo's Three Bars
The year was 1984.

There are only five bareback horses that have been inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame. One of those horses was the amazing Kesler mare, Three Bars.


Three Bars was selected the top bareback horse of the National Finals Rodeo in 1967, 1973 and 1980 and was runner-up for that honour five more times and was third once. When she was finally retired after her outstanding career in the arena, Three Bars became the foundation of one of the great bloodlines and bucking horse programs in the industry. Today, we still see 'Three Bars' bred horses in the Kesler Rodeo herd and a few generations later, the mare continues to impact the sport she was a part of.

“This horse was probably the rankest horse I was ever on,” said five-time world champion bareback rider and ProRodeo Hall of Fame member Bruce Ford of Kersey, Colo. “She never had a set pattern, but she didn’t want you on her back.”

Three Bars was inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1989 and into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2004.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #33
Curtis Cassidy - tie down championThe year was 2015.

In yet another display of his prowess in two events - tie down roping and steer wrestling - Curtis Cassidy, the second generation superstar from Donalda, AB, laid claim to his ninth Canadian High Point title.

Curtis Cassidy - High Pt ChampionThe high point award is given annually to the competitor winning the most money in any two events. (The All Around award, on the other hand, requires that the athlete compete in a timed event and a rough stock event). Cassidy with an amazing 16 CFR qualifications in steer wrestling and 15 in tie down roping also has two steer wrestling titles and one tie down roping championship to his credit. An indication of just how dominant Cassidy has been at the timed event end of the arena - the second place man in terms of high point awards won stands at three.

Throw in a Rookie of the Year award and a Calgary Stampede $100,000 win (in the bull dogging) and we are looking at one of the most accomplished resumes in the history of Canadian rodeo. And at thirty-eight years-old, Cassidy is a long way from wrapping up his storied career as a look at the 2017 Canadian standings will attest.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #32

Rod Warren - Copeman photo
The year was 2005.

Valleyview, Alberta bronc rider and steer wrestler Rod Warren earned his fourth Saddle Bronc Aggregate (average) win at the National Finals Rodeo.
(He was the only NFR saddle bronc rider to ride all 10 head that year.) Quite an accolade considering contestants compete ten consecutive days against exceptional stock and the greatest rodeo athletes anywhere.

In a career that spanned more than two decades, Warren qualified for the NFR nine times, won the Canadian All Around Championship nine times and holds the record (14) for most Canadian major championships won (All Around, High Point and Major Events). Rod Warren, who now makes his home in Big Valley, Alberta, was inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2012.

* Thank you to Brenda Vold for this suggestion. Brenda's name will be entered into a draw for CPRA merchandise.

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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #31

Hand Hills Lake Stampede - 2015
The year was 1917.

Early cowboys - Hand HillsJack Miller - who had travelled west from Ontario in 1901 to stake a land claim in Alberta’s Hand Hills – staged a ‘wild west rodeo’ on his ranch with the proceeds ($3200 – an impressive amount in 1917) going to the Red Cross war effort. The success of Miller’s event led to the formation of the Hand Hills Lake Club - an organization still going strong today.


A land donation of 80 acres saw community members, Miller among them, establish a rodeo grounds beside Hand Hills Lake, located between Drumheller and Hanna. That same grounds, with a few improvements through the years, remains home to the Hand Hills Lake Stampede as the organization celebrates 101 consecutive years this weekend.

Originally staged on the second Wednesday in June, the rodeo moved to a Saturday-Sunday format in 1991. Attendees camp out for the weekend, attend the rodeo (where the list of champions through the years reads like a ‘who’s who of rodeo’) and enjoy a concession that is an attraction in and of itself (and is famous for its homemade pies).

Still dependent on community commitment and volunteerism, the Hand Hills Lake Stampede has seen many improvements through the years - among them the addition of steel chutes and corrals a few years back, and a new community hall. The Calgary Stampede, an integral part of the Hand Hills Lake Stampede as the event stock contractor and nearby neighbour, provided the Hand Hills Lake Club with some of their old chutes when they upgraded the set-up in Calgary a few years ago.

Hand Hills Lake Stampede - 1917
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #30

CPRA - HistoryThe year was 1944.

A group of cowboys banded together to form the Cowboys Insurance Association.
Each member put in $1.00 per rodeo and that amount was matched by rodeo management to form a small insurance fund for the participants.

The following year, the group was re-named the Cowboys Protective Association (CPA) and became a society under The Societies Act. It went from an organization focused almost solely on providing insurance and medical assistance when needed to a body designed to serve its members in a much broader way.

Ken Thomson of Black Diamond was the first President and there were 160 members initially.

In 1965, the group incorporated under the name Canadian Rodeo Cowboys Association, an identity that lasted until 1980 when the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association became the official name of the organization.

Under the auspices of the CPRA, Canadian rodeo has become a well-organized and well-regulated sport, with a global membership of over 1000, a comprehensive insurance and medical program, and a system of fines and suspensions for those breaking CPRA rules.

* Thank you to Brenda Vold for this suggestion. Brenda's name will be entered into a draw for CPRA merchandise.

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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #29
Scott Schiffner - CFR 2016 - Mike Copeman copyrightThe year was 2016.

Scott Schiffner, the Strathmore bull rider, extended his record-setting number of appearances at the Canadian Finals Rodeo to sixteen, a remarkable record of achievement, consistency and toughness.
(The now retired Steven Turner is next in line at ten).

Schiffner, a two-time Canadian and two time Calgary Stampede champion has also won the PBR Canada title and was named the Guy Weadick Award winner at the Calgary Stampede in 2011.

A devoted family man (wife, Brandy and daughters Mesa, Hadley and Oaklyn), the respected rancher and former CPRA board member continues to establish and build on earnings records as well almost every time he climbs aboard. The 2012 Cowboy of the Year is enjoying another tremendous season and is at his customary spot near the top of the Canadian standings, poised perhaps to add again to that CFR appearance record.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #28

Lee Graves - World Champion
The year was 2009.

Williams Lake, British Columbia native, Lee Graves followed up his first World Steer Wrestling win (2005) by earning a second gold buckle on the world stage.


Lee Graves - Canadian ChampionAlso a five time Canadian Champion (1996, 1997, 2001, 2005, 2009), Graves qualified for 17 Canadian Finals Rodeos and 10 Wrangler National Finals during a career that spanned two decades. Lee Graves is an Olympic Rodeo silver medalist, a former Calgary Stampede winner and was the first pro rodeo cowboy to be recognized as the Male Athlete of the Year by the Calgary Booster Club.

A gifted horseman and horse trainer, Graves’ horses have carried countless cowboys to pay windows across North America.

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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #27
1979 Cowboy Plane CrashTragedy in the Air

The year was 1979.

Thirty-eight years ago today, one of the saddest moments in rodeo history unfolded when a plane crash in a remote area of northern California claimed the lives of four Canadian cowboys—Brian Claypool, Lee Coleman, Gary Logan and Calvin Bunney.
The single engine Cherokee was being piloted by Claypool and was en route from the rodeo in Cloverdale, British Columbia to Inglewood, California.

After a fuel stop at Salem, Oregon, the plane took off but never reached its destination. A massive search began and the "Cowboys Search Fund" was set up to gather donations to help rent search planes. The search went on all summer to no avail, and finally had to be called off.

Then on September 22, 1979 a hunter stumbled upon the wreckage by accident - the search had finally ended. On the flight south, the cowboys had hit turbulent weather over southwestern Oregon and the plane went down in the mountains of northern California.

Saskatchewan born and raised, Brian Claypool was twenty-five years-old at the time of his death and had already won two Canadian and two Calgary Stampede bull riding titles and had twice qualified for the NFR. Gary Logan, 21, was a tremendously talented bareback rider from Sundre and was in the top fifteen in the world standings at the time of the crash. Bronc rider, Lee Coleman, 20, from Pierceland, Saskatchewan and bareback rider Calvin Bunney, 19, from Duchess, Alberta were two rising young stars of the sport when their lives and careers were cut tragically short.

Life-size busts of the four cowboys, created by Linda S. Stewart, were unveiled at the 1981 Canadian Finals Rodeo and are on permanent display at the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in Ponoka.

* CPRA file photos by Ken Marcinkoski
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #26
Ryan Byrne - NFR bull fighter
The year was 1986.

Ryan Byrne of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan was selected to fight bulls at the National Finals Rodeo, making him the first Canadian to have received that distinction.


Ryan ByrneDuring a brilliant career that spanned a decade and a half, Ryan was the bullfighter at fourteen consecutive Canadian Finals Rodeos and in 1987 and again in 1993 was selected as alternate bullfighter at the NFR. In addition to working the finals on both sides of the 49th parallel, Ryan fought bulls at many of the best rodeos in Canada including Regina, Cloverdale, Ponoka and The Calgary Stampede. He was also the bullfighter for the prestigious Olympic Rodeo in 1988.

After retiring from bullfighting, he was a more than capable steer wrestler and became a respected rodeo and bull riding judge as well. A tireless promotor of the sport, Ryan remains a key organizer of the Prince Albert (Cluney-Cooper Memorial) PBR event.

A dedicated family man, Ryan Byrne is the patriarch of a remarkable bull riding-bull fighting family. He and wife Kelley have raised three sons—two of them, Jesse and Beau, followed their dad’s example and are among the finest bullfighters in the game while the third son, Tanner, has risen to the upper echelon of bull riding talent both in rodeo and in the PBR. Ryan’s nephew, Scott, retired last year after yet another standout career as a bullfighting Byrne.

Ryan Byrne was voted Cowboy of the Year in 1993 and was inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2004.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #25
Trygve Pugh - CFR Steer WrestlerThe year was 2014.

It was the Friday night performance of the Canadian Finals Rodeo. Steer wrestler, Trygve Pugh, at thirty-three years-old, was one of the field of bulldogging qualifiers that year. And that night marked the thirty-third CFR performance of his steer wrestling career.


The number 33 would forever have special significance to Trigger and Canadian rodeo history as that night, the Ponoka cowboy dogged his steer in 3.4 seconds to win his first-ever (and only to date) round at the CFR.

The second generation Ponoka cowboy is a former (2000) Rookie of the Year and made six CFR appearances in all.

* Thank you to rodeo announcer, Brett Gardiner, for this suggestion. Brett's name will be entered into a draw for CPRA merchandise.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #24

The year was 1995.

It was another edition of the famed Innisfail Bucking Horse Sale, an event that was a Mother’s Day fixture for many years.
It was an event that saw thousands of horses change hands, many of them going on to tremendous careers in rodeo with countless stops at the Canadian and National Finals Rodeos.

And that year, ’95, was no exception with one of the horses going under Jack Daines' gavel that day, the legendary Calgary Stampede bucker, John Wayne. The buckskin was retired at the 2013 Wrangler NFR at the age of 22 after a career that saw riders place on him over 70 per cent of the time to win over $200,000. Eight-time Canadian Champion Rod Hay drew the horse twelve times in his storied career. John Wayne's first trip to the CFR was in the bareback riding, but he was moved to the saddle bronc event shortly after. He would qualify for 17 CFR’s and make 10 trips to Las Vegas as well. To commemorate his long and brilliant career, bronc riders at John Wayne’s final NFR put together an award called the 'Hell Yeah Award' as a special send-off to the ever-reliable #47, the one cowboys affectionately called ‘The Duke’. The award was to be voted on by the bronc riders and would go to the horse they most wanted to draw at that year’s WNFR. And the first winner—fittingly--was John Wayne.

While the Mother's Day Innisfail Bucking Horse Sale is now part of Canadian rodeo’s past, it was a long and pleasant part of rodeo history. Happy Mother’s Day to all!

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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #23

Michael Solberg - CFR Bareback Rider
The year was 2003.

19 year old novice bareback rider Michael Solberg set an all time CFR record with his 85 point ride on Vold Rodeo’s One And Only.


The second generation cowboy from Sunnynook, Alberta has gone on to qualify for six Canadian Finals Rodeos in the open bareback riding in addition to two novice bareback qualifications.

Following in the footsteps of his dad, the late Jim Solberg, a CFR qualifier in his own right, Michael continues to put together a solid career as one of Canada’s premiere bareback riders.

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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #22

Deb Guelly and ReinerThe year was 2015

Hudson Hope, British Columbia native, Deb Guelly earned a record-setting 22nd trip to the Canadian Finals Rodeo.

The five time Canadian Barrel Racing Champion and Calgary Stampede winner continues to enjoy outstanding success in the Pro Rodeo arena in a career that has lasted over 25 years and shows no signs of slowing down.

Deb has also enjoyed six Wrangler National Finals Rodeo appearances to date. Much of the talented horse woman’s success has come on two stand-out horses: Leos Ole Buck (Buck) and Docs Leo Lee (Reiner) - both winners of the Canadian Pro Rodeo award ‘Horse With the Most Heart’ - though Deb has ridden a variety of horses during her career.

The dedicated barrel racer logs long miles each year travelling to the top rodeos in both Canada and the U.S.

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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #21
Pete Knight - Calgary Stampede
The year was 1981.

Pete Knight became the first contestant to be inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame.


From his first rodeo success at his hometown rodeo in Crossfield, Alberta to his four world championships (1932-33 and 1935-36), the American-born cowboy was considered by many to be the greatest bronc rider of his time. He took home the coveted Prince of Wales trophy at the Calgary Stampede after winning the North American and Canadian Saddle Bronc Riding championships there for a third time (you got to keep the trophy after a third win) and numerous other titles in Canada and the US including wins at Cheyenne and Pendleton.

On May 23, 1937, just eighteen days after his 34th birthday, Pete Knight climbed aboard a bronc named Duster at the Rowell Ranch Rodeo in Hayward, California. The horse reared out, then slammed Knight forward and down on the front of his saddle, then when Knight was on the ground, stepped on him. Knight got to his feet and left the arena under his own power, but died in the ambulance en route to the hospital of internal injuries suffered in the incident.

Knight was immortalized in song by Wilf Carter—the song, “Pete Knight, King of the Cowboys” and was also inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame and the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.

* May 5 is the anniversary of Pete Knight’s birthday.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #20
Travis Frank - CFR SW Arena Record
The year was 2006.

Talk about handling rookie jitters. First time CFR steer wrestling qualifier, Travis Frank, rode into the box at the first performance of the '06 Canadian Finals Rodeo and moments later, the Coliseum score clock blazed the news that the Stony Plain, Alberta cowboy had just set a CFR arena record at 3.1 seconds!


Eleven years later and forty-three years into CFR history, that record still stands, made all the more remarkable by the fact that Travis, one of four brothers (Derek, Tyson and Dallas) who bulldog steers, had written his name into Canadian rodeo’s history books on his first-ever CFR run.

And the icing on the cake for the first year cowboy came when he captured #CPRA Rookie of the Year honours for 2006!

* Thank you to Bradley Giese for this suggestion. Bradley's name will be entered into a draw for CPRA merchandise.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #19
Dale Trottier - Bruce Stampede
The year was 1978

The man they call Trapper won a record seventh Canadian bareback riding title.


Dale Trottier was simply one of the greatest bareback riding talents the rodeo world has ever seen. Born in Turner Valley, Alberta, Trapper—he got the nickname because he had his own registered trapline from the age of fifteen—surprisingly rode Saddle Bronc in the initial part of his career. He credits the legendary Kenny McLean with changing his career path. “I was at Kenny’s bronc riding school; they ran a bareback horse in and I got on him. Afterwards, Kenny said, ‘If you want to make money in this game, you better think about setting that bronc saddle aside and stay with the bareback riding’.”

Dale Trottier - Canadian ChampionThe advice turned out to be pretty good and a legendary career followed. For thirteen years, from 1968 to 1980, Dale Trottier never finished lower than fourth in the Canadian standings. Included in that span was another record, his six bareback titles in a row—running from 1969 to 1974.

He was a three time NFR qualifier as well—1968, 1970 and 1972 and served for a time as a director with the CPRA. In 1983 he was accorded the honour—Cowboy of the Year.

With all that success, Trapper looks back on one of his greatest memories—not at a rodeo but at a rodeo school that he put on during the 70’s at Stampede Park in Calgary. Someone came up with the idea of a matched ride to show the students how it should be done. The match would pit Trottier on his favourite horse of all time—Harry Vold’s Necklace against Trapper’s rodeo hero, Malcolm Jones aboard the Stampede Hall of Fame mare, Cindy Rocket.

“It was a pretty special deal to ride against Malcolm and I’ve still got the rifle the Stampede gave me for winning that match.”

Dale Trottier was inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1995.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #18
Dwayne Erickson - Legendary Rodeo Writer
The year was 2012.

Dwayne Erickson, longtime Calgary Herald writer famed for his coverage of rodeo, won the prestigious Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Media Award for Excellence in Print Journalism for the second time in his long career covering rodeo.
Not only was Erickson the only Canadian ever to receive the award, he is one of only three men to win the award twice. The first time was in 2003.

A crusty writer with an endless desire for accuracy, Dwayne did not come from a rodeo background, but fell in love with the sport soon after being assigned to cover the spring rodeo in Edmonton some fifty years earlier.

Dwayne is an inductee in the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and was inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2003 in the Builder category. Dwayne passed away in 2013 and his final column “Dwayne Erickson’s Notebook” in the Canadian Rodeo News was made up of tributes to Dwayne, many of them from the rodeo people he so admired and respected and who returned that respect many times over.

* Click here to view 2008 Alberta Sports Hall of Fame Dwayne Erickson Induction Video
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #17

Winston Bruce - World Champion Saddle Bronc RiderThe year was 1961

Stettler, Alberta-born cowboy, Winston Bruce, son of former stock contractor and old time saddle bronc rider, Laurence Bruce, rose to the top of the rodeo world as he won the World Saddle Bronc Riding Championship. This win came on the heels of his Canadian titles (1957 and '58) and, prior to that, a pair of novice championships in 1954 and ’55.


After a brilliant career in the arena that also included wins at Calgary and Cheyenne, Winston made the transition to the Calgary Stampede, serving for many years as the Rodeo Manager and Arena Director. It was during his tenure that the Stampede’s rodeo stock program gained prominence throughout the rodeo world.

Winston Bruce was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame at Colorado Springs, Colorado, in 1989 (the first Canadian contestant to be inducted) and the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1995.

* Thank you to Garry Reuther for this suggestion. Garry's name will be entered into a draw for CPRA merchandise.

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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #16
Jerri Duce - Hall of Fame cowgirl
The year was 1973.

Jerri Duce, a versatile cowgirl from Claresholm, Alberta became the first Canadian barrel racer to qualify for the National Finals Rodeo.
She would qualify for the NFR again in 1976 and 1977 (but did not compete due to injury) during a brilliant career that saw her win nine Canadian titles, the first when she was just twelve years-old.

Trick Riders Joy & Jerri DuceBut that was just one facet of this multi-talented cowgirl’s life in rodeo. She and sister Joy were the famed “Flying Duces” a trick riding act that performed at the 1967 World’s Fair in Montreal, at State Fair rodeos in Louisville, Kentucky, Indianapolis, Indiana, Rochester, Minnesota and Fort Worth, Texas, along with performances at the Cow Palace in San Francisco, Madison Square Gardens in New York City and foreign stops in England, Scotland, Bermuda and Japan.

Jerri who still works with and mentors young trick riders today, was inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1997.

* Thank you to Tom Reardon for this suggestion. Tom's name will be entered into a draw for CPRA merchandise.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #15
Dave MacDonald - Ken Marcinkoski photo
The year was 1975.

Dalemead, Alberta cowboy, the late Dave MacDonald, wrote his name in professional rodeo’s record book, by qualifying for the Canadian Finals Rodeo in three events—bareback riding, calf roping and steer wrestling—in the same year (1975). He was, and still is, the only contestant to have done so.

Ironically, MacDonald would not win the Canadian All-Around title that year. That honour went to his cousin, Bob Hartell, and it’s fitting that the two men were inducted into the Canadian Rodeo Hall of Fame at the same time (2014) and at the same rodeo—the Strathmore Stampede.

In 1978, Dave MacDonald did win the Canadian All-Around title.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #14
Leo Brown - bull riderThe year was 1961. Canadian bull riding icon Leo Brown became the first Canadian bull rider to qualify for the National Finals Rodeo.

Leo Brown - Saddle BroncBut that wasn’t the only “first” for the man many regard as the greatest Canadian rough stock cowboy ever. Two years later, Brown became the first cowboy ever to ride all his bulls at the NFR in Los Angeles—going 8 for 8. And as if those accomplishments weren’t enough, Brown is also the only man to win Canadian championships in all three riding events; Bull Riding (1960, 1961, 1963, 1968 and 1973), saddle bronc riding (1962) and bareback riding (1958, 1960). He’s tied with Gid Garstad and Wilf Girletz for most Canadian bull riding titles, each having won it five times.

The Canadian Pro Rodeo and Alberta Sports Hall of Fame inductee was also a CRCA Board member, a stock contractor (Brown West Rodeo) and a longtime Wrangler Pro Official. Leo Brown—truly one of the greats.

* Thank you to Tom Reardon from Maple Creek, Saskatchewan for this suggestion. Tom's name will be entered into a draw for CPRA merchandise.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #13

Tim Ellis interviews Rod Hay - photo by Sandra SchergerThe year was 1988. Tim Ellis‏ completed his first CFCW Rodeo Report in the spring of that year. 2017 will mark Tim’s 30th consecutive year producing rodeo reports for 840CFCW.

CFCWTim also broadcasts live coverage of the Canadian Finals Rodeo each November and provides print rodeo coverage for the CPRA and Canadian Cowboy Country magazine. When he’s not at a rodeo, Tim can be found announcing play-by-play for the Camrose Kodiaks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League.

Look for Tim Ellis’ RAM Rodeo Reports throughout rodeo season on CFCW and Rodeo Canada social media sites.

* photo by Sandra Scherger

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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #12
Mark Roy - 1992 Canadian & World ChampionThe year was 1992.

Mark RoyFir Mountain, Saskatchewan native Mark Roy followed up his first Canadian Steer Wrestling win (1991) by capturing a second Canadian title, the NFR Steer Wrestling average and the World Steer Wrestling Championship.
Mark was the first Canadian to win the World in the steer wrestling event.

The Canadian Pro Rodeo and Alberta Sports Hall of Fame Inductee went on to win the NFR average for a second time in 1996. Mark, who called Dalemead, Alberta home during and after a career that spanned three decades, retired in 2008.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #11

Franklin Rodeo Company's Kingsway SkoalThe year was 1999. Canada Post issued a set of four 46-cent stamps honouring famous Canadian horses. Franklin Rodeo Company’s Hall of Fame gelding, Kingsway Skoal, was part of that elite group which also included thoroughbred racing’s Northern Dancer, harness racing’s Armbro Flight and show jumping’s Big Ben.
Canada Post's Equine stamp issue
In his amazing career, Kingsway Skoal won five Canadian saddle bronc titles, three Canadian bareback awards and was selected world champion bareback horse in 1988 and was twice named world champion saddle bronc (1995-96).

The cowboy getting bucked off on the saddle bronc image used for the stamp was CFR qualifier Ian Freeman.

* Thank you to Canadian Cowboy Country magazine editor, Terri Mason, for this suggestion. Terri's name will be entered into a draw for CPRA merchandise.

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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #10
Sid - Dean EdgeThe year was 2015. Legendary tie-down roping horse, Sid, owned by CFR roper Dean Edge was named Canadian Professional Rodeo Association Tie-Down Horse of the Year for a record 7th time!

7 time tie-down horse of the yearThe 22-year-old grade gelding has been in Edge's stable since 2000. A popular choice among ropers over the years, the bay with the funny white spots has brought some of the biggest names in rodeo to pay windows across North America.

The world of Canadian tie-down roping is proud to have a horse like Sid.

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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #9
Mel Hyland - Canadian & World Champion bronc riderThe year was 1972. Canadian cowboy Mel Hyland became the first man to win both the Canadian and World saddle bronc riding titles in the same year.

Mel Hyland - Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame inducteeHyland would go on to win a second saddle bronc world championship in 1976 and a total of five Canadian titles (4 saddle bronc and one bareback). The singing cowboy was inducted into the Canadian Rodeo Hall of Fame in 1996 and the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame (in Colorado Springs, CO) in 1999.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #8
Raylee & RanaThe year was 2010. In a sport where generational successes abound, no rodeo family has enjoyed more of that success than the Walter family of Lethbridge.

Mary Lynn & Oscar WalterWhen Rana Walter Koopmans emerged as the Canadian barrel racing champion in 2010, she was the fourth member of that family to earn Canada’s top rodeo honour. Her dad, Oscar, was the 1979 tie-down roping champion; one year later, mom - Mary Lynn - won the barrel racing title while oldest daughter Raylee (Walter) Edwards enjoyed her moment in the spotlight in 2003. Rana’s victory made it a perfect ‘4 for 4’ for this outstanding rodeo family!
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #7
Cliff WilliamsonThe year was 2008. Tie-down roper Cliff Williamson of Madden, Alberta capped off a remarkable career with his 29th Canadian Finals Rodeo appearance - a record that may never be broken.

During his storied career that began with a Rookie of the Year title in 1980, Williamson won five Canadian Championships, was named Cowboy of the Year at his final CFR in 2008 and was inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2012.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #6
Canadian Rodeo News - 1964The year was 1964. The first edition of the Canadian Rodeo News made its appearance.

It was while Pearl and Harold Mandeville were returning from competing at a rodeo in Toronto in 1963, that they first began talking about a rodeo newsletter to keep people posted on the latest goings on.

“The newsletter idea came up about Brandon, Manitoba,” Pearl recalls, “and by the time we got to Regina, it was a newspaper”.

Pearl and Harold MandevilleAnd thus Canada’s professional rodeo newspaper was born. The Mandevilles sold subscriptions at the Edmonton Spring Rodeo, dispensed free copies of that first edition to anyone looking like they might have a ranch background and Harold even put free copies on the windshield of every car in the parking lot. The paper was printed in Taber (twice a month back then), and the Mandeville family dutifully headed to the town almost an hour away, picked up the pages and brought them home where Harold and Pearl, with the kids (Bryan and Vicky) assisting, collated, folded papers, then bundled them according to the towns they were destined for—and headed back to Taber for mailing. “Canada Post had a special rate that you only got if the publication was mailed from the same place it was printed”.

Four years later, the Mandevilles turned the publication over the to the CPRA. In 2014, the Canadian Rodeo News celebrated its fiftieth anniversary but sadly the last issue was published just a year later. Today, CPRA news and features are in a special section (Pro Rodeo Canada Insider) of Canadian Cowboy Country magazine.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #5
The year was 2004. Wildwood, Alberta’s Rod Hay laid claim to his eighth saddle bronc riding title - establishing a record for ‘most championships by a bronc rider’ in Canada.

That eighth buckle broke the tie with fellow superstar Mel Coleman. Hay, who has 20 WNFR qualifications to his credit and four Calgary Stampede wins, was named Canada’s Cowboy of the Year in 2014. He was among the first Canadian cowboys to top the million dollar career earnings mark.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #4

Midnight - Cheyenne Frontier DaysThe year was 1981. Midnight became the first animal to be inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame.

This black gelding was foaled on the Cottonwood Ranch in the Porcupine Hills, west of Fort Macleod, Alberta, in 1916. His mother was a thoroughbred mare; his sire a Percheron/Morgan cross. Due to the horse’s unreliable nature, Midnight’s owner, Jim McNab gave up on making the gelding into a saddle horse and decided to try him as a bucking horse at some of the local rodeos around the country. His reputation quickly grew as he reportedly bucked off all contestants until Pete Knight rode him in 1926.

Midnight - Pro Rodeo Hall of FameAfter being sold into the US, Midnight was featured at major rodeos in the country; he was retired at the conclusion of the 1933 Cheyenne Frontier Days.

Midnight died in November, 1936 and was buried on the McCarty-Elliott Ranch in Johnstown, Colorado. Later his remains were moved to the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City. Midnight was also inducted into the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

His head stone in Oklahoma City reads:

Midnight.
“Under this sod lies a great bucking hoss.
There never lived a cowboy he couldn’t toss.
His name was Midnight; his coat black as coal.
If there is a hoss-heaven, please, God, rest his soul.”


* Photos courtesy of the Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame

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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #3
Jim GladstoneThe year was 1977. Jim Gladstone became the first Canadian to win a timed event world title when he emerged as the World Champion Calf Roper at the (then) sudden-death NFR, pocketing $7166 in go round money and winning the average as well for a $5000 bonus. His total time of 119.7 seconds for ten calves was a record at the time, eclipsing the old mark by five and a half seconds, not bad considering he was nursing a broken finger throughout the final.

J Gladstone Gladstone who was born on the Blood Reserve north of Cardston, Alberta, and went on to a successful career in the legal profession, was the son of Canadian Rodeo Hall of Famer Fred Gladstone and grandson of Canadian Senator, James Gladstone. Jim, who passed away in 2015, remains the only Canadian to have won the Tie Down Roping World Championship.
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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #2

Doug VoldThe year was 1979. The Meadow Lake Stampede was the setting for one of the greatest saddle bronc rides of all time. Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame Legend, Doug Vold, rode the Verne Franklin Rodeo Canadian Hall of Fame bronc, Transport, to a CPRA and PRCA record 95 points (a score that was equalled by 2002 World Champion Glen O'Neill on another Franklin bronc - Skoal Air Wolf - at Innisfail Pro Rodeo in 1996). Vold, a six time CFR qualifier, made the spectacular ride on a horse that was at every Canadian Finals Rodeo from 1974 until his retirement in 1991. Transport also appeared at the National Finals Rodeo 15 times and lived to ripe old age of 32.




* Thank you to Cyndi Gomersall for suggesting this Great Canadian Rodeo Moment. Cyndi’s name will be entered into a draw for CPRA merchandise.

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Great Canadian Rodeo Moment #1

1st CFRThe year was 1974. Canadian Professional Rodeo had grown to the point that a high level national championship was needed. The CPRA (then the CRCA) set out to put together a governing body to bring the dream to fruition. That led to the formation of the Canadian National Finals Rodeo Commission including Bob Robinson, CRCA President; Len Perry, Chairman of the Edmonton Spring Rodeo Committee and Edmonton Northlands Director; C.N (Chunky Woodward, prominent retailer and rancher and Jerry D’Arcy, president of the Calgary Exhibition and Stampede.

The Canadian Finals Rodeo was staged that fall at the Edmonton Gardens with a total purse of $29,278 and attracted it almost 30,000 fans. The CFR moved to the Edmonton Coliseum the following year—and 43 years later, the coliseum remains its home.

* Click image to enlarge
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* Send in your ideas for Great Canadian Rodeo Moments to be included in this feature - which will run throughout the 2017 CPRA season. Contributors whose suggestions are used will be eligible for CPRA merchandise prize draws.
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