The last time team ropers Tate and Kagen Schmidt were at the Canadian Finals Rodeo was 2023. The talented brothers are on track to make sure that their return to Canada’s year-end classic takes place in 2026. A solid win at the Teepee Creek Stampede, ninth stop on the Massey Ferguson Pro Tour, has thrust the third-generation tandem firmly into the CFR conversation as they put together a solid 5.2 second run to edge another brother combination seeking a return to the Finals–Logan and Keely Bonnett, who were second courtesy of a 5.4 second run.
The win earned 25-year-old header Tate and older brother Kagen $2779 and marked a total change of form from previous years.
“Yeah, usually, Bowden (Daze Rodeo) is our honey hole and we messed one up there,” Tate noted, “so it was nice to get it done in Teepee, especially at a (Massey Ferguson) Tour event. And we were talking on the way home, I’m not sure we’ve ever even got a time up there before.”
As for the unwelcome absence from the last two CFRs, the 25-year-old was definite. “It’s time we got back there for sure,” he stated. “It’s not that much fun sittin’ on the couch watching it on TV.”
Schmidt was also clear on the formula that has kept the duo together in an event that is noted for the frequency of changing partners. “It’s just being brothers. We work together with the rest of the family on the farm every day with crops and cattle and training horses. We know each other like the back of our hand, and we just know what the other guy is going to do every time in the arena.”
The team and their mounts—heading horse Panda, his dad, David’s heeling horse that got too big for heeling, and Kagen’s longtime and solid mare, Roxy—are counting on the confidence and momentum the Teepee Creek win will provide to propel them through the critical final third of the season. “The horses are feeling good; we’re feeling good with a little momentum going our way, so we’ll just keep picking away and see where end up at the end of the year.”
In 2025, bareback rider Cruz McNulty went down to the final horse of the regular season at Langley, BC before clinching his first Canadian Finals Rodeo berth. It’s clear the 25 year-old talent is intent on getting things wrapped up a little sooner this year.
The last two weeks have seen McNulty make a solid move in that regard as he followed up a win at the Bassano Pro Rodeo (84 points on Yule Rodeo’s 9 Cloud Nine for $1364) with an identical 84 mark at the Bowden Daze Rodeo on Macza Pro Rodeo’s 615 Montana Cat and a $902 payday.
It was the second year in succession that the Biggar, Saskatchewan cowboy topped the field at Bowden and the recent successes have solidified his hold on a top ten spot in the Canadian standings, well ahead of his pace from a year ago. And maybe the 2021 Novice Champion can dodge another one of those nail-biting finishes to the year.
The CPRA swings eastward with three stops—Massey Ferguson Pro Tour events at Regina’s Pile o’ Bones Rodeo July 17-18 and the Manitoba Stampede in Morris July 17-19 along with Bio Sul Premium Plus Series Moose Mountain Pro Rodeo in Kennedy, Saskatchewan July 18-19.
For complete (unofficial) results head to rodeocanada.com