CFR 51 Primer Bareback Riding

– BY TIM ELLIS, CANADIAN RODEO NEWS WRITER

Clint Laye will take nothing for granted at this year’s Canadian Finals Rodeo in Edmonton.

“I’m treating each ride like it might be my last one,” offers the Cadogan, AB, cowboy. “I’m planning on putting everything on the line because you never really know how many you’ve got left.”

Sounds ominous for a guy who just finished as the CPRA’s season leader in the bareback riding for the first time in his career. But, perhaps practical for a 31-year-old dad, who first qualified for the CFR in the novice bareback riding as a 16-year-old teenager in 2010.

“Who knows,” quips Laye when asked about his future on the rodeo trail. “We’ll see what happens at the Canadian Finals. I’m definitely not planning on going south anymore. If I do continue to rodeo up here, it’ll probably be at a select few.”

That plan would have merit based on Laye’s 2025 season. He won over 85-percent of his total regular season earnings at eleven of the SMS Equipment Pro Rodeo Tour stops during the year.

“I had never gotten that big Ponoka cheque until this year,” reveals Laye, who pocketed over $13,000 from the high-paying Ponoka Stampede. “It was a solid year all the way through. Definitely got things put together at the big rodeos and that helped a bunch.”

“My favorite ride was probably at Armstrong at the Tour Finale. That was a pretty good payday at the end of the year. I got to draw Special Delivery in the short round. That was probably the 5^th or 6^th time I’ve drawn him. Our careers have kind of gone side by side since he was bucked in the novice at the CFR back in 2010 or 11.”

Laye will bring a $14,000-plus lead into Rogers Place, more than what it will pay to win a go-round.

“Now that there are only five rounds, it’s good to have a cushion like that in case one night goes bad,” suggests the two-time Canadian champion. “It won’t change my preparation at all but it sure helps in going after another title.”

It will be Laye’s 10^th appearance in the open bareback riding at the CFR, his first coming as a rookie back in 2012. Based on pattern, you could suggest it’s his year to capture another buckle to go along with championships won in 2021 and 2023. But there are a host of other talented veterans in the field who will attempt to break the pattern.

Like Montana’s, Richie Champion, the 2018 Canadian title holder, who returns to the CFR for the first time since 2019.

“I was thinking 2019 was a long time ago, I should probably get back up there,” chuckles the 32-year-old, who had a Texas address back then. “I was chasing the NFR bubble really hard near the end of last year so I couldn’t make it up. I wanted to get an early start on things this year and get back to the CFR.”

Champion will bring another Montanan with him to Edmonton as Sam Petersen, who is fourth in the world bareback standings and will be the youngest bareback rider at Rogers Place, makes his CFR debut. He’s one of just five qualifiers who are under the age of thirty.

That group includes Ethan Mazurenko, Chett Deitz, Brett Williams and Cruz McNulty, who qualified for his first CFR on the final weekend of the regular season.

“It’s always been a goal of mine since I was a little kid,” confirms the 25-year-old. “To be there with the best in Canada and some of the best in the world makes it even better.”

Defending champion, Kody Lamb is back along with 2022 champ, Ty Taypotat, who comes in with the most CFR qualifications (13), 2019 title holder, Orin Larsen, Dantan Bertsch and Louisiana’s Taylor Broussard, who has qualified for the first time in his career.


2025 CFR BAREBACK RIDING QUALIFIERS