CFR 51 Primer Bull Riding

– BY DAVE POULSEN, CANADIAN RODEO NEWS WRITER

Unfinished Business for Jake Gardner

The ‘Prince of the Peace Country’ as he is often known has been here before. One year ago at the CFR’s Night of Champions, Jake Gardner stepped onstage to receive the Bull Riding Season Leader saddle. He will make that same acceptance this year. But there’s one huge difference

In 2024, Gardner went into CFR with a shoulder injury he had sustained a few weeks earlier – that in part derailed his valiant effort to qualify for the NFR. And while the three-time Champion (two-time High Point and once Kenny McLean winner), is the last guy to make excuses, the shoulder was clearly a factor as the Fort St. John, B.C. native covered only one of his bulls, a very uncharacteristic performance for one of Canada’s best.

Fast forward to 2025. We are seeing Gardner not only sitting atop the Canadian standings once again as the CPRA’s best head for Rogers Place in search of that coveted date with destiny – the Canadian title – but the 29 year-old sensation is also second in the PBR Canada standings, putting him in a position to do the unprecedented—win both titles in the same year.

And Gardner makes no bones of the fact that it all comes down to health.

“I felt that last year I was only about fifty per cent going to the finals,” he acknowledged. “I was just kind of getting by and I actually wasn’t going to go to the Finals but I decided to just tough it out. The difference between last year and this year is night and day. I’m physically healthy; I’m mentally healthy. I’m feeling pretty darn good, I’m excited and looking forward to it.”

Which takes us back to the thing about unfinished business. “Yeah, I’d like a little redemption, that’s for sure. The way last season ended was upsetting for me. But you get bucked off, you gotta get back on. I’m happy to be back in this position again and feeling healthy. Hopefully we can have a better outcome.”

When his CPRA success is being virtually duplicated in the PBR where he’s virtually tied for first place with that association’s finals on the near horizon, it has been an amazing season for the six time CFR qualifier. “Yeah, I kind of changed my focus this year from chasing the NFR. I needed a change of scenery and a little freshening up. I traveled alone a lot last year and I just decided to stay up here in Canada this year. I really want to win a Canadian title and that’s been a main goal and my focus this season. I;m just hoping for good results.”

And while Gardner is on pace for a potentially history-making year, it won’t be easy to be wearing the champion’s buckle come October 4^th. Not when you look at a field that includes four former champions, Edgar Durazo, Jared Parsonage, Dakota Buttar and Jordan Hansen and some of bull riding’s young lions in second year finalist, Grady Young and rookie qualifiers, Jhett Wheeler and Tanner Skene.  

Skene, one of four bull riding brothers from Prince Alberta, Saskatchewan has had a roller coaster ride in his sophomore season as a pro. He had to battle back from broken ribs and a punctured lung late in his final college year (Sul Ross State University in Alpine, Texas) that cost him a trip to the college finals.

After finally getting healthy and regaining his winning form, Skene got bucked off in Ponoka and tore up his knee (ACL MCL and meniscus).

“Sport Med got me sorted out and fitted me with a custom brace and I got back on at Teepee Creek,” he stated. “But then I struggled and fell off every bull I got on for five straight weeks.”

But at Dawson Creek, the Saskatchewan bull rider found his mojo, placed at the Stampede and got on a heater, riding 8 of his next 11 and setting the stage for the biggest win of his career at the SMS Equipment Tour Finals in Armstrong, BC.  Skene rode the Calgary Stampede bull Smog to 86.25 for second in his pool and a berth in the finals where he forged a spectacular 87.25 on the Vold bull Rock Steady for the win, the $7500 payday and the coveted trip to his first CFR.

“I had nothing to lose coming into this week,” he said after the win. “I just never counted myself out. Just went out there and had some fun.”

The blazing final weeks of the season have necessitated a change of goals for the 23 year-old. “At the start of the year, my goal was to make the CFR.  But now I’ve set my sights on winning a Canadian title—it’s so close in the bull riding standings. And I feel great going in.”


2025 CFR BULL RIDING QUALIFIERS