There’s no question about who the happiest cowboy in Ponoka is after the fourth performance of the Ponoka Stampede. Hands down, it was Craig Weisgerber. The genial steer wrestler had the kind of day dreams are made of. After catching his morning steer in an impressive 4.4 seconds, he came flying down the long score in the afternoon, and handled his second steer in a mere 3.9 seconds, the fastest he’s ever been here. The 8.3 second tally moved to the overall lead by nearly two seconds.

Fresh off tossing his cowboy hat like a bullfighter, plus whooping and raising his fists in the air, Weisgerber could still hardly believe what had just happened.

“I’m almost shocked,” gasped Weisgerber. “I felt like I was going to do good, but I’m blown away right now. This is nuts!”

“I threw my hat, guys! I don’t do that.”

It’s not that the Ponoka cowboy is a stranger to success at his hometown show. In fact, two years ago, he also led the aggregate.

“Then I had some bad luck in the short go, but we’re back in the driver’s seat, to try it again,” grinned Weisgerber.

The ironic thing is that Ponoka is the very first rodeo Weisgerber has entered this year. He’s been farming, working on the movie ‘Billy the Kid’, and busy with their two young sons.

“It’s the only rodeo I entered this weekend! Like I literally have all my irons in this fire, to even keep going to the next one. I guess I’m not going to work on Tuesday now,” he giggled.

Weisgerber can count on two hands the amount of steers he’s run since last October. Five practice ones and a couple at the Hoover Hays Memorial Jackpot in May.

“I bought my (CPRA) card on June 4^th, the last day you could possibly wait for it. I’m just fresh, and maybe that’s half the battle, I don’t know. But I couldn’t be any more excited about this. I live six minutes away from here, and they add a lot of money. It’s hard not to come to this one. We’ll see how it turns out. My summer might look a heluva lot different than when it started.”

“Opportunity knocks and you’d better answer it.”

Cowboy Christmas means a lot of driving for contestants to take advantage of the many rodeos in far and away places. Ponoka was definitely far for the tie-down roper who’s now at the top of the leaderboard on two runs. Brushton Minton came all the way from Witter Springs, CA.

“It was a long drive up here from California, but I’m glad I went. It was like thirty hours – we drove for two days,” says Minton, who managed to put together two smooth runs – in 8.6 and 8.7 seconds, to sit first at 17.3 seconds.

“This is a new horse I got, right before the summer. He’s been doing really good with me. We’re starting to click pretty good.”

“Me and another buddy, we did a trade on horses. It’s working out for both of us. It was a good trade.”

Minton was able to see his calf go in the morning run, and got some valuable intel.

“You kind of know what the calf’s going to do from the first round. I knew he was going to go left, but he was good on the ground and I knew if I just caught him, I’d get back to the short round.”

Before Minton comes back to Ponoka though, he’ll have to spend some more hours in the truck.

“I’m up at Williams Lake. It’s my first time, so I guess it’s a long drive over there.”

Saddle bronc rider Quentin Taylor seems to have a magnet for drawing the storied Vold horse Pedro. The brown gelding has been a Canadian Champion bucking horse, and made many trips to both the CFR and NFR. But he continues to perform at the age of 20. Taylor drew him at Ponoka, the third time the two had danced together in the month of June. This time the mark of 84.5 is one Taylor is hoping will hang in among the top twelve, to bring him back on July first.

“I think the only trip he’s been bucked this year that I didn’t get on him was in Stavely!” says Taylor. “Ol’ Pedro just goes out there and does his same old trip. You know he’s going to have that rare out of there and hit, and then circle around either direction and be pretty good. He’s real wide built – he wintered well – so your saddle feels a bit different on him than on other horses. You’ve just got to be aggressive and set your feet, and it all works out.”

Vold bulls dominated in their event, bucking off every cowboy but one. Two-time Canadian Bull Riding Champion Jared Parsonage comfortably made eight seconds, on Super Fly for 83 points, tying for sixth place in the standings, where there are eleven qualified rides so far.

“That’s a young bull I’ve seen a couple times,” says Parsonage, who ranches in the Maple Creek, SK area. “He was just really good in Wainwright, really good in Grande Prairie. I knew he could go either way, and I kind of expected that, but if I could just sit up there and do my job, I’d stand a good chance.”

“There was nothing too out of the ordinary there. Just popping and spinning. If you want to be successful at this level, you’ve got to ride those ones.”

Parsonage is also the defending Ponoka Stampede titlist, but feels like he still has some unfinished business here.

“Yea, I do. I didn’t stay on in the four-round last year. So it would be a good year to ride one in the four round. Hopefully make it back first.”

“It’s fun when you get to wake up every morning and do something you love.”

A cloudburst came along and presented some challenges for the ladies in the barrel racing. But Montana cowgirl Madison Wilkerson trusted her horse, and he handled the suddenly wet ground well. They raced home in 17.58 seconds, just a tenth of a second longer than leader Jennifer Neudorf. Caitlyn Dahm posted a 2.8 second run for fastest of Saturday’s performance in breakaway roping, but missed her first calf. Brittany Shuk and Tehya Sargent both roped their way into a top twelve spot in the aggregate. Team ropers Logan Spady and Trey Gallais posted a time of 13.2 on their pair of runs, and that slots them into fourth spot overall. South Dakota’s Steven Dewolfe had the high bareback mark of the day at 79.75 on Mucho Dinero, but it’s barely hanging on to a top twelve spot.

Zeke Thurston has a long history with the Ponoka Stampede. It goes back to the days when he was part of the family act The Thurston Gang doing trick roping and riding. Then there was steer riding, and novice saddle bronc. And since turning pro a decade ago, he’s earned three Ponoka Stampede saddle bronc championships, to go along with his five Canadian and four World Champion buckles.

So Thurston rolled into Ponoka with some high expectations Sunday, for the fifth performance of the 89^th Stampede. He did a little dance with the Calgary Stampede horse Exciting Bubbles, and eight seconds and 86 points later, he’s in fifth place overall, and in great shape for more Ponoka success.

“You get that initial one out of the way, and get back in a decent spot – one of the top three or four spots, that’s a big advantage – then you can come here for the Finals, and go out there and do your job in the 12-man, and hopefully get you one for the four round.”

“This rodeo’s treated me really well,” admits Thurston, who makes his home at Big Valley. “It’s right in my back yard and I always seem to have really good luck here. I just can’t wait to see what this year’s got in store.”

Although it looked like ‘just another day at the office’ for Thurston, there was some business management in his approach to entering Ponoka for Sunday.

“It’s later in the week. A lot of guys like to come and get here first couple perfs and get out of here so you can go do everything. It’s a little more work for us to go back and forth, but you hit that Calgary pen and get one of them buckers, you’ve got a good chance to come back. A rodeo like this – this one rodeo – could make your whole fourth.”

The travel work this year included a social media plea for connections on transportation.

“About twelve hours before we left Reno yesterday, we had no rides, no way to get here, and we didn’t know how we were going to get here. By the time we left yesterday, we had about three different planes we could’ve taken and everything had come together,” smiled Thurston. “It always does.”

Thurston and his traveling partners managed to secure a private jet to go from Reno to Great Falls, arriving at midnight to grab a rental car and get to Ponoka for 7:30 Sunday morning, in time for the steer wrestlers he was traveling with to help throw down steers before their runs in slack. The $5593 Thurston earned in Reno will go a long way to a flight payment. One of Thurston’s traveling partners, fellow bronc rider Ben Andersen, collected $10,567 out of Reno and then was just a quarter point behind Thurston in Ponoka.

Thurston hasn’t entered a lot of rodeos in the early season, busy with his young family. That includes helping his young daughter Lucy with some trick riding practice, and it was a full circle moment as he was a proud dad watching her perform at Ponoka Saturday on TV, while he was still in Reno.

But now it’s go time for rodeo.

“This is the time of year that matters. This is when we like to get to work and get after it.”

Bareback rider Clint Laye is on a similar program, busy at his ranch near Cadogan and with his young family. Ponoka Stampede is one rodeo that he couldn’t pass up. Even though, he hasn’t had a great track record at Ponoka.

“I’ve been bucked off here pretty hard a couple times,” recalls Laye. “One time I won the long round and came back and got bucked off in the twelve-man. Just kind of had tough luck. But I keep showing up and keep trying, and hopefully this will be a good year.”

It’s off to a strong start, as Laye took over second place with an 85.75 mark on Calgary Stampede’s Arbitrator Joe.

“He’s a big, fat horse, lots to get a hold of. He just came around really nice and let me focus on some stuff I’ve been working on, so that was a really good, feeling ride.”

“Ponoka’s huge, especially in the Canadian standings. It gives you such a bump and is so important for us.”

There are now a full complement of twelve qualified bull rides, even before the final performance. However, Brazilian Francisco Costa was the only one to make the whistle Sunday, as he marked an 84.5 on Calgary’s Watermelon Sugar High, to sit in fifth place for the standings.

While All Around contender Riley Wakefield had the best run Sunday afternoon in the tie-down roping, a missed opportunity on his first calf means he was only eligible for go-round money. It was Texan Paden Bray who managed to secure third spot in the aggregate standings after putting together two runs in 19.1 seconds. It was a similar situation in steer wrestling, where Mike McGinn of Oregon went after some go-round money with a time of four flat, after missing his first steer. South Dakota’s Jace Melvin took over third place overall with 10.2 seconds on his pair of runs. Team ropers Brett Buss of Ponoka and Joey Romo of Nanton were the speedy ones of the afternoon in 4.6 seconds, but they’re in a precarious 11^th spot among twelve qualifiers.

There was another two second run posted in the breakaway roping as Tatum Wilson caught a calf cleanly in 2.7 seconds, to snag fifth spot in the standings overall with an 8.6. Mikenna Schauer was a hair faster for her two run tally at 7.2, giving her second spot overall.

“I had a pretty good run this morning,” says Schauer, who helps on the family ranch at Halkirk while finishing her education training. “And I got really nervous right before my run. But honestly, I sat back in the box and everything just kind of mellowed out, and I just went and roped my calf.”

“It’s pretty intense running down the alley though. There’s a lot of thoughts running through your head of what could happen, how it’s going to go, what your calf is going to do. It was pretty fun though,” she grinned.

As she looks ahead to the Finals, Schauer intends to focus on the long game.

“I just need to go get one more down in three seconds. Don’t do anything crazy Tuesday. Same thing, take a deep breath and go get another calf roped.”

The lead in the barrel racing changed for the first time since opening day, as Oklahoma’s Paige Jones bumped the clock with her 17.54 second run, to become the new pacesetter. Then Karli Cowie of Mankota, SK was only a tenth behind that, to sit second with her 17.55 second run.

Jones believes her 13-year-old gelding Bazinga is well suited for the Ponoka pen.

“He’s always loved big outdoors,” says Jones. “Whenever the barrels are off the fences, I can trust he’s going to rate down and turn them, and take care of himself. I always say he’s very ‘four-wheel drive’ because I feel like he keeps all four feet going together at the same time. He stays real up underneath himself.”

Jones has some high hopes, considering the size of the Ponoka purse.

“It could really turn a season around. My season so far hasn’t been great. For the last month I’ve been sitting up here, turning out of muddy rodeos, so I’m happy to hopefully win some money.”

Monday will see the final set of contestants who have a chance to secure a spot among the top twelve in each event. Those finalists will compete July first in the afternoon, with the four best advancing to the rich Showdown Round, where the 2025 Ponoka Stampede Champions will be determined.

Ty Taypotat knows what it’s like to be close to a Ponoka Stampede championship. But the talented bareback rider from Saskatchewan, who now calls Nanton home, has never quite been able to strap on the cherished buckle. His 2025 quest to get the job done took an important step forward Friday, as Taypotat made an 84-point ride, to put himself in third place in the standings.

“That’s a great, great horse of Duane Kesler’s called Sleeping Giant,” says Taypotat. “I was pretty tickled to have that one.”

What’s even better is that the 2022 Canadian Champion is feeling great… finally.

There’s no doubt bareback riding is one of the toughest rodeo events physically. Taypotat rode his last horse at the CFR in Edmonton last October, and decided it was time to give his beat-up body the healing time it needed. So he didn’t enter a rodeo until May, where he had a horse get him down and step on his back. That required more time off, so Ponoka is just his fifth rodeo back in action.

“I was hurt all last year and nothing wanted to heal up. I was riding sore, and pretty soon a guy’s not really wanting to ride. Then a person starts fighting their head a bit. So glad to be feeling healthy again – mind’s back, and body’s back.”

Taypotat credits plenty of working out, plus a regime of sauna, then cold tub time, and lots of hours on his spur board. Now he’s craving the buckers, and can’t wait for his next one, even hoping he could pluck Agent Lynx in the Showdown round.

He’s been there five times in the past, finishing second once, and missing another time by a half point.

“We’ll see how the luck goes, I guess. Draw some good ones and see what happens. I’m feeling healthy, so anything is possible.”

A trio of saddle bronc riders is wondering if it’s possible they’ll be able to make it back to the July first Finals, after they all turned in identical marks of 83.25. Young gun Sawyer Eirikson of Okotoks earned his on the Kesler horse named Boss Feeds Miscrient; Layton Green of Millarville got his on Ice Man, and Isaac Diaz matched them both on Bail Bond. That means they share a split of 7-8-9, and they take twelve to the Finals, with three more sections of bronc riders to come.

Diaz, from Texas, has been rodeoing for two decades now, notching seven NFR qualifications. At 38, he’s taking a little easier pace during this busy summer run – just one rodeo a day.

“I’ve started to realize that it doesn’t really pay off to be tired everywhere,” smiles the veteran. “It’s about capitalizing on good horses.”

“This was definitely a nice horse. I don’t know that that (score) will make it back, but I felt like I came and did my job.”

With a young daughter, Diaz doesn’t venture this far from home as much these days, but the big purse at Ponoka and his love for Canadian rodoes brought him back.

He’ll never forget his first trip to Ponoka in 2010, when he actually won the saddl bronc championship.

“That’s probably the worst drive I’ve ever done. All my traveling partners went to Greeley (CO) that day. We’d been in St. Paul (OR) the night before, driving all the way. It was stupid. I should’ve just flown. But back in those days, we didn’t believe in doing that. So I was by myself and I drove as fast as I could drive from 7:30 that night until I got here. I had Frost Bite of Franklin’s, and he was standing in the chute when I got here. I could barely hold my eyes open. It was a stressful trip. As soon as I got off my horse, I went and took a nap,” chuckles Diaz. “But it worked out great. I had Fearless Warrior the next day in the short round, so it made it so much worth it.”

With the breakaway roping making its debut at the Ponoka Stampede, and with the challenge of the long score run, no one was quite sure if the super-fast speeds the girls are known for would be possible. But eighteen-year-old Aubrey Ross showed them how on Friday, with an impressive 2.3 second run.

“I knew it would be possible, but I didn’t know if it would be me or not,” says Ross, from Botha. “I just scored really good, my horse fired really hard. I was able to see where my calf was the whole time, and it just worked out.”

“I’m just so happy to be here. It’s so awesome. I speak for every breakaway roper that we’re so thankful to be here.”

While Ross broke the barrier on her first calf, she’s still sixth overall with her 15.7 second total, and has a chance to return on Tuesday. Brooke Pomeranz of Alix took over third place in the aggregate race with 8.9 seconds.

Texan Trevor Hale made the fastest tie-down roping run of this year’s Stampede at 7.8 seconds. But he’ll only get go-round cash as he was no-time on his first run. Stettler’s own Beau Cooper notched his name into third place in the overall standings with a 20.4 second total on two runs.

“The long score here is like no other,” says Cooper. “It’s pretty fun, but that horse makes it easy. He’s fast. It’s fun riding him here.”

That horse is one Cooper calls Seven, that helped him get to the NFR in 2023. But he’s had some soundness issues the last several years that have forced Cooper to turn to him only occasionally, and only close to home.

“They’ve got to be kind of tough and gritty to run here, and he’s all of those things and more. He loves his job and when they love their job, just like us, they’ll fight through some things. He’s been really good.”

Ponoka has been favorable to the second-generation roper. He’s placed every year he’s roped here, and wound up second in 2023.

“I’m getting back to that final four, and winning it,” grins Cooper.

But before Tuesday’s opportunity, Cooper will be flying to Williams Lake to rope; then drive to Prineville, OR; then he’ll fly back for Airdrie Sunday night; make a quick stop in Livingston, MT before returning to Ponoka.

“For the love of the game,” he adds.

In the steer wrestling, Harley Cole was fast man of the afternoon with a time of five seconds flat, but missed his first steer. Landon Beardsworth now sits fourth overall with his total of 12.9 seconds. There are some new faces on top of the team roping leaderboard as Texans Clay Smith and Nicky Northcott were fastest in the performance at 5.2 seconds, but now are also fastest on two runs with an 11.9 second total. Ferrah Fogg was a last-minute replacement in barrel racing, but the Saskatchewan cowgirl made a bid to return to Ponoka Tuesday, with her 17.67 second run, good enough for third place.

There were four more qualified bull rides out of the third Ponoka performance. Hayes Weight of Utah made an 85.75 point ride on Kesler’s Boss Feeds Smoke Show to take over second place so far.

They picked up the speed in the timed events during the second performance of the 89^th annual Ponoka Stampede.

It was a particularly good day for Taylor Cherry. She now finds herself at or near the top in both her events.

The Claresholm cowgirl is making her first trip to Ponoka, and with a pair of breakaway roping runs in 3.3 and then 3.6 seconds, she leads the aggregate race (6.9 seconds) to return for the July first Finals. Plus, she also rounded the barrels in the best time of the afternoon at 17.68 seconds, to sit third in the barrel racing standings.

Not bad for a rookie pro, who’s also showcasing young horses.

“I’m on green horses,” says Cherry. “My breakaway horse is green as grass, and my barrel horse has been to some rodeos this year. But he’s green also, just coming off his futurity year last year, and he’s handling things really well.”

“Honestly, coming into Ponoka, I didn’t really have a lot of expectations. I just wanted to be smooth and clean, and that’s what I did.”

As a horse trainer who’s specialized in the futurity world, Cherry has confidence in both mounts, even though they’re only six years old. But it was encouraging to see them excel.

“On a big stage like this, and to perform like that, it makes a trainer feel good too. You feel like you’ve done your job somewhat right,” smiles Cherry.

Reata Schlosser was beaming after she posted the best time of the afternoon in the breakaway at 3.2 seconds, describing the long run down the alley as different than anything she’s ever done before.

“You’re going down there and listening for everyone saying ‘easy’ or ‘yea’ or ‘go’ or ‘pull’ and it’s incredible – there’s nothing like it,” says Schlosser, from Nanton.

“It’s a little bit of a different roping too. We’re used to roping them in a couple swings. At this one, you’ve got to time and read your cow a little better and get down there. You usually have to go a few more than two swings. It’s cowgirl up and get it done.”

Schlosser is tied for second in the aggregate standings with 7.4 seconds.

A long drive from Ponoka to the next rodeo was going to be a whole lot easier for one truck load of team ropers. Grady Quam and Logan Groves now sit on top of the leaderboard, with a solid 12.7 seconds on two runs.

“Shoot, it’s been a while since I’ve got two down here at Ponoka, so it feels good,” says Quam, the header. “I have to walk by my Dad’s Ponoka Stampede buckle every morning at the house, so it’s about time I try to get myself one too.”

Jeff Quam and Mel Coleman have their name on the wall at the Stagecoach Saloon for winning the team roping in 2006.

Groves handles the heeling duties, and while he and Quam lead overall, his younger brother Brody and partner Cody Tew were actually best in the performance with a 6.3 second time.

“Well, the rule in our rig is whoever’s slower drives, so I guess I’ve got the first shift to Williams Lake,” laughs Logan Groves.

“This is my fourth year at Ponoka and if we make the Finals, this will be my third time making it,” he adds.

“I needed some of that juju on my side,” says Quam, about their partnership this year.

Some Oklahoma traveling partners made their mark in the steer wrestling Thursday. Trisyn Kalawaia made two solid runs to take over the number one aggregate spot with 10.1 seconds. Hot on his heels is Chance Howard, who had the best run of the afternoon with a 4.7 second run, and is 11.0 on two.

“I like these kinds of setups when you run them down a lane,” says Kalawaia, who grew up on the beach in Hawaii. “It’s always exciting, lots of adrenalin and your blood’s pumping.”

He and several fellow bulldoggers flew in for the rodeo, having already arranged to use Canadian Stephen Culling’s horse.

“That horse is easy and super safe here and he tries his butt off. I’m thankful to Stephen for letting us on.”

Kalawaia had plenty of options for athletics growing up, but it wasn’t long before one took over.

“I’ve played a few different sports, but once I got into rodeo, I was so busy with it, I had time for nothing else.”

“I’m living the dream, and hopefully can make the NFR.”

Tie-down roper Jake Pratt of Texas had the smoothest run of Thursday’s performance, with 8.2 seconds. But he didn’t catch his first calf so won’t be back for the Finals. The cowboy who did take over the lead was Jesse Popescul of Saskatchewan, who made a pair of runs in 18.9 seconds.

“My brother finally let me back on this dun horse. I’m grateful for him,” says Popescul. “He kind of just keeps the horse at home. He’s getting older, and uses him sparingly. He works real good here at this setup.”

“He gets revved up running down that lane, just like everybody. Yea, just like me,” chuckles Popescul.

The riding event leaderboard stayed relatively untouched Thursday. California cowboy Tucker Bourdet sits fifth in saddle bronc riding after his 85.75 mark on Macza’s Grit Your Teeth. Minnesota’s Tanner Aus loves coming to Ponoka but isn’t sure if he’ll be back on Tuesday, after a pair of 82 scores. His first ride was wild but pretty much in the chute gate, so he was given another, but then earned the same score, which is in fourth spot so far.

Rookie Griffin Koester of Rockyford took over fourth in the bull riding on Macza’s Carharts and Lace with an 83.

“Everybody said he was a cool draw, so I was happy to have him,” says Koester, who doesn’t spend a lot of time studying his draws. “I like to find out when I nod my head. Sometimes you find yourself setting traps, thinking he’s going to do something. They’re still an animal, they can do whatever they want.”

“Last year, I took one to seven seconds here at Ponoka, so it feels really awesome to get one rode here.”

More than ever, the Ponoka Stampede can be a game changer for pro rodeo athletes. Added prize money in the riding events this year make the stakes even higher. Whether you’re from Brazil, Oklahoma, or even central Alberta, the desire to excel at this rodeo is high.

For Nicholas Patterson, the pressure amped up a bit when he found out the horse he’d drawn in the saddle bronc riding. A friend asked if he was excited or scared about Ponoka, and that’s when he learned he’d meet The Big Grey. One of Canada’s most decorated and famous bucking horses, C5’s Virgil has twice been named best Bareback Horse of the World, and twice in Canada as well. But he dabbles in the saddle bronc pen, and brings his same superstar bucking talents to that event.

“I was super excited when I saw my name beside him, but a little nervous,” admits Patterson, who lives at Rocky Mountain House. “I watched Zeke (Thurston) at his bronc match in Stettler win it on him, and he was one of the first guys I messaged to see what I needed to do.”

Armed with the rein insight from the four-time World Champion, and a dose of encouragement, Patterson took his own shot at the powerful steed for an action-packed eight seconds. The two-time CFR qualifier rose to the task and set his spurs rolling for an aggressive 89.5 point performance.

“It was a blast!”

“He felt pretty good today. I think I was ahead of him enough his power didn’t get to me too bad.”

That kind of score virtually guarantees Patterson a spot back for the Ponoka Finals on July 1^st. And after a winter run which included getting knocked out at a Florida rodeo and a rough spring, it’s just the confidence builder Patterson needs heading into the busiest time of the rodeo year.

“It’s huge. This is the first time I’ve had any sort of luck here in Ponoka. I’m excited to get on the road and get to a bunch more.”

One of the hottest cowboys in the world of pro rodeo made his first trip to Ponoka count. Wacey Schalla is number one in bull riding, and number two in the World All Around race, as he also rides bareback horses.

“Weston Timberman won the bareback riding here last year. I went to college with him and he’s one of my good friends so when I saw he won it, I had to try and get right up there with him,” says Schalla.

It was the 19-year-old Oklahoma resident’s first trip to Canada. Traveling with a fellow bull rider, both were too young to rent a car, so they took an uber from the airport. They actually were lost in Ponoka, until they asked folks ordering at a drive-thru how to find the Stampede grounds!

But Schalla was far from lost in the arena, where he stayed firmly in the middle of a bull called Captain Hook for eight seconds and 86.25 points, to top the leaderboard. He was also 83.75 points in the bareback riding on C5’s Devils Girl, to sit third in that event.

“I was excited coming here, and my goal was just to capitalize on what I had.”

Even though his address is Montana, Richmond Champion is one of the top bareback riders in the Canadian standings right now, having placed at all eleven of the Canadian rodeos he’s entered so far. Plus he’s the high man so far at Ponoka, after marking on 86.75 on the horse he was hoping to draw in the pen – Pretty Woman.

“Every now and then it lines up,” chuckles Champion. “Every trip I’ve seen her, she goes out and hits, and goes right. She went left today, so that was new, and that’s OK – it worked.”

Champion has won Ponoka twice in the past, and can’t believe all the growth of the Stampede ground facilities, including the addition this year of a contestant’s dressing room.

“This rodeo is so special. It should be bigger than it is, in my opinion. I don’t know why it doesn’t get as much recognition as some of the ones down south. This is THE best rodeo over the fourth of July – no question. All you have to do is come up here once, and you’ll never miss it again.”

Bareback is one of the riding events now boasting a $75,000 purse and getting a big piece of that could do a lot for Champion’s goals of the Canadian and National Finals Rodeos.

“It’s amazing. You win this – slingshot engaged. You’re moving up.”

History was made at the Ponoka Stampede with the addition of a new event –breakaway roping. The ladies were up for the challenge of the famous Ponoka long score, but were grateful to the Pugh family for putting on a jackpot the week before the Stampede so they could get a taste of what it’s like.

Lacombe roper Taylor Flewelling was fastest of the performance with a 4.7 second run.

“It was super exciting,” says Flewelling. “I was pumped to just hear they were having breakaway, and I know there’s a lot of people that are behind it, and in helping us get here. I’m just super grateful for all those people who put a lot of work into getting us here. I’ve watched this rodeo lots and it’s pretty cool to actually be here. I’ve always thought about running one down the lane and now I’ve done it.”

“I was the first girl to ever run one at the CFR when they had it in Red Deer, so it was pretty cool to be one of the first girls here too.”

Like the other timed events, the breakaway ropers get two runs to determine the finalists. Flewelling missed her first calf, so she’s out of that hunt. But Kashley Seitz of High River got both her calves roped and she’s best on two with a 10.4 second total.

“I actually made a last-minute horse switch based on that jackpot, and it worked really well for me,” says Seitz. “The calves are running across the line and they’re running hard so it’s something like we don’t usually have up here, and it’s fun.”

In the tie-down roping, Cooper Resch of High River was fast man in both the morning run as well as the performance, so his combined total of 19.8 seconds on the pair of runs is the trend setter so far. Both Colter Taylor of Saskatchewan and Tanner Milan, now of Three Hills, wrestled their steers in 5.5 seconds in Wednesday’s opening performance, but Milan has the leading time in the event on two runs at 13.1 seconds. The best team roping time of the night came from some experienced American ropers. Arizona’s Erich Rogers and Kollin Vonahn of Oklahoma got the job done in 6.7 seconds. However, they’re second overall (14.8 seconds) to Ponoka’s own Jackson Braithwaite and Derek Hadland (14.1). Jennifer Neudorf from Bluffton turned in the speediest barrel racing run at 17.57 seconds.

Rodeo performances now go at 1:00 pm each afternoon through June 30^th, with the top twelve in each event advancing to the Ponoka Stampede Finals round July first.