The Ponoka Stampede roster of champions has plenty of newcomers, as the 88^th edition drew to a close on Canada Day. A pair of them were even rookies!

Weston Timberman of Columbus, MT is one of them. Although it was his first time ever to Ponoka, the second-generation bareback rider had heard many a story about the rodeo from his father Chris, and his uncle Kelly, a World Champion.

Timberman now has his own Ponoka story to tell, after he went on a mission with Calgary Stampede horse Agent Lynx. The horse stayed right by the chutes, getting higher with every jump and Timberman kept pace, to be rewarded with a 90-point mark, $14,890, and all the championship glory and hardware.

“I’ve been dreaming of getting on that horse for a while now, and I was happy to get her here in Ponoka,” grins the 20-year-old. “That horse was so awesome. She was able to help me out doing my job, and she did her job, about as good as you could do it.”

Timberman’s exit was nearly as high flying as the ride, while some audio issues meant the buzzer hadn’t sounded for the crowd.

“I didn’t hear a whistle either,” says Timberman. “You get on so many, you’ve got a pretty good idea as to when the when the whistle blows. She did slam me down there and I was like ‘man, I felt like a made the whistle pretty solid’. It took forever to announce the score and I was thinking ‘sonofagun – at least I went out gassing it!’ I would guess I came off at 9.3 seconds,” he chuckled.

“I tell you what – I was having a lot of fun. Every jump she was just getting better and better. I thought ‘man, I’m going to see how far I can get my feet up here’ and every jump I got ‘em a little more and a little more. Then eventually she said ‘alright buddy, you’re done having fun. You’re getting off!’”

Timberman was pretty sure his uncle and father were just as dialed in watching him from their homes.

“I’ve seen videos of them watching my rides and they can’t stay still. They’ll be in their seats jumping around. I’m sure my Dad got bucked off just as hard as I did today!”

Another rookie who cracked the championship ranks was Zachary Dallas. In an outstanding saddle bronc riding Showdown, the 22-year-old emerged number one overall after combining with Calgary’s Tokyo Bubbles for 90.5 points.

“I got a good start on it, marked it out and just went to it,” says the Dallas, who hails from New Mexico. “But I definitely had to gas it and bare down, to stay on it those last few jumps. It wasn’t a day off.”

“It’s the first time I was 90, so that’s cool!”

The win gave Dallas, who’s leading the world rookie saddle bronc race, a cash bonus of $18,863 for his time in Ponoka. But he also took home a Ponoka Stampede jacket and a championship buckle.

“I saw Orin Larsen’s from last year earlier today, and it looked pretty cool, so I’m glad I’ve got one.”

Haven Meged had been within a tenth of a second of winning the tie-down roping title at Ponoka last year. So the Montana man had some unfinished business and left no doubt about his claim on the championship this year, his first at Ponoka. After a solid week of roping on his big bay horse Smoke, Meged came into the Showdown round as the Aggregate winner, so the last of the four to go. He sizzled through his run in just 7.8 seconds, nearly two seconds faster than the rest of the field.

“I had high hopes to do good,” says Meged. “My horse has been great, and we’d been making good runs, so I’m just very thankful and blessed to have success today.”

Meged won an extra buckle as the High Point Champion, as he competed in team roping as well. His take home pay from Ponoka was 20,062.

“This is going to help me a lot. I think I’ve had a $25,000 week so far, just in Canada, so that’s big for me in the world standings and the Canadian standings. If I didn’t do good this week in Canada, I wasn’t going to make the Canadian Finals.”

Meged’s list of ‘drove all night’s from the week was long, and he took Smoke with him, adding in a Williams Lake win as well.

“He’s a big, strong horse. I think that’s what separates him from a lot of the horses out here. He takes it really good, and I’m just really thankful to have him in my trailer and on my team.”

Steer wrestler Dalton Massey made it two in a row for steer wrestling championships, after he tipped over his Showdown steer in 5.8 seconds, two-tenths faster than high money winner at Ponoka this year, Cody Cassidy.

“It’s unreal to win it again,” admits Massey, who’s from Hermiston, OR. “I was pretty chill until about ten minutes before the bulldogging. It hit me that I’m here again in Ponoka for the four-man, at one of the biggest rodeos of the year. I just got done winning Reno and to have a chance at the best rodeo over the fourth (of July run) – to get ‘er done is just a real blessing.”

“I can’t thank Tanner Milan, my traveling partner, enough for sticking around and helping me out in getting the win today,” he adds, as one of the biggest fans and users of Milan’s horse Eddie.

Massey’s Ponoka cheque was 20,191, just $350 behind Cassidy. That will help pad Massey’s number one position in the world steer wrestling standings.

Leave it to some wily veterans to rise to the occasion and secure themselves a spot in the rich Monday Finals of the 88th Ponoka Stampede.

Take for instance, steer wrestler Cody Cassidy, who lives not far away, at Donalda. He’s part of a family legacy in the event, with his father Greg having one Ponoka steer wrestling championship, he’s got two, and his older brother Curtis has three.

“If there’s one that I get hungry for, it’s this rodeo here,” says Cody Cassidy, whose own career now spans more than two decades. “If I don’t go as much next year, I know one I will be entered at – it’ll be this one.”

“It’s been awfully good to me. I don’t know how many times I’ve made the short go here, but it’s been lots.”

The trend continued in 2024, as Cassidy tipped over his morning steer in 4.9 seconds, fastest of that round, worth $4600. He was two ticks longer in the performance, to pick up another $2800, and be the fast man heading into the Monday finals with a time of ten seconds flat.

The six-time Canadian Champion admits he may have pushed a little closer to the barrier than he needed in the afternoon.

“I have a feeling for where I think the steer should be as I’m going up the alleyway. This is my 22nd year here, and I ran a bunch of extra (steers) here before I ever had my (pro) card. That helped me a lot to prepare. It’s definitely the only rodeo that I really get much for butterflies, but they’re good butterflies.”

Even though he has been on the trail, you won’t find Cody Cassidy in Canada’s top thirty standings… yet.

“Already what I’ve won is going to give me a huge jump,” says Cassidy, who also runs his company Big Knife Outfitters. “I took a month and a half off and went on a bear hunt in Nunavut, and then I went and guided bear hunters up in northern Saskatchewan. So I missed some rodeos in there, but that’s my livelihood. Now it’s back to business in rodeo.”

And Monday’s business Is hunting down another Ponoka title.

“Curt and Tom Barr have each won it three times. I would really like one more.”
The top three combined times for steer wrestling all came from Sunday’s set, and included the defending Ponoka champion and world standings leader, Dalton Massey, hot on Cassidy’s heels.

He’s fairly deadly, isn’t he?” laughs Cassidy. “He’s on a roll. If you can stay close to Dalton Massey, you’re going to be doing just fine. He’s got a lot going for him right now. I’m going to try and stay ahead of him.”

The only cowboy to crack the finalists roster in saddle bronc riding was Dawson Hay, who was fresh off earning almost $12,000 at Reno’s rodeo the night before.

“It’s been a blur,” admits the third-generation bronc buster. “I started things off in Williams Lake, and then drove to Seattle and flew to Reno for the short round. Rode there last night, drove to Boise and flew to Edmonton, and just got to Ponoka on time for the rodeo. But it’s that time of the year!”

“Maybe I’ll get a little rest tonight,” he smiles, with his young daughter Honey clinging to him tightly.

Hay can do that after spurring to 86.5 points, to tie for second in the long round at Ponoka, drawing the same horse he met last year, Calgary’s Easy Money. Hay has qualified for Ponoka’s Finals in the past, but the injury bug kept him from riding in it two different times. He points out winning Ponoka is a tall task, with the best horses and best competitors all there. But it’s something his father Rod did three times, and his uncle Denny did once.

“Seeing my dad win it, and me and (brother) Logan have been just shy – it would be really cool to get there. It’s exciting to get in the Finals round, because whatever you get on from here on out is going to be really good.”
The barrel racing standings were blown up by a pair of Texas cowgirls. The 17.38 from Emily Beisel on opening night had held fast to the number one spot, until Halyn Lide flew through the pattern in just 17.07 seconds, and Carlee Rae Otero was just behind her with a 17.09.

It’s Lide’s first trip to Ponoka.

“It was completely overwhelming,” she admits. “I got here yesterday evening and I guess the PBR was going on. I came up to look around, and there were people everywhere. I’ve been to lots of big rodeos, but this one is something else!”

“I’m trying to get to all the biggest rodeos I can get to, and this is definitely one.”

Lide and her husband raised her horse, a 12-year-old they call Keeper, who clearly loved the wide-open spaces of the Ponoka arena.

“He can be really successful on small patterns, but bigger is his thing. He’s got that long stride and he loves to run. Actually, when he got out on this track (after the run) I’m 99 per cent sure he went faster. I didn’t know if we were ever going to stop!”

Both Brock Radford and Jared Parsonage will be back Monday in the bull riding Finals, after successful eight second efforts Sunday.

Parsonage finished in third place for the long round, with an 85.75 on Legend Rodeo’s Jail Break.

“The bull’s been really good this year,” says the Maple Creek cowboy. “A lot of times, he’ll spin to the left for 5-6 seconds, step ahead, and come back right. Today he decided he was going to stick to the left, so I wasn’t complaining!”

Parsonage rolled into Ponoka after an all-night drive from Williams Lake, BC, where his 88.5 point ride was sitting first. The a two-time Canadian Champion has been to the last two NFR’s, but with a growing family, there’s a change of pace this season.

“I’m just staying up here in Canada and not going south. I’ve got a couple kids and stuff ag home. Kids change the game. I’d rather be at home with them.”
The best Parsonage has done at Ponoka in the past is second place, so he’d like to change that Monday.

“Get on a good one in the afternoon, and a real good one at night and ride ‘em. At the end of the day, that’s all you can do, just ride ‘em.”

Another cowboy fresh off hitting the jackpot at Reno collected cash in Ponoka as well. Shad Mayfield, who is way out in front for the World Tie-Down Roping race, picked up some go-round cash at Ponoka with the fastest run at Ponoka this year so far, at 7.9 seconds.

“I had a really good start,” says the New Mexico cowboy. “I made a mistake in my tie and flanking. But that’s what calf roping is all about. You’ve got to keep moving, and I ended up getting a go-round win, so I’ll take it.”

“I did a bad job tying this morning, and let my first calf get up to make it back to the Finals. I wasn’t going to let another go-round get away. I said I was going to come here and get some money out of it. With Ponoka, the rounds pay so good, you’re never out of it with just going out in the first round. You still get a good little cheque out of it. Ponoka’s been one of my favorite rodeos to come, to so I’m glad I could make it here to get a little bit out of it.”

Mayfield’s go-round win paid $4170. Sundre’s Riley Warren was the only roper to advance to Monday, with his 20.1 second total on two runs.

Three teams from Sunday’s line-up of team ropers will be back to rope Monday, including veteran and eight-time World Tie-down Champion Joe Beaver, and his young partner Levi Pettigrew; and Kody Potts and Travis Speer – both with 13.1 second totals. Steele Depaoli and Rhett Haveroen are now also in, with their 15.1 second tally. Travel snarls, including an airline strike, kept most of Sunday’s bareback riders from getting to Ponoka, and the three who were there didn’t score high enough to change the leaderboard.

From Monday afternoon’s twelve contenders, the four best in each major event will be part of the evening’s rich Showdown Round, to determine the 2024 Ponoka Stampede champions.

The horse he’d drawn for the 88th Ponoka Stampede was appropriately named – Cracking the Till. If there was ever a cowboy who knows the winning combination in saddle bronc riding… it’s Zeke Thurston. With career earnings well in excess of two million dollars, four World Championships, four Canadian Championships and three Ponoka Stampede titles among his resume highlights already, the Big Valley talent was a good bet for Monday’s Finals. And he and the Calgary Stampede horse did not disappoint, with an 85.5 point performance to move into third place.

Cracking the Till wasn’t the easiest to get out of the chutes on, but Thurston is a true horseman, and handled her with care to get out to the big playpen.

“She’s kind of like that. She’s pretty unpredictable on what she’ll do,” explains Thurston. “She never really has the same trip twice. She’s been around long enough she knows all the tricks in the bucking chute. We made it work anyway.”

Little did she know, Thurston has a few tricks of his own, and can now make his busy rodeo agenda include a return trip to Ponoka Monday.

“I find myself back here quite often. It’s a fun one to compete in,” grins Thurston, who turns 30 next month.

Local rodeo fans were excited to see a pair of Ponoka cowboys put themselves in the hunt for another steer to rope on Monday. Jackson Braithwaite and Derek Hadland, who live just outside of Ponoka, roped their first steer in 7.7 seconds and then speeded things up in the performance with a 5.7. The 13.4 second tally puts them in the middle of the team roping qualifiers, at sixth spot.

“We drew a really good steer. Our buddies who we travel with actually drew him this morning and he was really good,” says Braithwaite, who’s 23. “I kind of just licked my lips when I saw we’d drawn him. We just wanted to make the most of it.”

“It’s our third time here in Ponoka, but first time we’ve got two captured, so we’re kind of pumped about that.”

It didn’t bother the cowboys to rope in front of the hometown fans, as they have roped in pressure situations before.

“We’ve been to Vegas to the World Series (of Team Roping) and that’s a way bigger crowd, so it’s not too bad. I was nervous this morning, because it’s the first time I’ve rode this horse here, so I was glad he turned. He was perfect.”
Braithwaite’s Dad, Todd, is a former bull rider and raises bucking bulls. So paying attention to the team roping is a relatively new venture.

“Yea, it’s starting to grow on him a little bit,” chuckles Braithwaite. “He doesn’t really know the rules, but that’s ok.”

Hadland, the header, grew up in Fort St. John, BC and two years ago, bought a place near Ponoka to be in the unofficial team roping zone of the province, near the Bonnett family, and less travel time to rodeos.

“This morning, I was really late and we made the best of our steer. I got him captured and Jackson did a good job heeling him, but it wasn’t easy. This afternoon we knew we had a really good one and tried to make the best of it,” says the 24-year-old.

Garrett Green is back to pro rodeo in Canada after focusing his bull riding program solely on the PBR for the last several years. He’ll be making a return to the Ponoka Stampede grounds Monday, after being one of two qualified bull rides Saturday afternoon. The 84.25 point ride on the Calgary bull Hot Potato sits fifth among the 12 cowboys who’ve made the eight seconds.

“I’ve seen him twice this year, with the same tracks,” says Green, about his draw. “I knew he was just going to be really good. I knew he was going to look left and then back to the right we go. About seven or eight seconds, he decided to jump ahead and really jerk me down hard,” says Green.

“My free arm smacked one of his horns, and my helmet, they say it smacked his nose, but if felt like it hit something harder than that.”

With the head hit, Green decided to opt out of competing in the evening Wild West PBR at Ponoka. He wants to be ready for the Monday Finals.

“I haven’t won it here. I got second one year. I made the Four Round one year, and got stomped out in the 12-round. I was 86 on that Kish This bull and he stomps me pretty hard. So I ended up turning out of the four round and giving my spot to Tyler Thomson, and he ended up winning the whole deal.”

Green admits every once in a while he likes to remind Thomson, who’s now a pick-up man at the rodeo, about the big Ponoka favor he gave him.
Steer wrestler Dakota Eldridge made short work of his afternoon draw, overturning his steer in 4.9 seconds. Combined with his morning 9.2, he’s now sitting in third with a combined total of 14.1 seconds.

“As easy as the average is, it’s still really tough, so you’ve got to kind of try the barrier on,” says the South Dakota cowboy, who is sitting second in the world standings. “Man, I got a great start. I was able to ride a great horse of Curtis Cassidy’s, and he makes my job a lot easier.”

Tyson has been named World Steer Wrestling Horse of the Year three times in his career, and Eldridge was grateful to ride him for Ponoka.

“Today, I kind of just let it hang out and tried it on him, and it worked out. It’s kind of a cowboy deal here. I’ve been here a handful of times and yea, you still get butterflies when you get in there.”

Valerie Gillespie was the only barrel racer to crack the top twelve ranks on Saturday. She did it in style, with a rapid 17.49 to take over second place.
“He just felt awesome. I couldn’t ask for a better run. I think we had the best day for ground, right after the rain,” says Gillespie, who’s a brand inspector from Finnigan, AB.

There were a couple of horse stumbles among the racers, but Gillespie’s nine-year-old horse Murphy would have none of that.

“I train my horses on ice, so they learn to stand up on Canadian ground. I ride at home outside all winter. You’ve just got to keep them square and they’ll find their feet.”“I’m really happy, and proud of my horse today.”

Texan Trevor Hale was the fastest of three ropers Saturday to ink their names in the top twelve of the tie-down event. He managed to do with the fast time of the afternoon at 8.0 seconds, for 19.4 on two and sixth overall.

“My first calf was strong, and he was really running, and then ducked right. It just wasn’t the best run. I knew I had to come back and be aggressive, on a good calf, and it worked out good.”

The overall Ponoka Stampede leaders, with one performance left to go, are: Haven Meged in tie-down roping (16.9); barrel racer Emily Beisel (17.38); steer wrestler Layne Delemont (12.5); bull riders Cody Fraser and Chase Dougherty (86.25); Zachary Dallas in the saddle bronc riding (87.75); Trey Yates and Jake Clay in the team roping (11.4) and Orin Larsen in the bareback riding (86.75). Ethan Mazurenko was the only bareback rider to factor into qualifying Saturday, with an 84.75 on Calgary’s Zastron Acres.

Chase Dougherty didn’t know what kind of bull he’d drawn for his first ever appearance at the Ponoka Stampede. But the Oregon cowboy soon found out when he got behind the chutes.

“Coming up here, I don’t know a lot of the Canadian bulls,” says Dougherty. “I know they’re all so good. Everybody told me ‘you’ve got the best one in the pen, Chase, don’t screw him up’. I said I’ll try not to let you guys down!”

“Definitely one of those pressure bulls – the one everybody wants to have. So you can’t stub your toe on one like that.”

The Vold bull Wolf Bait went to spinning the moment the gate cracked, but Dougherty had a firm seat in the middle, and eight seconds later he had a mark of 86.25, to tie for the Ponoka Stampede bull riding lead with Cody Fraser of Sundre.

“It was an awesome trip,” says Dougherty. “They told me you’ve got to be careful because sometimes he’ll start so close that every round he’ll almost hit his head on the bucking chutes. That’s what it felt like coming right out of there. I thought we were spinning in the bucking chute there for a little while, and then he started to fade out there. That was a cool feeling.”

After making the NFR in 2018, Dougherty switched rodeo gears to spend more time with his young family, competing only in the PBR, which just has weekend events.

“I wasn’t having a whole lot of fun doing that anymore. I missed my rodeo family.”

“This is my first year back to pro rodeo in about three years. My wife really made a point to me to try to go to the ones I want to, and Ponoka is one I’ve always wanted to go to.”

“You can’t beat the people in rodeo. The greatest people you’re ever going to meet in your life are right here at this rodeo.”

A new combination of veterans in the team roping is clearly working. Dustin Bird and Jeremy Buhler, both champions in their own right, roped their first steer at Ponoka together in 5.4 seconds on Friday, and followed that up with a 6.1 in the afternoon. Their combined total of 11.5 is just a tenth of a second behind overall leaders Trey Yates and Jake Clay.

Bird, from Cut Bank, MT, is a twenty-year pro who had decided to stay closer to home and family, and mainly rodeo in his home state. He’s got two Canadian champion header buckles and has been to the NFR five times. Buhler, whose home is in Arrowwood, also has two Canadian champion heeler buckles and five NFR qualifications, along with a World title. But it’s new for them to be together.

“It came up that I needed a partner in Canada this year,” explains Buhler. “I’ve always wanted to rope with Dustin. I got a chance to rope with him at a couple of rodeos five or six years ago. He actually helped me make it to my first NFR, so it’s pretty cool to rope with him for the full season now.”

“When Jeremy called and wanted to rope at a few I thought I’ve got a lot going on right now, but I said I can’t pass up an opportunity like that, so here we are,” smiles Bird.

Buhler has taken home the big cheque at Ponoka twice in his career, and Bird was painfully close once in the past. They’re hoping this rodeo could be a big help in their goals for the year together.

“It’s kind of a marathon here,” adds Buhler. “You run four steers, but it’s the same as we’ve always said – it’s just one steer at a time. You can’t get too far ahead of yourself. You’ve got to keep knocking them down, one at a time.”

Another cowboy to move into second place in the overall standings at Ponoka was tie-down roper Shane Hanchey. His morning time of 8.5 seconds fit well with an afternoon run of 8.6, so the 17.1 second tally on two slides in nicely behind leader Haven Meged’s 16.9.

Hanchey, who lives in Texas now, has been a World Champ, and the Canadian champion four times over.

“I was so disappointed in myself last year, riding Peso here, and breaking the barrier in the first round” says Hanchey, referring to the two-time Canadian rope horse of the year, owned by Logan Bird. “When you’re riding him on this set-up, you just stay out of his way and he’s going to make everything up. He’s the fastest horse I’ve ever rode in my life.”

But with the dramatic downpour in Thursday’s performance, Bird was hesitant.

“I said, man, I’ve got to have him!”

With the sun coming out Friday, Hanchey got his wish and Peso as a partner.

“It’s funny – I told my Mom last night it’s going to be muddy, and she said ‘you’ve roped in the mud a lot’. Being from Louisiana, I remember vividly all the high school rodeos we’d go to and I’d be so upset it was muddy. But you know what? It carved out who I am. This setup is already unique with the lane. When you throw a little mud in there, it gets really unique, and so that’s what I thrive on.”

“This rodeo is so prestigious, and it adds $60,000 now. I mean, this is a gamechanger for not just guys up here, but for us south of the border too, for the NFR. The nerves get to running right here in the perf so you’ve got to really mellow yourself out before you run your second one, and tell yourself it’s just another calf,” says Hanchey.

There’s now a log jam of 86 point rides in the bareback, as Richmond Champion added his mark to the list Friday. The lead is still with Orin Larsen, at 86.75 but there are now three 86’s just behind him.

“It’s so nice to be back,” says Champion, now living in Montana. “I’ve missed it the last couple years. When I found out I had (the Vold horse) Fancy the other day, I was like, let’s be in Ponoka already!”

“I’d seen her a couple times but you can tell with a horse like that, the way they buck, if you do your job, you’re going to be some points. I’d definitely do that again!” says Champion, who’s already got two Ponoka titles on his resume.

“I think the bareback riding, as a sport, is the best it’s ever been, and I’m lucky to be at the top end of it.”

Other contestants who remained at the top of their event leaderboard through the fourth performance included Zachary Dallas in the saddle bronc riding (87.75); Layne Delemont in steer wrestling (12.5 on 2); and Emily Beisel in barrel racing (17.38). There are two more sets of contestants with an opportunity to earn a top twelve spot for the July first Finals at Ponoka.

Champions don’t let rainy days deter them.

That was certainly evident during a third performance of the 88th Ponoka Stampede. The afternoon started with just a drizzle, which eventually turned into a downpour. However, that didn’t dampen the desire of some veteran competitors to qualify for the July first Finals, which features the top 12 finishers in each of the major events at the richest rodeo of the busy Cowboy Christmas run.

Lindsay Sears knows a lot about winning. The Nanton cowgirl is a two-time World Barrel Racing Champion, and a two-time Ponoka Stampede winner. But she’s been spending her time in recent years in Texas, with her barrel horse breeding program. So it was a bit of a surprise to see her name in the draw for this year’s Ponoka Stampede.

“I came home for some family events and my friend Angie (Meadors) talked me into making it into a fun trip and entering a few rodeos,” explains Sears. “I haven’t entered a rodeo in Canada since… well, I can’t remember the last time. It’s been a long time!”

Sears’ current superstar is Mojo – a stud out of her famous mare Martha, that took her to so many victories. But this would be Mojo’s first run since January, as he’s been on a long recovery from a major injury suffered last May. He’s also just coming off a busy breeding season. So when the rain got heavier just as she was warming him up, with both horse and rider soon soaked, Sears began to have second thoughts.

“These were not the conditions I wanted to have him come back on. It’s been too long a journey. I thought about turning out, but I saw the team roping horses and the broncs weren’t slipping at all, so I felt the ground would be safe.”

Being the first out was another advantage. But there was still the unknown. Was Mojo a ‘mudder’ and not bothered by sloppy conditions? Turns out he is, as they clocked a 17.58, tied for fifth spot overall.

“He’d never been in the mud, he’d never been to Canada. But he lets me help him out, which is so important in situations like today. I could help him stand up more.”

“I’m very proud of him. I don’t usually get emotional, but I did get emotional today,” Sears admits. “It was a lot to get to this point. A lot of people have done a lot of hard work on him. It’s a miracle he’s come back. We’re taking it one run at a time, but I’m so thankful to get to run him at all.”

Being near the middle of the qualifying pack, Sears isn’t fully confident her time will get her back for the Finals. She wouldn’t mind wheeling up the highway again on Monday, though.

“It’s been a minute since I’ve been this wet or cold. But hopefully we’ll get to come back, and the sun is shining. Apparently, my horse didn’t mind the mud, but I would prefer the sun,” smiles Sears.

Twice Texans Kaleb Driggers and Junior Nogueira have earned the team roping world gold buckles together. This year, they hope to put some Ponoka cash towards that effort. They set themselves up for that well, by roping their first steer in 6.4, and then even in the moisture and mud, speeded things up and were 5.4 in the afternoon. Their 11.8 second total on two puts them in second place for the average, behind the 11.4 from Trey Yates and Jake Clay.

Canadian Champion Tie-Down Roper Haven Meged took care of business in the third Ponoka performance. He built on a morning 8.4 second run by following it up in the afternoon with an 8.5, to take over the lead in the event.

“I had a good calf,” says Meged. “I knew she ran hard but I was good in the first round, so I knew I had to go do my job and make sure I get her tied down. We were going pretty fast when I got off and there were a lot of moving parts, and it all worked out, thank God.”

“This is my favorite rodeo, it’s always been my favorite, since my rookie year getting to come here. I always look forward to it.”

“We drove all night from Greeley, CO and we got here at 5 am. It was a long drive, but it was worth it. Now we’re driving all night to Williams Lake, BC.”

Meged is grateful to the Stampede committee and sponsors for the bump up in the purse this year, and looks forward to the impact a cheque from here could have on his season.

“This is going to help me make the Canadian Finals. My season up here hasn’t been very good. Hopefully we finish up here Monday night and win this sucker. It’s eluded me twice.”

In fact, last year Meged and local favorite Beau Cooper looked like they were headed for a rope-off in the Showdown round, until Ty Harris bettered them both by a tenth of a second.

Bareback rider Weston Timberman is making a seamless transition from the college ranks to the pros, and the Montana cowboy put himself in contention for the Ponoka Finals with an 86 point ride on Duane Kesler’s Sleeping Giant horse, to tie for second place.

Timberman, whose Uncle Kelly is a world champion, and father Chris was also a bareback rider, was tickled to be at his first Ponoka Stampede.

“I remember when I was a kid my uncle would always say rodeoing in the States is cool, but if you want to really be a bareback rider and test yourself, you go to rodeos like Ponoka. Ever since then, I’ve been super excited to finally get my chance to come here, and it’s going pretty good so far,” grins the Montana man, who just picked up his second National College championship and is leading the World Rookie bareback standings.

While steer wrestlers again had their challenges, Landon Beardsworth got his down in the fastest time to date of this year’s rodeo, at 4.7 seconds.

“The steer had a good track record and I just knew I had to stay behind the barrier and everything else was going to work out, if I just did my job,” says Beardsworth.

The cowboy from Red Deer County was on Canadian Champion Scott Guenthner’s horse, and the two didn’t get in synch on the first steer, so Beardsworth is not factoring into the average.

“I just wanted to get some go-round money in the second round, and carry on some momentum for the rest of the ones this week.”

Idaho’s Jordan Spears was making his first Ponoka appearance in the bull riding, where he marked 83.75, to take over fourth place.

“It probably distracts you a little more, being in the rain like this, because you’re not thinking as much about riding the bull. You’re more so just trying to stay dry. It kind of simplifies it. You’ve got to smile and make the best of it. They always say at the end of every rainstorm is a rainbow, so you’ve just got to keep your head down and keep working through good and bad weather, and that’s a part of it,” says Spears, a four-time NFR qualifier.

Cody Fraser remains the bull riding leader at 86.25. Zachary Dallas still has the top saddle bronc riding mark. James Perrin of Maple Creek, SK was best of Thursday’s performance with an 83.25, which is just barely among the top twelve qualifiers, with three more rounds remaining. Orin Larsen is still the bareback riding leader with his 86.75, along with Emily Beisel in barrel racing with her 17.38, and Layne Delemont in steer wrestling at 12.5 seconds.

The busiest cowboy at the Ponoka Stampede finds himself on the leaderboard after making the most of his multiple opportunities Wednesday afternoon.
Riley Wakefield took over the lead in the tie-down roping after adding a solid 9.1 second run to his morning 8.1 second run, during the second day of action at the 88th edition of the biggest rodeo on the Canadian pro circuit. The combined 17.2 seconds puts him on top, and is a good bet for a return trip to Ponoka for Monday’s Finals.

Wakefield hails from O’Neill, Nebraska. It’s only his second trip to the central Alberta town, but he was eager to get back. The timed event specialist is one of the few who really likes the famous, or infamous, Ponoka long score, which gives the animals a generous running head start on the competitor.

“I made it to the Final Four in the steer wrestling last year,” says the 27-year-old. “These alley way setups just fit me.”

In an afternoon of steer wrestling where only three of the eleven contestants recorded a time, Wakefield was the first to do so, and his 6.9 seconds was best of the set, and is third fastest in the round. But for a broken barrier in the morning, Wakefield would have been in great shape in that event as well.

Wakefield focused more on his tie-down roping for several years, but the long score enticed him to do steer wrestling at Ponoka in 2023, and then he added in team roping this year, with his partner Clay McNichol. It’s the only event where he isn’t likely to get some Ponoka cash.

Why all three? Wakefield has some championship buckles in his sights.

“Here in Canada we’ll get to, hopefully, around 50 rodeos. So, with that number of rodeos you can do all three. It’s not easy. The entering’s not easy, but you can do it.”

“I’ve got goals I’ve had since the beginning of winter. I’d like to make the CFR in all three events, and I’d liked to win the All-Around,” states Wakefield.

The long score can be hard on the heart for timed event competitors trying to gauge the timing just right, at high rates of speed. Holding horses back or urging them on from one instant to the next is commonplace. But Wakefield was calm, cool and collected when he nodded his head, all three times.

“I just go back to doing my job. When I make mistakes, is when I try to go too fast, I don’t care what event it is. When I try to skip steps, that’s when bad things happen. I don’t know if my steer wrestling will get me a heckuva a lot of money in the second go-round, but if it gets me a piece of the go-round, I’ll be happy.”

“The calf roping’s been just decent this year. It’s been a little tough, I would say. So to have a go like this here in Ponoka, the biggest rodeo of the year in Canada, it feels good.”

Traveling with a trio of horses, one for each event, adds to the challenges. Especially when you blow a couple of tires on the rig, which forced Wakefield to leave his living quarters trailer in southern Alberta en route to Ponoka.

“Looks like we’ll have to take a stock trailer to Williams Lake, 13 hours away, and we might be roughing it for a little while. It’s going to be wild. But when you’re doing good, a rodeo cowboy doesn’t care. It feels like I could drive all night right now! Hopefully this pays for some expenses on the trailer. But it ain’t about the money. I just enjoy what I do, and I’m lucky to live this life,” says Wakefield.

The young cowboy leading the saddle bronc world rookie standings by a huge margin kept up his hot streak. Zachary Dallas made his first trip to Ponoka count, spurring out 87.75 points on the Prime Time horse Enigma to take over the number one spot. He’d studied the horses moves ahead of time, on video.

“It was pretty awesome, just like that, so I had high hopes,” says the 22-year-old from New Mexico. “I think it might have even been better this trip. I had to bare down through my spur out to stay ahead of it. But then I dang sure had to try.”

Dallas is just wrapping up his college studies at New Mexico State, and he’s fresh off a third place finish at the recent National College Finals. He’s traveling with fellow New Mexico cowboys Leon Fountain and Ross Griffin, who both made the CFR last year.

“They like them up here, so I figured they might like me,” grins Dallas.

Another cowboy making a first appearance at Ponoka slid into second place overall in the bareback riding during the second performance. Dean Thompson weathered the storm on a hard to ride Macza horse OLS Tubs Country Girl, for 86 points, and second place.

“I looked into the horse yesterday and found out she was a real deal bucker. She’s one you see one guy get by and be 86 points on, and then a bunch of zeros. She’s the one that bucks everybody off,” says Thompson. “That’s what you’ve got to have. You want the buckers. You’ve gotta have them if you want to win first place.”

The Utah hand knew Ponoka was a rodeo he needed to attend.

“Last year I was trying to make my first NFR, and this is a critical stop. Ponoka is one of the places you really want to be in. I jumped on it to enter and I didn’t really know how the Canadian pro rodeos worked, so I missed entries,” recalls Thompson. “Man, I was kicking myself hard. I ended up making my first Finals, but I think this one is going to help me to my second one.”

Thompson is one of many cowboys impressed with the Ponoka Stampede move to increase the purse for each event to $60,000.

“I think this is the biggest rodeo going on over the Fourth (of July run) which is unreal because you’re competing with massive American cities hosting giant rodeos, so this is just the place to be.”

“I’ll have to buy my plane ticket now. I bought my plane ticket to get here as soon as I entered. But the guys are so good and the horses buck so hard nowadays, you just don’t know. I mean, you’ve got to ride your tail off. Now I know, so I’ll be set to make it back over here.”

The best bull ride of the day came from a recent high school grad, who’s a second- generation bull rider. Grady Young of Leader, SK was 83.25 points on Macza’s Bruised Ego, to sit in fourth place.

“I always missed this one for high school Nationals (rodeo), so this is my first time here,” says the 18-year-old, who’s headed to college this fall in Snyder, TX on a rodeo scholarship. “It’s a good deal, I like it, it’s exciting! You’re about five miles away and you can see the big bleachers, and it just gets you pumped up. There’s nothing else to do but win.”

Young was so excited it didn’t really matter to him what bull they put under him.

“I know what I’m doing. I’ve just got to go back to the basics and keep it simple. The bull felt awesome, just floated underneath me, felt good, just like a day off. It was lots of fun.”

The fastest barrel racer of the day was Karli Cowie of Makota, SK with a 17.57, for fourth place, behind leader Emily Beisel’s 17.38. Leading the charge in team roping now are Trey Yates and Jake Clay, with 11.4 seconds on their two runs.
Cody Fraser of Sundre remains the bull riding leader at Ponoka with 86.25. Other overall leaders include Orin Larsen in bareback with 86.75, and Layne Delemont in steer wrestling with 12.5 seconds on two runs.

 

 

The sport of rodeo is far from predictable. Witness the opening night of the Ponoka Stampede, when all eyes were on the storybook matchup of bareback riding sensation Rocker Steiner and the world’s most famous horse, C-5’s Virgil. The two share the world record 95 mark from when they met in Montana two years ago. This year’s Ponoka Stampede poster captures that moment. Lo and behold, they wound up with a Tuesday night date in Ponoka.

However, this time the two-time World Champion Bareback horse came up the battle winner. The Grey, as he’s known among the cowboys, threw the power at the Texas kid and outmuscled him. Steiner wound up on the ground before the eight seconds were up.

“I thought he was going to ride that horse,” commented Vern McDonald, owner of C5 Rodeo. “I thought about it all day, and actually thought he might set an arena record. It’s not what I expected, but it happens, I guess. It’s rodeo. You never know what’s going to happen.”

“He does feel the crowd, he knows. He might’ve wanted to win today too,” says McDonald, about his superstar horse.

“That’s the strongest trip I’ve ever seen that horse have,” admitted Steiner.
Meanwhile, a pair of Ponoka Stampede champions gave notice they’d like to do it again, as the 88th edition of the biggest regular season rodeo in Canada got underway. Manitoba’s Orin Larsen picked up where he left off last June, tapping out 86.75 points on the C5 horse Cat Nap, to sit first in the bareback riding.

“Every jump that horse is going to give you every single opportunity, and it didn’t disappoint. It worked out good,” says Larsen, who battled a knee and groin injury over the winter and early spring.

“I’m just getting started now. I’m pretty happy to get healthy, and fortunate the way things are going. I can’t let these kids take over – we’ve got to put them in check now and then,” jokes the 33-year-old.

When Emily Beisel left Ponoka last July first with all the barrel racing championship hardware, she had to make a mad dash to Cody, Wyoming for her next rodeo, arriving there with just 30 minutes to spare. But it was worth it, as the Ponoka payday helped pave her way to Las Vegas. The Oklahoma cowgirl was more than happy to be back, as the Ponoka arena is her horse Chongo’s favorite. The two became the early pacesetters again at Ponoka, with a 17.38 second run.

“He’s got good taste in rodeos,” chuckles Beisel.

She recalls her first trip to Ponoka in 2019, when she saw the big arena, and thought it wouldn’t be a fit for her horse.

“I thought he’d be running for the track at the far end past the first barrel,” she recalls. “I was very nervous to run him, and then he just ate it up, and he has done that every run since. This is probably one of the best showings he’s ever had for me. He loves it here.”

“This is one of the most important rodeos for us to make all year.”

Morgan Grant of Didsbury has the early advantage in the tie-down roping, as fast man of the performance with an 8.9 second run. Combine that with his morning run in the slack, and he’s also leading the average, with 19.6 seconds.
The best combined time total in the team roping after the first day’s action is 12 seconds, turned in by young guns Braden Brost and Levi Schmidt.
Steer wrestler Layne Delemont of Cardston, AB had to overcome some fears as he nodded his head for the famous Ponoka long score. But a 5.5 on his first steer, and a time of 7.0 in the evening, puts him first overall with 12.5.
“The PTSD was a little bit real this morning, I’m not going to lie,” confessed Delemont, who only recently returned to action. “After getting packed out of here last year, I was happy to get that first one out of the way. This is always my favorite rodeo, but I was a little bit more nervous because of what happened last year.”

In the first performance of the 2023 Ponoka Stampede, Delemont managed to blow a knee MCL, ACL, both meniscus and do a partial hamstring tear, all in one wreck.

“I couldn’t walk for four months, and here we are, a year later.”

“After it went good this morning, it got the cowbwebs knocked off and it felt good tonight. It was a big sigh of relief, not only for me, but for my family too.”
Montanan Sage Newman inked his name at the top of the saddle bronc riding standings, with an 86.5 on C5’s Bannock Slap.

“That horse was just really good,” says Newman. “It took some rein and just stayed in front of the bucking chutes there, and let me show off my style. We fit each other really well and it was a lot of fun. It was a really good pen of broncs, and it was a good bronc riding altogether.”

An Australian turned Albertan, Cody Fraser met up with a bull called Angry Bob for the second time this month. After the bull bucked him off at Innisfail, this time Fraser made the whistle and 86.25 points, for the Ponoka lead.
“I had a bit of redemption on his today,” says Fraser. “He bucked a lot more rider-friendly today, for sure. Last time it was in the rain and the mud, and he was pretty hard to get along with.”

Fraser has only been in Canada eighteen months, growing up in a ranch and rodeo stock contracting family on the south coast of Australia. Much of that time has been in recovery, after being stepped on last June while bull riding. Broken ribs and a punctured lung took time to heal, and he’s still dealing with some soreness.

But that disappears after a ride like he made in Ponoka.

“It’s awesome. It’s the biggest rodeo I’ve ever been in.”

The second performance of the Ponoka Stampede rodeo goes Wednesday at 1:00 pm followed by the opening night of the pony and WPCA Chuckwagon races at 6:30 in the evening. Top competitors return for the July first finals and Showdown Round.