The Arena

Canadian Professional Rodeo Association Press Release

Edmonton, Alberta—“I’m not gonna lie, I was nervous,” laughs Zane Hankel, still a little breathless from splitting first with leading Canadian steer wrestling leader Cody Cassidy during the first performance of the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) on Wednesday.

Both Hankel and Cassidy clocked a time of 4.3 seconds during the first performance, but there was just one go-round buckle to be had, and the guys were told they would have to flip for it.

“I gave it to Zane,” Cassidy confirms, when asked about the burgandy buckle box in Hankel’s left hand.

“I remember the first time I won at CFR,” he continues. “I split it with Ryan Guest (in 2004) and it was both our first (CFR) buckles. I think they ended up giving us both buckles, but this time they said there was only going to be one and we could flip for it.”

Cassidy fondly recalls getting that first buckle, “and, the first one means a lot.”

Hankel is glowing, and completely thrilled at the gesture made by his fellow bulldogger.

“That’s pretty awesome,” he says.

“My goal coming in here was to win a round,” Hankel grins, then sighs with what is surely relief, admitting that this win sure takes the pressure off for the rest of the week. It is, afterall, the Redcliff, Alberta, bulldogger’s first trip to the Canadian Finals Rodeo, and to win in the first go-round?

“It’s an unexplainable feeling, just to be at CFR.”

More than 12,000 rodeo fans filled the seats at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alta as the 36th CFR kicked off five days of high-octane rodeo action, following a heartfelt opening ceremonies in honour of Remembrance Day.

For complete results, visit rodeocanada.com.

From the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association:

The voice of the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo, December 3-12 in Las Vegas, Nevada, is going to have a very familiar ring to it.

The announcers–Boyd Polhamus, Bob Tallman and Randy Corley–have worked the “World Series” of professional rodeo a combined 46 times. This is the 14th appearance in a row for Polhamus and the 14th in 15 years for Tallman and 22nd overall. Corley, a 10-time PRCA Announcer of the Year, will work the Wrangler NFR for the 10th time. All three of them are on the short list for the 2009 PRCA Announcer of the Year award, which they have won a combined 20 times.

Sunni Deb Backstrom of Congress, Ariz., will serve as the rodeo secretary for the Wrangler NFR for the seventh time and the fourth in succession.

Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Contract Personnel

Announcers:  Boyd Polhamus, Brenham, Texas; Bob Tallman, Poolville, Texas, and Randy Corley, Silverdale, Wash.

Secretary: Sunni Deb Backstrom, Congress, Ariz.

Assistant Secretary: Debi Davis, Nine Mile Falls, Wash.

Office Manager: Vickie Shireman, Elk City, Okla.

Timers: Cynthia Barnes, Sutherland, Iowa; Dollie Riddle, Vernon, Texas, and Kathy McCloy, Ottumwa, Iowa

Timed Event Chute boss: John Farris, Addington, Okla.

Livestock Superintendent: Ted Groene, Pahrump, Nev.

Assistant Livestock Superintendent: John Barnes, Sutherland, Iowa

Barrelman: Keith Isley, Goldston, N.C.

Alternate Barrelman: Donnie Landis, Gooding, Idaho

Bullfighters: Darrell Diefenbach, Azle, Texas; Dusty Tuckness, Meeteetse, Wyo., and Clay Collins, Garland, Texas

Pick-up Men: Paul Peterson, Southland, Texas, and Bobby Marriott, Woods Cross, Utah

Alternate Pick-up Man: Gary Rempel, Fort Shaw, Mont.

Clem McSpadden National Finals Steer Roping Contract Personnel

Announcers: Charlie Throckmorton, Grandview, Texas, and Doug Mathis, Cleburne, Texas

Secretary: Irene Singer, Calhan, Colo.

Timers: Danna McFarland, Okeechobee, Fla., and Melissa Navarre, Weatherford, Okla.

Chute Boss: Art Alsbaugh, Alamosa, Colo.

Todd Bergen qualified four horses for the open finals at the 2009 National Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity. But he undoubtedly left Reno, Nevada, wondering what might have been. A 221 in the reining left Bergen and Smart Luck with a 2.5-point lead going into the fence work.

Bergen and Smart Luck were first up in the random draw. The two had a great run going when Bergen went to circle his cow. He was mere seconds away from establishing a score that would have left him nearly impossible to beat. But Smart Luck stumbled, went down and sent Bergen crashing to the arena floor–along with his championship dreams. The no-score left the door open for Zane Davis and Reymanator.

Up last in the fence work, Davis and Reymanator turned in a 220-point run and easily edged Todd Crawford on  Shiners Nickle and Boyd Rice on Picka Patcha Pepto. Quarter Horse News Editor Katie Tims described Reymanator as a “cage fighter.” The horse definitely excelled in the cow events. He turned in a 218.5 in the herd work–easily the highest score of the morning competition. And he did it despite being the last horse to work before the cattle change.

Congratulations to Davis and Reymanator owner John Semanik.

Former National Football League linebacker Junior Seau took a turn as a bullfighter at a Professional Bull Riders stop in Ontario, California. Given the outcome, I’m guessing he never lined up against a 2,000-pound running back. Junior needs to learn that running in a straight line isn’t the ideal path when trying to avoid a bull.

Rock Clark in Action

Now a mounted-shooting veteran, Rock Clark is coming off his best season in the Cowboy Mounted Shooting Association. So far, this year hasn’t been too shabby either. But he’s got just one goal in mind for 2009, and that’s to win the world championship in Amarillo, Texas, this November.

Q: How did you get into the sport?
A: A buddy of mine came to me one day to look at a horse. He told me about mounted shooting and took me to a little backyard where they were practicing the sport. They put a set of guns on me and that’s how I got started. I’ve ridden horses all my life—ever since I was able to get to a stump or a fence post and climb on. I’ve hunted all my life, so the guns and horses kind of came naturally.

Q: What about the sport is most appealing?
A: I’ve never done any type of a sport that was this much fun and yet challenging at the same time. I’ve done barrel racing and pole bending, but this one is really humbling. I might be on top of my game this week, but the next week I can’t hit the broad side of a barn. But what I really like is my family does the sport with me. My 15-year-old son, Cody, is one of the top shooters in the nation. My wife, Terri, shoots with us too.

Q: You won the Eastern and National Championships in 2008. What goals do you have left?
A: I’m still after that world championship. I’ve been close several times, but it’s always been a little bit of bad luck that kept me from getting there—a missed balloon here or a dropped gun there. It’s just got to be your day to win against so many talented shooters. So I’m after the world championship. There’s no question that if I can go in and ride my ride, I’ve got a horse I truly believe no one can touch. He’s solid, fast and pretty special.

Q: What can you tell me about your horse?
A: Joker is a 9-year-old Paint. I’ve had him for two years now. His raw time is always in the top five at national events. There aren’t many horses that can run with him. He is so catty, which can be a problem if I’m not careful. He’s so catty that if I cue him just a touch, he goes. He is 16 hands or so, but very athletic.

Q: Does he work better in bigger arenas?
A: It’s funny you say that. I had a horse before him named Dragon who’s about a 15-hand Paint. I also won nationals and eastern on him. Joker is actually a better all-around horse than Dragon was. There are some smaller pens that Dragon should have excelled in and Joker is actually better in those pens than Dragon. Joker is better all-around horse than smaller horses. The patterns that have us running into the wall at an angle, he has problems with those. He doesn’t want to run into the smaller corners. But other than that, he’s rock solid.

Q: How much effort does it take to acclimate a horse to gun fire?
A: Learning the shooting part comes pretty easily. I ride them and they start trusting me. When I do train a horse to gunfire, I consider the horse and not me. When I ride a horse into the arena for the first time, I couldn’t care if I hit one balloon or all of them. I let the horse adapt to the gunfire, the balloons disappearing and the smoke. All my horses seem to have taken to it pretty good.

Q: How long before your son catches up to you as level 6 shooter?
A: The way he’s going right now, within the next year or two he should be a level 6. Everyone shoots in their own class, but everyone is also in the running for the overall title at our matches. He has won overall at some events and beaten the top guys. So in a sense we are shooting against him right now. As far as shooting against him, I look forward to it. I love watching him ride, love watching him shoot. I’d just as soon watch him as do it myself. This is our family time and our time together. As long as we’re able to do it, we’re all going to keep doing it.

Q: Did the top shooters intimidate you at your first national finals?
A: I remember thinking I was pretty good when I got to my first nationals. I quickly found out I was a very small fish in a big pond. There were guys outrunning me by two or three seconds per stage—not per match—per stage. It was a real eye-opener. So I had to sit back, watch and learn. I’ve learned little tricks from a lot of these guys through the years.

Q: What was the toughest part of learning to compete in mounted shooting?
A: Course management. I’ve been around horses and guns most of my life, so putting the two together wasn’t that difficult. But I couldn’t understand how to run the courses. I was running the course the same direction as the top shooters, but I was two or three seconds behind them. I soon found out there are ways to take each course that require a few less steps. Once I got that down, things got easier for me. It’s amazing that a stride here or there can make such a difference in one stage. Even today after so many years in the sport, I can run a stage and then watch someone run it a different way after me and wonder why I didn’t think of that. Little things you wouldn’t think of can make the difference between winning and losing.

To learn more about mounted shooting, visit cowboymountedshooting.com.

Arizona cowgirl Dema Paul won’t be among the contestants at the 2009 Snaffle Bit Futurity after sitting out much of the year following shoulder surgery and hip replacement. But that doesn’t mean reined-cow-horse fans have seen the last of the veteran hand.

“I’ll definitely be back. That event really gets into your blood. So I’m not ready to give up on it just yet. And I have to come back in 2012 when I’m scheduled to win again,” said the non-pro champion from 2004 and 2008.

Sidelined for much of the year, Paul says her young horses are behind schedule and she just won’t be able to show them at the futurity this season. She does have plans, however, to show her bridle horse and possibly compete in the hackamore class in the Snaffle Bit Futurity Horse Show.

“This will be the first time since 1999 that I haven’t shown at the Futurity,” she says. “I’m going to miss being out there, but I’ll still be hanging around.”

Paul told reporters after her 2008 victory that she’s not sure how much longer she’ll continue to show at the futurity. “Every year I keep thinking, ‘I’m going to quit and start colts and sell them for a living,’ and then this happens and I think, ‘Oh, I want to do it again!’”

Sitting out a year will probably nudge her in the direction of continuing to show, Paul says. “I’ve got a feeling I’ll want to be out there as soon as I get to Reno. But we’ll see what happens next year. I’ve got some nice 2-year-olds coming along, so I’m sure I’ll be back. My 3-year-olds are pretty nice too, but they’re a little behind after I had to lay off for six months.”

The Snaffle Bit Futurity runs September 20 through October 4 at the Reno (Nevada) Livestock Events Center. Other defending champions include John Ward in the open division, Ed Robertson in the intermediate open, Tommy Thompson in the limited open, John McCarty in the intermediate non-pro, Karey Franz in the amateur, and Sandra Collier in the ladies class.

For more information, visit nrcha.com.

Fall is in the air in most places, and for us at the Working Ranch Cowboys Association, that means one thing: the World Championship Ranch Rodeo is just around the corner!

The 14th annual WCRR will be November 12-15 at the Civic Center in Amarillo, Texas, with a special kickoff party November 11 featuring cowboy poet Baxter Black.

Baxter will be featured in a presentation November 11 in the Heritage Room at the Amarillo Civic Center. “An Evening with Baxter Black” coincides with the introduction of the 2009 WRCA competing teams. Baxter is a veterinarian who actually practiced the trade until 1982, when it became evident that his brand of cowboy poetry and public speaking made a better (and easier) way of living. Since then he has made presentations all over the country, appeared on the “Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson, has a weekly radio show broadcast on more than 200 stations and writes a syndicated column called “On the Edge of Common Sense” that appears each month in Western Horseman magazine.

Baxter lives on his ranch near Benson, Arizona, and says that he still doesn’t own a television or a cell phone. Tickets for the Baxter Black performance, which starts at 7 p.m. and also includes heavy hors d’oeuvres as well as the introduction of the rodeo teams, are available for $20. Tickets may also be purchased for a one-hour preshow, which includes a VIP meet and greet with Baxter along with the performance and rodeo team introduction, for $30.

Tickets are now on sale and may be purchased through the WRCA office, P.O. Box 7765, Amarillo, TX  79114 or by calling (806) 374-9722. All tickets must be purchased or reserved by Nov. 2.

This year’s championship rodeo will also feature a special salute to the women of ranching. Whether it’s behind-the-scenes support or working hard and getting dirty alongside the men, ranch women are an integral part of the industry. Look for special displays, entertainment and presentations throughout the WCRR.

If you’ve never been to the WCRR, you’re in for a treat. (And if you’re a veteran, we know you’re hooked, and we can’t wait to see you back again this year!) The events in ranch rodeo mirror the duties a working ranch cowboy might encounter in his daily work, including Ranch Bronc Riding, Stray Gathering, Team Penning, Wild-Cow Milking and Team Branding.

In conjunction with the ranch rodeo, the WRCA will host a top-notch ranch expo and cowboy trade & trappings show. If you’re looking for anything for your ranching operation—or maybe just Christmas gifts for the family – you can find it here.

Rodeo tickets range from $16 to $28 and are available by calling Panhandle Tickets at (806) 378-3096. For more information on the WRCA and the World Championship Ranch Rodeo, visit wrca.org.

The National Versatility Ranch Horse Association’s World’s Greatest Versatility Ranch Horse competition returns to the Norris-Penrose Event Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado, September 27. The competition is part of the NVHRA’s second National Finals, which runs September 25-27.

Mike Major and his horse Smart Whiskey Doc won the inaugural World’s Greatest competition in 2008. The event is open to “any horse, any rider, any breed” and will feature a $10,000-plus payout. Entries are open until September 15 and fees are $300. Only nine riders competed in the first World’s Greatest Versatility Ranch Horse competition, but NVRHA President Dave Currin expects close to 30 horses in 2009.

“Last year we were in our first year and had just three states where we had held events,” he says. “But this year we’ve had events in 16 states [ranging from California to Massachusetts]. So I think we’ll see a lot more interest. Last year we had 72 horses at our first national finals and this year we expect more than 100. So there should be a pretty dramatic increase in the World’s Greatest competitors, as well.”

After talking with competitors at the 2009 World’s Greatest Horseman competition in San Angelo, Texas, Currin believes several of them will make the trip to Colorado Springs this month.

“Increasing the prize money has also sparked some interest,” he says. “Last year was the first event and we didn’t have a lot of publicity for it, so that made it difficult to draw in contestants. I think we’re in a much better place with all of that this year.”

The World’s Greatest Versatility Ranch Horse event will offer cash payouts to the top six places in all five events—conformation, ranch cutting, ranch riding, ranch trail and working ranch horse.

For more information, visit nvrha.org.

I’ve covered hundreds of high-school, college, amateur and professional rodeos all across the United States and Canada. I’ve covered rodeos in 27 states—ranging from Pennsylvania to Florida to Washington State—and two Canadian provinces. There are a few great rodeos I haven’t seen and still hope to get to someday. I’d still like to see a rodeo in Hawaii (who wouldn’t?) and one in Australia as well. Maybe someday.

For now, here’s a few of my favorites:

1. St. Paul, Oregon. A farming town of 300 puts on a great rodeo with more than 10,000 in attendance for each performance. It’s a July 4th rodeo just south of Portland, Oregon. I’ve been there twice and I’d spend my own money to go back. For someone who generally gets paid to go to rodeos, that’s saying something.

A chuckwagon driver prepares to turn a barrel in Calgary.

2. Calgary (Alberta) Stampede. One big party. Only been there once, but they go all out for the rodeo, chuckwagon racing and nightly Broadway-caliber show. I’d longed to attend this rodeo for nearly a decade before finally getting there in 2007.

3. National High School Finals Rodeo. I worked for the National High School Rodeo Association for five years, so I’m kind of partial to this one. From my perspective, the rodeo meant long hours (usually 15 to 20 per day for a week) and constant demands from the media. But it was always a blast.

4. National Finals Rodeo. I’m not a Las Vegas-type of guy, but this is simply the best rodeo with the best livestock and the best cowboys. So that alone makes it tough to beat. From a media perspective the bigger events are always more difficult to cover–more red tape to go through, etc. But you can’t beat the rodeo action at the NFR.

5. Daines Ranch Rodeo in Innisfail, Alberta. Completely run by the Daines family and is another event that turns into a week-long party. They pull in the best bucking stock Canada has to offer—which is generally incredible. And the cowboys love the rodeo as much as any event they go to all year.

There are others, but these five stand out.

Feel free to post your favorite rodeos in the comments section. If there’s a rodeo out there that you think we should be covering, let me know.