It has been nearly a month since the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) drew to a close at Rogers Place in Edmonton, and Stettler area cowboys are still riding high.
It was a strong showing for locals at the week-long finals, with Big Valley's Zeke Thurston claiming the championship title for saddle bronc riding, Beau Cooper winning the aggregate in tie-down roping and the duos of Kash Bonnett and Logan Spady and Kavis Drake and Denim Ross dominating in team roping.
"Every bronc, every event, you're always learning," said Thurston, in a recent interview.
"It's kind of a funny sport and a funny event. You know, there's lots of variables and lots of factors. You're dealing with an animal that has a mind of its own, so there's a lot of unknown parts to it."
Thurston is no stranger to the CFR experience; he's ridden in many, though he calls the Edmonton experience "neat."
"It was a lot of fun being back in Edmonton, after a five-year hiatus," said Thurston.
The CFR had been in Red Deer for several years but organizers there decided to move on from hosting the event and it went back to Edmonton. This year was the first time the event had been held in Rogers Place.
"Rogers Place is a brand new building and kind of state of the art," said Thurston.
"It's pretty cool."
Thurston came in first for the season in saddle bronc, with earnings of over $100,000, and third in the aggregate for the CFR, which combined was good enough to earn him his fifth CFR title.
Thurston isn't the only one who had good things to say about the CFR event.
"I've never made it to Edmonton before," said Spady. "It's a little bigger venue, that's for dang sure! Being in Rogers Place it was all good. I had a good week. It's pretty cool being in there."
Spady hangs his hat in Alliance, Alta., and his partner, Bonnett, is from Ponoka. The two team ropers had a solid performance for Spady's fourth time to the big show.
"We didn't quite end up winning the Canadian championship," said Spady. "I ended up winning the Canadian championship all-around cowboy."
Spady and Bonnett ended up winning the aggregate for the CFR with a total time of 40 seconds on five head. In the overall, the duo came in third for the season with earnings of just under $93,000.
Sticking with team roping, Botha cowboy Ross and partner Drake had an excellent season, which concluded in Edmonton.
Drake and Ross won the season Canadian Finals with earnings over $124,000 for the season and came in eighth in the aggregate with a time of 11.8 on three heads,
"It was a good year," said 20-year-old Ross, who also placed second overall as a heeler in Canada. His partner, Drake, took the top spot in heading.
Stettler's Beau Cooper had a great showing at the CFR as well.
Cooper, competing in tie-down roping, won the average, with a time of 41.3 on five head.
"It was actually really good for me, winning the average," said Cooper. "This year I kinda struggled being consistent. It was good for me to get that win and get that confidence."
Cooper noted that 2024 was "a big learning curve" that focused on not panicking or what anyone else was doing.
Ultimately, Cooper finished the season in fourth place with earnings of around $55,000.
Other notable competitors from the Stettler area were the Cassidys of Donalda. Cody Cassidy finished third overall in steer wrestling with season earnings of just over $59, 000 earnings. Curtis Cassidy finished ninth overall with earnings of just under $30,000.
The CFR ran at Rogers Place in Edmonton from Oct. 2-5.
