Stettler area cowboys were shining examples of Canada’s equine skills as they were among the few of the Canadian riders who had their tickets punched to the showdown at Calgary Stampede, the world’s richest rodeo event, on Sunday, July 17.
It was another great day of saddle bronc riding for Big Valley’s Zeke Thurston as he successfully defended his saddle bronc championship on Spring Planting with total earnings of $112,000.
“It was a great experience,” said Thurston after winning the top spot. “While I was waiting in the chute for my turn, I was trying to read the situation, how I would handle my horse and just focused on making the best ride I possibly could.”
It seemed third time was a charm indeed as Thurston was riding Spring Planting for the third time and knew he had a good horse.
“I rode her earlier in the week and even last year,” said Thurston. “That horse really bucks.”
On his way to Idaho already, Thurston said in the next five days there was more work to be done as he was scheduled to participate in five different rodeos – Nampa, Idaho followed by Spanish Fork, Ogden and Salt Lake City all in Utah and Cheyenne, Wyoming.
On how does he handle the physical and mental strain of it all, Thurston said, “I try not to get sore.”
“While travelling every day on the road I see new things, and being a positive person it helps, but when there is a bad day I try not to get too down on myself and approach it with a positive mindset,” added Thurston. “I am always surrounded by great friends and family and that helps a lot, so am going to just keep rodeoing, because it isn’t going to slow down, now’s the season.”
Stettler’s Wallace McComish wins the reserve champion in team penning
It was a great win for Stettler’s Wallace McComish along with his team members former Gadsby resident Larry Cressman and Didsbury’s Beau Riedel as they shot to second spot from tenth after round two, landing them the reserve champion in team cattle penning, taking home total earnings of $14,760 and trophy blankets with a time of 142.43 for 12 heads.
“We were just 3.26 seconds of the champions, so no regrets, but if we had only got a head start earlier in the week, it would have been different,” said McComish. “It’s hard to beat the adrenaline that you feel at Calgary Stampede no matter how many times you win, and I don’t know if it’s because I grew up in central Alberta.”
Having won earlier in 2011 and 2013, McComish said that to be the reserve champions out of 640 teams that had entered the competition was quite a feat.
Donalda’s Cody Cassidy places third in steer wrestling
Among the two Albertans who made it to the top ten in steer wrestling on showdown Sunday, July 17, Donalda’s Cody Cassidy was one of them with a score of 4.2 making it through his wildcard placement.
Cassidy has had a great run this year so far, and Sunday was no different as he placed third overall with a score of 13.9.