They’ll be celebrating in the cowboy community of Big Valley, after two of their residents were among the Canadian contingent to have a big weekend on the rodeo trail.
Zeke Thurston is on his rookie campaign in the pro ranks, but he’s been matching moves with the veterans and taking their cash. In his first appearance at the San Antonio Stock Show and Rodeo, the 20-year-old won a round with an 83 point ride on a Calgary Stampede horse called Whitney. Then he placed in both of the semi-finals, to miss making it all the way to the finals by a mere $143. But he still came out of the Texas town with $4419 in his pocket. Then he rolled over to Tucson, Arizona where he made it out of the first round action, along with fellow Canadians Dustin Flundra and Tyrel Larsen, of Manitoba.
Then the second generation rodeo rider found out he’d be nodding his head for a horse called Killer Bee in the Finals.
“The last two or three years, she’s been voted rankest horse of the NFR,” declared Thurston. “She bucks. They don’t ride her often.”
“The old time bronc riders, like my Dad, were talking about her the other day, and how hard she bucked. That’s the kind they like.”
“So I was a little excited, but pretty nervous to have her.”
Thurston admits he’d been hoping for something a little more rider-friendly, since he knew two solid scores would be enough to net him some more cash. But there was no turning back, and Flundra helped him get his saddle set, after they moved the horse forward a few chutes to give her plenty of space in the arena when she came out.
Then the gate cracked open for what would become a memorable eight seconds.
“She ended up turning back right there, and circled left tight. She bucked the whole time. I was surprised… I stayed on somehow. I was happy, and pretty excited.”
Thurston was even more pumped when he heard the judges had given their dance 90 points, setting a new arena record, and giving the young cowboy a personal best as well, not to mention a payout of $5790. He now has more than double the winnings of his next closest rival in the saddle bronc rookie title race, and he’s knocking on the door of the top ten in the world standings with his total earnings of nearly $12,000.
“It’s pretty exciting to ride the one nobody does in your rookie year.”
“It dang sure gets them looking at you, and lets them know you’re there,” he grinned.
Thurston’s Big Valley neighbor Devon Mezei also had a weekend to remember. He went just down the highway to take part in his buddy Chad Besplug’s Invitational Bull Riding in Claresholm, the first event of the 2015 Canadian pro rodeo season. Taking his first 83 point ride to the short go, Mezei then joined forces with 2014 Bull of the Canadian Finals Rodeo from Vold Rodeo, called Proper Ripped. Like Thurston, Mezei turned in a spectacular ride and was also awarded a juicy 90 score. His 173 total gave him the championship and a $3634 payday.
“I couldn’t have had a better start to the season,” the veteran bull rider declared.
“I was actually thinking about hanging it up after last year,” Mezei admitted, “but I kind of re-discovered my love for bull riding over the winter, and decided to go all out this year and see what happens. Not being at the Calgary Stampede or at the CFR last year—that wasn’t a lot of fun.”
“Devon made a fantastic ride—one of the best I’ve seen in a long time,” Besplug, the event producer and two-time Canadian title-holder, added. “And a 90 score is always something really special.”
Another central Alberta cowboy who cashed in big on the weekend was Ponoka’s Jake Vold. He was the only Canadian to collect from RFD-TV’s American Finals on the weekend. That’s the event that paid out a million dollars last year to college kid Richmond Champion, who came through the qualifying ranks to win the title against the pros.
This year, again in the bareback riding, Taylor Price was an American qualifier who won the title, but this time, that was split between two winners, since tie-down roper Reese Reimer got his championship the same way. So both walked out of the AT&T Stadium in Arlington with $600,000.
Because Vold qualified by being among the top ten in the world last year, he wasn’t eligible for that money, but he was riding for $100,000. His 87.5 mark in the Final round was just a point and a half behind Price. They only paid two places, so Vold did get a cheque, and it was a good one, to the tune of $25,000.
“I’ll take it,” cackled Vold, even though the big boost won’t show in the world standings. “It looks good in the bank account, and my winter’s been slow. I didn’t go to the same amount of rodeos. This keeps a guy going.”
It was Vold’s first trip to the American Finals, and he was impressed with the whole production.
“It was amazing,” related Vold. “It’s a huge stadium, and there were two arenas. There were six cameras on you at all times, and cameras in the air. It makes you really feel like a pro.”
An extra treat for Jake was to have his father Lawrence join him in Texas, and they got to watch the Iron Man PBR the night before in a suite, and then his dad helped him get on in the chutes the next night.
While many Canadian contestants are already showing up strong in the world rodeo standings from their winter run in the U.S., one other to note from this region is Ponoka’s Levi Simpson. He’s roping with fellow Canadian Jeremy Buhler this year, and the duo picked up over $10,000 from San Antonio, TX and Scottsdale, AZ.
Now the attention swings to Rodeo Houston, where the Cassidy brothers of Donalda are both competing in the first pool of contestants. Curtis won the opening night steer wrestling action, and was second Wednesday, to already have $3700 won. Cody Cassidy was second in the opening round, for $1200. Like the Calgary Stampede, Houston pays out big cash, but it doesn’t count towards the world standings.