Steve Lloyd roped himself a beautiful bronze Monday night, as the Alberta Circuit rodeo champion.
It’s the second year in a row the Alix cowboy has achieved the honor.
He was thrilled to be able to expand his art collection.
“For one, the bronzes are beautiful,” commented Lloyd, following the awards presentations at Billy Bob’s.
“It was an accomplishment I wanted to get done last year, and to do it two years in a row is a pretty good feeling.”
But this year, Lloyd went on to finish first overall in the Canadian tie-down roping standings, the first time he’s won the season leader award.
He earned almost $31,000, and two-thirds of that was earned at Alberta rodeos. A good chunk came of it from his near-hometown event, the Ponoka Stampede.
“Once I had the Canadian Finals made, I made a point to try and go after the season leader. It’s a great feeling once you accomplish your goals.”
The fact that Lloyd is roping at all is amazing.
He and his wife and one-month old baby daughter survived a terrible accident east of Red Deer last Boxing Day. He had stitches in his hand and a stretched PCL in his knee to deal with for a good portion of the season.
“It’s amazing my daughter didn’t have a scratch. It could’ve been a lot worse. It was a split second thing, and I thought it was all over when it was happening. I didn’t think there was any way it would turn out the way it did. We’ve very lucky.”
So with the struggle over adversity behind him, Lloyd is anxious to get to Edmonton and have some fun beginning with Wednesday’s opening performance of the CFR at Rexall Place.
“I feel great, as good as I ever have. My horse is great and I’m healthy. I hope everything works out.”
Even though contestants keep their season earnings, and add to them during the CFR for the year-end champion’s race, the size of the purse still gives ‘sudden death’ type possibilities.
“I mean if somebody gets on a tear, you can come from tenth or the bottom to win it. The little bit of a lead I have doesn’t mean you’re safe or anything,” said Lloyd.
Another contestant heading to Edmonton with a new Alberta bronze is the newly-married Cody Cassidy of Donalda, who won in the steer wrestling.
Devon Mezei of Scandia took the bull riding honors, while Dustin Flundra of Pincher Creek won the saddle bronc title for the province. The bareback bronze went to Dusty LaValley of Crooked Creek, while Texan Brittany Pozzi topped the circuit in barrel racing. Kyle Thomson of Black Diamond is the all-around champion for Alberta and the team roping champions are Brett Buss of Ponoka and Kevin Schreiner of Medicine Hat.
The winners of the Duane Daines saddle bronc series also received their cheques, with Justin Berg of Marwayne picking up a bronze and $5000 as the 2009 champion. Kyle Bowers of Brooks won $5000 for topping the Kenton Randle bareback series.
Alberta circuit organizer Jack Daines was presented with a buckle from the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame and Olson buckles for his many decades of dedication to rodeo.
Dianne Finstad is the agriculture and rodeo reporter for C99 and CKGY.