A Canadian contractor told a buddy of mine that anyone from the rodeo (contestants, contractors, judges, flag girls, etc.,) caught without a mask in the Globe Life Field is subject to an automatic $1,000 fine. He said in restaurants or stores, lots of people are bare-faced, but the rodeo personnel are all masked up.
I saw Alicia Erickson riding a lap during the opening ceremonies, and they introduced her as Miss Rodeo Canada. Maybe that happens every night, and I just missed it until tonight.
This performance was kind to Canadian contractors; no victories but lots of placings. In the Bareback riding, Tim O’Connell from Iowa won it with a 90.5 score, and the second-place cheque went to Leighton Berry aboard Calgary’s A-47 Arbitrator Joe. Both of Wayne Vold’s horses earned cheques for their pilots, Tilden Hooper got a 3 /4 split on 838 Mucho Dinero and Richie Champion tied for 5 and 6 on 73 True Grit.
Manitoba’s Orin Larsen can’t seem to catch a break and settled for 80 points.
The steer wrestling saw Cajun Jacob Talley make the victory lap. Curtis Cassidy collected some mount money when Tyson, his AQHA/PRCA Steer Wrestling Horse of the Year packed Oregon’s Jesse Brown to a tie for 2nd and 3rd. Curtis had a 4.9 but did not place.
Okie Brenton Hall and Montanan Chase Tryan won the team roping with 4/.2 second run. Ponoka’s Levi Simpson partnered with Shay Carroll to clock a 4.9 and split 5th and 6th. Header Kolton Schmidt and his heeler Hunter Koch had a no-time.
In the bronc riding, World Champion Ryder Wright won the round on a Kirsten Vold horse, and his brother Rusty placed 6th on C5’s 00 Double D. Two-time World Champion Taos Muncy rode C5’s 333 Kitty Whistle but no cheque and Big Valley, Alta’s two-time World Champion Zeke Thurston continued to struggle and scored 72.5. What a difference a year makes.
Texas Adam Gray won the tie-down roping with a 7.8-second run. Shane Hanchey riding Logan Bird’s T.J. didn’t place with his 10.2, and it’s premature to talk about the big payoff in the Average, but at the end of four rounds, Hanchey is sitting third, two seconds out of first.
Reigning World Champion Barrel Racer Hailey Kinsel cashed first in her event. In the bull riding, Colorado’s Ty Wallace tried to get out on a chute-slamming bull several times until finally the judges gave him a re-ride and he won it with an 89.5. Australian Ky Hamilton won third on C5’s 40 Director’s Assistant, and Wayne Vold’s 522 Vertigo Spy bucked off Clayton Sellars.
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