Big Paydays on Canadian Cowboy Christmas
Canadian Professional Rodeo Association athletes enjoyed Canada Day hospitality at the Ponoka Stampede.
Canada’s richest CPRA/PRCA rodeo wrapped up its 89th year under blue skies and in front of a full grandstand. And when the smoke cleared and the dust settled, a lot of money had changed hands. International competitors Damian Brennan (Australia) in the bronc riding, Rocker Steiner (Texas) in the bareback riding, Hayes Weight (Utah) in the bull riding, Amanda Terrell (Colorado) in breakaway roping and Zack Yongbloed (Louisiana) in the tie-down roping rode out of Ponoka with the champions buckles in their respective events while Canadians Ryan Shuckburgh (Stettler, AB) in steer wrestling and barrel racer Jennifer Neudorf (Blufton, AB) carried the Maple Leaf to the podium in their disciplines.
But it was the hands-across the border team roping tandem of Barrhead, Alberta header Kolton Schmidt and Cody, Wyoming heeler Sid Sporer who collected wins for both sides of the 49th parallel. The duo were fourth in round one, then topped both the short go and the average and capped off the weekend with a dramatic win in the lucrative Showdown to cash in at over $18,500 each for their week’s work.
That all but clinches a trip to the Canadian Finals Rodeo for Schmidt, the 2013 Canadian Champion and Sporer (this will be his 3rd CFR) and maybe a first qualification at the NFR for the Wyoming cowboy, a goal Schmidt has achieved twice previously.
It was also Schmidt’s third Ponoka win, and he was extra excited this time around. “It doesn’t get old, that’s for sure,” he acknowledged. “The first two were back-to-back and just like everything early in your career you maybe take it a little bit for granted. This one, especially this much later in my career; it felt special just to be in the final four, let alone win the deal.”
The victory will change a lot of things for a team that’s only been roping together since early summer. “It hasn’t been wonderful up to now; we’ve done just enough to kind of hang around so a big hit like this will be really beneficial for our team.”
With the Ponoka money counting for both Canadian and world standings, the pair can now turn their attention to getting into the top fifteen in the PRCA standings and a much coveted trip to the Thomas and Mack Arena in December, (Schmidt was 23rd in the world and Sporer 29th heading into the week’s action).
“The Ponoka money is such a huge deal,” Schmidt noted. “That pretty much checked off our getting to the CFR so now we can really focus on the American events and make sure
that we’re concentrating on the rodeos that will benefit us for a shot at the NFR at the end of the year.”
While the Ponoka Stampede was the biggest Canadian Cowboy Christmas stop, it was not the only important locale on the Canada Day weekend. Bronc rider, Layton Green, made the most of his performances at the Airdrie Pro Rodeo, Williams Lake Stampede and the Raymond Stampede, winning two and sharing second place at the third. The Millarville, AB athlete spurred out an impressive 88 point ride on Duane Kesler Championship Rodeo’s 74 Black Ice at Raymond for a $1908 win, then was 85 at Airdrie on Outlaw Buckers’ W42 Comeback Red for another $1613, and capped off the trifecta with an 86 point effort to tie Kolby Wanchuk and Traylin Martin, in a 2-4 split at Williams Lake that earned each of the three $3399.
* Ponoka and Williams Lake are part of the SMS Equipment Pro Tour while Airdrie, Raymond and Fort MacLeod are Maple Leaf Circuit rodeos.
Canadian tie down roper Kyle Lucas got back to his 2025 winning ways, taking home top money at Airdrie with a flawless 8.0 for $2203 and adding $3363 with his runs at Ponoka and Williams Lake to support his bid for a first trip to the NFR—he had slid down to 15th in the world standings prior to the weekend’s quartet of rodeos. The significant cash injection will also aid the Carstairs, AB native in his quest for a first Canadian title (he’s been the runner-up on three previous occasions).
Karli Cowie was among the barrel racers who shone over the course of the July long weekend. Cowie topped the field at the Williams Lake Stampede with a 15.28 second run and $6542 then earned cheques in the long go and average at Ponoka for close to $13,000 overall, more than double her 2025 earnings to date. Ponoka barrel racing titleist Jennifer Neudorf was third in the long go, second in the Short Go and Average and won the Showdown with the fastest time of this year’s Ponoka Stampede (17.24 seconds) for one of the largest paydays of the lucrative run with $20,326 in total. The CFR qualifier will move from 26th to at or near the top of the standings as a result.
Kole Ashbacher recorded the third 90 point ride of his bronc riding career on Legend Rodeo’s 023 Artificial Colours (good for $1682) at the second annual Midnight Days Pro Rodeo June 24-26 in Fort MacLeod, Alberta. The Arrowwood, AB cowboy added placings at Ponoka, Airdrie and Raymond for an overall $5000 return as he also looks to move up in the Canadian standings.
For complete unofficial Cowboy Christmas results, visit rodeocanada.com.
On the CPRA schedule this week are the re-scheduled Bassano Pro Rodeo, July 4-5 and the Benalto Stampede July 4-6 – both Maple Leaf Circuit events.
