Madison Wilkerson CFR 2025

Madison Wilkerson has qualified for her first Canadian Finals Rodeo, pocketing $33,615.26 after entering 45 rodeos, placing at fourteen, and winning two.

She and her great horse, VF Eddies Coup (Eddie Stinson x VF Coup De Ville), aka Coup, finished fourth in the regular season standings, and are ready for Rogers Place.

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What is your main mounts back story?
I could talk about Coup for all day haha! Coup is a 2018 gelding by Eddie Stinson out of VF Coup De Ville (Burrs First Down). Figuring things out with him has been a process for sure. My dad found Coup for a really good deal on Facebook as an unstarted two year old…he has always had a good eye for horses. He was actually my birthday present lol! Cassie Ambrose (Ward) trained him on the barrels and I futuritied a little bit on him as a four year old as well as taking him to circuit rodeos in Montana. He won a lot at the futurities and a little bit at the rodeos as well. His five year old year went alright and then last summer (6 year old year) things went downhill. He was running pretty well but slow, which is unlike him. I started with by getting his respiratory issues under control and it helped a little, but most of the time he was still not clocking.

I gave him some time off at the end of the summer and he got extremely fat…like 1500 lbs! When I started exercising him I could not get him to drop the weight no matter what I did. He was even slower at this point and lethargic all the time. I was in Arizona at the time so I did a ton of research, decided I thought he was metabolic, and went to an internal med specialist down there (Dr. Rachel Leipman). The testing confirmed that he was indeed metabolic. She got me set up with a new program to help him  and he lost a ton of weight. Once again he was a bit better, but still slower than I wanted, and then we were struggling with lameness.

Finally, I got to take him to Dr. Ty Corbiell when I got back to Canada and he found an old injury that was causing issues, took care of that, and suggested treating him for EPM. That was in May and at the beginning of June he started clocking again! Since then he has been running outstanding! Poor Coup had so many issues all stacked on top of each other, but he never quit trying for me. He has a big heart and a big personality to match…he is like a big dog! It has been a long road and I know it’s not over, but he is a horse that is worth it.

Tell readers how it feels to have qualified to the Canadian Finals Rodeo in Edmonton, and what are you most excited for?
It almost hasn’t sunk it yet to be honest, but it feels incredible to have accomplished my goal of qualifying for the CFR! The last five or so years have been really rough in terms of rodeoing so this qualification feels a little extra special. I got to go to Edmonton last year with Grady and I knew that I just had to get there this year, it was one of the coolest rodeos I’ve ever been to! I SO am excited for the entire CFR experience and all it has to offer, but I am most excited to run down the alley in Rogers for the first round, I think that’s when it will all really feel real.

What was your most memorable run this season, and what made it memorable?
Oh this one is easy! The first round of Ponoka when it was pouring down rain was my most memorable run for sure. The ground was amazing all day and then this giant black cloud started heading our way…Wouldn’t you know it started pouring right during the barrels so bad that the eyes were falling over and they had to stop the rodeo. Within just a few minutes the arena was muddy, and I won’t lie, I was a bit discouraged, but that’s rodeo so what can you do. I figured I would follow Coup’s lead and after he turned a great first I just decided to go for it! I remember running home and thinking that he had made an amazing run and I couldn’t even be upset that it probably wouldn’t clock…then I saw 17.58 on the scoreboard! I will never forget how excited I was at that moment.

One of the best parts was how excited everyone was for me, from friends running over screaming and excited while I did my interview, to all of the kind messages I received, mostly from the other barrel racers! I think thats something special about rodeoing in Canada, how encouraging and helpful all the girls are to each other.

What was different about your rodeo season this year compared to last year? 
The biggest difference is that my horse was healthy and feeling good! I also worked a lot on my riding this winter and I think that made a big difference, along with having an arena at my house to ride in during the weekdays this summer. This was also the first summer Coup has felt like a seasoned rodeo horse rather than kind of colty.

What challenges did you face this year, and how did you overcome them? How do you keep confidence when things aren't going as planned, or you are in a slump?
The month of June was really difficult for me. After doing well at Sundre and the whole Ponoka week I ended up in a big slump. I wasn’t riding very good and was knocking a lot of barrels to place. Basically it all came down to mental game. I felt like I had to prove to myself that the success wasn’t a fluke and I felt like I had to prove to others that Coup is an amazing horse. Cati and Grady both gave me great advice through this slump, and I picked up my go to mental game book (Mind Gym) for some help too! I think it is really important to be able to take every run one by one and to be able to relax and have fun because that’s usually when you are confident and do your best. Yes every run is important, but you have to have a short memory in this sport!

Tell readers something good that happened to you this season, other than winning or placing at a rodeo? 
One of my favorite parts of the season was the Armstrong week. My parents got to come up to watch and we got to go to the lake with friends. It is always so nice to have a little bit of down time after rodeoing hard all year, and having my family there made it even better! 

What would be your rough estimate of vet work annually to get to the Canadian Finals Rodeo? Do you know a rough estimate of what it cost (without factoring in truck/trailer cost)  to make a run at the CFR? 
That’s a lot of numbers to add up…fuel, vet bills, maintenance on the rig, entry fees, hay and feed, supplements, meds, soooo many little things you don’t even think about…it’s never ending. I’ll be honest, I don’t even want to add those numbers lol! 

What was the best restaurant you stopped at all year? Any hidden gems to mention?
I think Cati and I stopped at just about every little coffee shop in Canada, it just became a part of our travels! We are really good at getting a big truck and trailer into the tiny parking lots haha. I think my two favorites would be Open Road Coffee in Stettler and Colossi’s in High River. As far as food goes, my two favorites were Post and Row in Dawson Creek and French 50 for the pizza in Okotoks. 

What is your least favourite part of being on the rodeo road, and what is your favourite?
My least favorite part of being on the road is the lack of sleep! There are a lot of early mornings and late nights, but they’re all worth it. My favorite part of being on the road is just getting to do what I love every single weekend…I feel so lucky to live this lifestyle! I love all the little things like waking up and seeing my horse right at my LQ window, going new places, and spending time with my friends!  I love getting to see my hard work pay off when things go well. I also love the Sports Med here in Canada…they help me A LOT!!

What therapies are a must have for your horse? 
Coup wears his XLR8 blanket a lot on the road, and I use my Pulse PEMF machine on him. I have him on Platinum supplements…they are the very best!! Chiro is awesome too and I am lucky enough to have a traveling partner that can adjust Coup! 

How do you manage to balance life at home/work with life on the road?
As far as work goes, I am lucky enough to get to work from my phone! As far as things at home, Grady’s aunt and uncle who we stayed with this summer were so helpful. They took great care of our horses at home so we never had to worry about a thing. My mare and colts are at my parents house, and they couldn’t be better taken care of. It takes a village to chase rodeo dreams!

Who did you travel with this year? Do you have a funny or heart warming story you could share about your time together, or anything you would like to share about them? 
I traveled with Cati McArthur and it was SO fun! When it comes to traveling and barrel racing, we probably couldn’t be more different…I’m totally the type A barrel racer and she is the type B one, but somehow it just works! We were able to have fun in a lot of bad situations, and both talked each other off a ledge or two this summer lol. It is so incredible to have a traveling partner that is always on your side and wants you to do just as good as they want themselves to do. The fact that we both qualified for our first CFR this year makes it that much better! Of course, as much as we wanted one another to do good, we are still both competitive so we made a couple fun bets throughout the year…Cati won our bet about the Tour Standings and I won our bet about the pre-CFR standings so now she has to go skydiving haha!

How are you preparing for the Canadian Finals Rodeo practise wise? What is your routine like to be ready for Edmonton?
I’m honestly not changing much. Coup was great all summer so I am just going to keep doing the same things and maybe work a little bit extra on keeping him free since Rogers is going to feel tight after all summer outdoors. I don’t do a whole lot of barrel work on Coup, but I do ride him outside the arena lots, he loves it!

If your horse was an actor/actress in a movie, who would play them, or if your horse was a character from a movie, which character do they remind you of and why?
I am terrible with movies, so I phoned a friend for this one…Grady said Coup would be Ashton Kutcher’s character from That 70’s Show because he is good looking but also kind of lazy. Very fitting for Coup ha!

When you were younger, what did you want to be when you grew up, and what do you do now? 
When I was younger I was always changing what I wanted to be, but the one thing that never changed was that I wanted to be a professional barrel racer. Now I actually get to live that dream! I know little Madison would think it was SO cool that I am going to be running at the CFR. I also do social media management and in the winter I work at a restaurant in Arizona.

If you could swing a leg over another qualifier's horse, who would it be and why?
That’s a hard one. This field of horses is outstanding and I would be thrilled to ride any of them, but for the past couple years I’ve thought it would be fun to ride Karli Cowie’s mare Fling, she is so fast and just has a very cool style!

How many barrel horses do you currently have in your string, tell us about them?
I just have Coup that I am running right now. He really stepped it up this year and got us to the CFR all on his own!

I have a five year old Eddie Stinson at home who is coming along nicely. I also have a yearling and this year’s filly out of my Black Gold Jack mare. The yearling is by VF Big Daddy Stinson who is actually Coup’s full brother and the filly is by Slick By Design. I’m super excited about them!

What is your advice for someone who wants to take a shot at making the Canadian Finals Rodeo?
I think my advice would be to not to be too focused on your timeline. Three summers ago when I first came up here I had a goal of making it to the CFR and I wasn’t even remotely close! I had no clue how incredibly tough it is up here!! I learned a lot that first year and then thought I’d be able to make it the second year. My other horse died before the rodeo season started and that really changed things. I spend the summer (and winter after) focusing on seasoning Coup and figuring out his health issues and once again wasn’t anywhere close. Then the third year was the charm! You can’t get discouraged because thing’s aren’t happening as fast as you’d like.

As I said before, rodeo takes a village and I can’t thank everyone that helps me enough.

Thank you to my parents for always supporting my rodeo dreams since I decided I wanted to ride a horse at 6 years old. I will always be thankful for the way you jumped in to it all headfirst from the very start, and I can’t wait to have you guys up here to watch my first CFR!

Thank you to Grady for always being there for me through the roller coaster that has been the past few years, and thank you for riding my barrel horses when ever I need you too ;)

Thank you to Jeff and Tammy and Shawn and Amara for being a second family to me and always cheering me on and for giving Grady and I a home for the summer.

Thank you Cati for being the best traveling partner and making this summer so fun!

Thank you Cor Vet for getting Coup healthy and sound and for keeping him that way all summer.

Thank you to the Platinum Performance for supplements that keep Coup feeling his best, Little Lucille for the best rodeo shirts out there, Arrow Key for the sharp embroidery, Cochrane Equine Wellness for the insight on my horses, and Rowdy Ranch for taking me in this summer.