The final weekend of the Canadian Professional Rodeo regular season was as advertised.
The all British Columbia closing chapter to the season brought celebratory fist pumps for some and gut wrenching disappointment for others. Near the top of the list of those providing the drama the final weekend of the season is noted for was Innisfail, Alberta steer wrestler Quentin Branden. QB as he is known, entered that last weekend in a distant 15th place and needed to make a big move to capture a spot in the coveted top twelve that will he heading to Rogers Place October 7-10 for the 52nd edition of the Canadian Finals Rodeo.
Branden was almost exactly $2,000 out of that critical 12th spot heading into the final stop of the Massey Ferguson Pro Tour finale at Armstrong’s IPE and Stampede. With his own horse, Cisco, sidelined while recovering from an abscess in one foot, the 29 year-old two-event hand, climbed on Curtis Cassidy’s outstanding bull dogging mare, Black Betty, and the two combined to write another page in the lengthy volume of Schmidt-Branden family rodeo successes.
Branden was bumped to the Wild Card round after bad luck in his Pool, but put together a 4.0 for the $1,600 Wild Card win and a berth in the Saturday Finals. He and Black Betty connected again (with Cassidy handling hazing duties on CPRA Horse of the Year, Doubles) this time with a 4.2 second run and the lucrative $7,500 first place cheque, a Tour championship and a trip to Edmonton in October.
“It was very stressful,” Branden recounted as he looked back on his Pro Tour Finals journey. “Missing the steer in my Pool meant I was about $2,000 short and headed to the Wild Card, where only two moved on from that round. But I drew what was one of the two best steers, and I was lucky Curtis let me ride Black Betty. She’s really fast and did her job.”
Branden, who last qualified for CFR in 2021 (in both the steer wrestling and team roping that year) noted that securing a berth on the much sought-after CFR roster hasn’t been easy. “It’s been a grind getting back. Everyone is so tough. When you get good steers, you’ve got to make sure you use them. There’s lots of good guys on the outside looking in.”
Time and perspective are also a little different for the the Barrhead, Alta native this time around. Branden recounts a chat with his cousin Kolton Schmidt (a World and Canadian Cham pion Heeler) not long after his first CFR qualification. “We travelled to Williams Lake together that year. They had fresh steers, I was too small and did badly. I had had a tough year overall. I remember Kolton asking me, ‘Are you doing more practicing than these other guys? Working harder?’. I made some changes after that. I’ve always gone to the gym, but I’m more serious about it now.”
Family plays into the mix too. While he misses the camaraderie from being raised among the many Schmidt and Branden cousins who call Barrhead home ‘where if there is a birthday, wed ding or anniversary, you know where you’re headed that night’, the timed-event cowboy has joined another rodeo family in central Alberta. He is married to Innisfail barrel racer, Sydney Daines (a third generation rodeo competitor) and the couple are enjoying their 14 month old daughter, Josie. “Having Sydney and our daughter with me in Armstrong made a difference… having a family makes me realize there are more important things in life.”
With plans to ride Curtis Cassidy’s Black Betty at the CFR as well, Branden is excited about the Edmonton Rogers Place event, but he’s already looking to 2027 as well. “It’s a relief to be going to the Finals, but I’m not taking my foot off the gas pedal, that’s for sure.”
Another timed event athlete returning to CFR after a lengthy hiatus is barrel racer Colby Bonnett. The Ponoka cowgirl and seven year old Guysplottingfame (aka Mac) are coming off a fairly tale season finish with the Massey Ferguson Pro Tour win and placings at Merritt and Langley.
“That was the biggest weekend of my career,” grinned Bonnett who added over $12,000 to her bank account, along with a spot on the barrel racing roster for the October Finals. But getting that qualification came down to the wire for a few barrel racers, including Bonnett.
“It was pretty clear going into the last weekend, that the final CFR berths were going to come down to who won the most money,” Bonnett explained. “I was nervous going into my first run at Armstrong. Mac and I slipped a bit and hit a barrel. But I knew Heather Crowley had a buy as one of the top two overall Pro Tour barrel racers from the season, which helped (as far as an Armstrong Finals spot). Still, leaving Merritt after running in slack Saturday morning, Bonnett knew she was on the outside of the top 12.
“I knew I could do it if I could get by the barrels (Mac is really turny). And I know my horse does better and runs harder with more runs.” A reminder from her sister-in-law and CFR qualifier, Shelby Spielman to hustle her horse added some extra insight. “I knew going into the Armstrong Finals, I had to send Mac to get him freer and by the barrels.”
This strategy paid off as Bonnett clocked a 15.67 – the fastest run of the Armstrong event to take home the Massey Ferguson Pro Tour Championship and the $7,500 cheque. The weekend got even sweeter after that, as Bonnett learned she’d placed 4th at Nicola Valley Pro Rode (Merritt) for $1,370 and could drive to her last event of the weekend with an easier mind. “I knew on the way to Langley that I had made the top 12 (CFR) and could ‘just have fun’ on that last run.” The icing on the cake was the second place placing at Langley’s lucrative Valley West Stampede and the accompanying $3,550 payday. And, similar to Quentin Branden, Bonnett recognized the value of having her family (two young daughters Bryce and Blake and husband, CFR header Logan Bonnett) with her cheering her on.
All that said, now that Bonnett can relax a little, she acknowledged, “The barrel racing event is tough. There are so many great teams. You put in the hard work, but anything can happen. It was certainly a dramatic finish to the season.” With Colby having qualified for the CFR, there’s something of a Bonnett family reunion happening. Husband Logan and his younger brother Keely will also make a return to the CFR in the team roping after a two-year absence as they en joyed the bounce-back year Logan predicted they’d have early in the year. And the third Bonnett brother, Kash, will be looking to defend the Canadian title he and heeling partner Logan Cullen won a year ago.
Colby Bonnett wasn’t the only barrel racer to bring BC rodeo fans to their feet. Mankota, Sas katchewan cowgirl, Karli Cowie entered the weekend in 8th place but headed to her last rodeo of the season clinging to 12th place. It came town to the final run on the final day in Langley. Cowie and her Horse of the Year (Barrel Horse With the Most Heart) Fling dazzled a sold out Labour Day crown with a 15.44 second dash that would win the rodeo, and give the 26 year-old a 4th consecutive Finals berth.
Also jumping into the drama conversation over the weekend was tie down roper Coy Skocdopole who headed to BC in 15th place with a $2300 deficit to make up. He won his pool and was second in the finals at Armstrong; that was enough to guarantee the second generation talent a trip to Rogers Place. And not to be outdone was a veteran roper who will also make his debut appearance at the CFR—Tyler Popescul who parlayed a $2650 Armstrong effort into an October visit to Rogers Place where he’ll ride his Tie Down Roping Horse of the Year, Lincoln.
Also moving from outside the 12 into qualifying positions were Texas bareback rider Bodee Lammers who was able to move past CFR veterans Wyatt Maines and Brett Williams to grab the final qualifier spot; breakaway roper Jessica Gunsch, who benefitted from a $4,750 stop at Armstrong to jump from 14th to 10th, thus punching her ticket for her first CFR; Fort Anne, New York heeler, Jake Edwards, who bumped many time qualifier, Riley Wilson to the sidelines and Tee McLeod who was able to make a similar move on the heading side knocking Jesse Popescul out of the 12 man CFR roster. Popescul would certainly win the hard luck award if there was one as the veteran missed out in the tie down roping by $127 despite capturing the Massey Ferguson Tour crown and similarly fell just $310 short in the team roping.
The 2027 regular season kicked off Sept 11-12 with Oldstoberfest and Sept 12-13 with the Hanna Pro Rodeo. And the 2026 Canadian Finals Rodeo October is set for October 7-10 in at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta. Look for an official contestant and stock roster, along with the back number list over the next few days. For more information, check out rodeocanada.com
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About CPRA
The Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) with headquarters in Airdrie, Alta. is the official sanctioning body for Professional Rodeo in Canada. The CPRA approves 60+ events annually with a total payout just shy of $8 million. The organization oversees the Massey Ferguson Pro Tour Finale September 2-5 in Armstrong, BC, holds their premiere event–the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) at Rogers Place in Edmonton, AB October 7 10 and sanctions the Maple Leaf Circuit Finals November 25-28 as part of Canadian Western Agribition in Regina, SK. For details, please see RodeoCanada.com
For more information:
Barb Poulsen
CPRA Communications and Media
Phone: 403 625-9225
Email: media@rodeocanada.com