There's nothing like the Ponoka Stampede finals. Set for July 1, the top 12 rodeo athletes in each event take the infield to a full crowd and the excitement is palpable.
There’s close to $700,000 for the taking throughout the rodeo and despite tough odds, these athletes have made it for a final run and chance to earn.
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Rodeo secretary, Brenda Peterson, manages the scores to ensure every athlete gets paid and the rules are being followed. It’s one of her favourite rodeos to take in as everyone says it’s the cowboys’ rodeo.
“It's the biggest pro rodeo in Canada and this is why people talk about Ponoka Stampede. This is open to everyone."
There are up to 72 contestants in each event except barrel racing, which has 96 contestants.
“It's part of cowboy Christmas. All the Americans are coming here because of the money, but also because of the production that Ponoka Stampede offers. It’s snap, snap, snap.”
As rodeo secretary, what she really enjoys about Ponoka is that the Ponoka Stampede Association ensures an amazing performance.
On top of that it’s also sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), so money earned here also counts in the PRCA standings if a cowboy or cowgirl is competing in both US and Canadian rodeos.
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And unlike differences in exchange rates, a dollar equals a dollar in both the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) and the PRCA.
How it works is the first-place performer earns a larger percentage of the pot. So, first place earns approximately 24 per cent of the prize money, while fourth spot might earn about 13 per cent.
The percentages vary a bit between events; however, placing in the top four gets you into the final four and that’s another exciting experience. The entire $60,000 isn’t all awarded at the finals, $15,000 is set aside for the showdown round.
It's perhaps one of the most exciting moments in Canadian rodeo; the stands are always full, the excitement is high, and there’s a lot at stake. With that $15,000, the break down is thus for all four winners:
1. First place: $7,500
2. Second: $3,750
3. Third: $2,250
4. Fourth: $1,500
But if not everyone finishes their ride, and it’s happened before, the $15,000 gets divvied out to the three, two, or sometimes only finisher. For the latter, they could win the whole $15,000.
Zeke Thurston’s 2023 Ponoka Stampede performance brought him an additional $18,000 to his earnings; he came to the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) with a total of $48,491.54. Ponoka alone provided just over 37 per cent of his Canadian earnings and that money added to his $221,919 in PRCA earnings got him to the National Finals Rodeo in the US.
Bareback rider Orin Larsen earned just under $16,000 at Ponoka last year and came into the CFR ranked second with $38,443.15 winnings (just over 41 per cent of his earnings came from Ponoka).
“It’s big, big money,” said Peterson.