CANADIANS CLAIM RODEO HOUSTON CHAMPIONSHIPS
March 22 , 2010

Two Alberta cowboys claimed championships this past weekend at the high profile Rodeo Houston, often cited as the richest regular-season rodeo in the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) circuit, due to the $1.5 million purse up for grabs.

Steer wrestler Cody Cassidy and veteran saddle bronc rider Rod Hay each received $50,000 for winning the championship for their events, in addition to the earnings they picked up along the way to the Mar. 20 championship round and shootout.

For Hay, winning the tournament-style rodeo takes a lot of pressure off the rest of his season.

“It just gives a guy such an advantage to have this much won this early in the year,” he says, enthusiastically referring to the fact that a trip to the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo (NFR) later this year is pretty much secured as a result.

But he’s quick to add: “It shouldn’t really make a whole lot of difference on how I rodeo or how I get on and how I compete; it just takes the stress away.”

The eight-time Canadian saddle bronc champion from Wildwood, Alta., began his tenure at this year’s Rodeo Houston during Super Series V, and earned more than $2,000 during those three go-rounds. He finished the series in third place, and a guaranteed trip to the semifinals, where he rode to an 81.5, and added another $2,000 to his winnings. During the championship round, Hay competed against 10 other bronc riders for one of four spots in the final shootout. Another 81.5-point ride put him in third place and on the back of one last bronc.

“He’s a good draw,” he notes of Burch Rodeo’s Lunitic Fringe, the horse that shared the winning 87.5-point ride with Hay.

“A really nice horse,” he nods. “He puts his head down and jumps and kicks.”

Overall, Hay will head north with $54,250 in the bank, but that’s not the only reason this cowboy is smiling, as he reflects on the year 1989 – his rookie year, and the last time he won this same championship title in Houston.

“That one back then was kind of the first big win of my career. That got me going. It definitely helped me get things rolling to qualify for my first NFR and I won the (PRCA saddle bronc) Rookie of the Year that year, so it really got me going,” he recalls.

And it’s a lot more money this time than I won last time,” he chuckles, confirming that title 11 years ago was worth $8,854.

In turn, Cassidy earned a grand total of $52,650 at Reliant Stadium after a swift 3.8 in the steer wrestling shootout.

The reigning Canadian steer wrestling champion got his foot in the finals’ door during Super Series II. A 4.1-second run in the first go-round earned the Donalda, Alta. bulldogger a first place cheque of $2,000 and, in spite of two missed head in the second and third gos, a trip to the semis, where he split for second place, adding $650 to his winnings. A 5.0 in the championship round placed him in third, allowing for another run, where he picked up the title in 3.8-seconds.

Cassidy gives most of the credit to the family’s 24-year-old steer wrestling horse Willy, who carried his brother Curtis Cassidy to the same championship title in 2009.

“I owe pretty much all my success to that horse, “Cassidy said in a PRCA press release following the shootout. “He’s pretty much taught us everything we know since we started bulldogging. Words can’t describe how great that horse is and how good he’s been for so long.”