By Bonni Clark, communications advisor
Three dozen Calgary Stampede bucking horses are happily frolicking in the snow-covered pastures near Hanna, celebrating a triumphant series of performances in the horse roughstock events at the Canadian Finals Rodeo.
In the six CFR performances, ending Sunday, Stampede horses captured six buckles for round-winning scores. That’s half the available buckles to be won by horses. When the dust settled at Rexall Place and the rough stock awards were handed out, three of the top four horses of the CFR went to Stampede Stock.
Unfortunate Carma won the 2014 Bareback Horse of the CFR after two astounding performances. This six-year-old mare won the second round with Matt Lait (pictured above, photo by Mike Copeman), teaming up to score an 87-point ride. She returned Saturday night with another strong performance that earned her great points with rider Colin Adams.
Unfortunate Carma is the grand-daughter of the legendary bareback horse, Grated Coconut. Born 2008, she is the daughter of mare Carma by sire Royal Wake, who is the son of six-time World Champion Grated Coconut by mare French Wake. All those great genetic qualities combined in Unfortunate Carma, a feisty filly that ranks as an “eliminator” bronc.
Her travelling mate and uncle, Special Delivery (pictured above at the Stampede) – currently ranked as the number three bareback horse in the world – was named the runner-up in the Bareback Horse category. His first go-round was explosive, scoring him great points but up-ending top rider RC Landingham in a buck-off. The second time this spunky stallion took the arena, he carried Matt Lait to the top of the round and the championship title, winning with a score of 87.75. Special Delivery is a powerful and talented animal athlete, sired by Grated Coconut by many-time CFR and NFR Qualifier Zippy Delivery. Watch for him to solidify his world-class reputation at the NFR in December.
Tiger Warrior (pictured above waiting for his performance at CFR) took runner-up in the category of Saddle Bronc Horse of the CFR, scoring 85.5 points to win the opening round with Cort Scheer. His second time out, in the fourth round, Tiger Warrior carried Rylan Geiger to a top-placed finish with a score of 86.5. Two rounds, two top-placed finishes for Tiger Warrior. He was edged out for the Horse of the CFR title by Lunatic Party from Outlaw Buckers, a horse that was the Saddle Bronc Horse of Canada for this year.
Considering there are 11 stock contractors with horses in the running, the Stampede’s capture of six of the 12 go-round buckles and three of the four Horse of the Year honours represents an impressive ratio that speaks volumes of the quality of the Stampede’s Born to Buck breeding program.
Go-Round Buckles:
Performance 1: Saddle Bronc – Cort Scheer and Tiger Warrior – 85.5 points
Performance 2: Bareback – Matt Lait and Unfortunate Carma – 87 points
Performance 3: Saddle Bronc – Cort Scheer and Lynx Mountain – 88.75 points
Performance 4: Saddle Bronc – Cort Scheer and Warped Logic – 85.25 points
Performance 5: Saddle Bronc – Rylan Geiger and Tiger Warrior – 86.50 points
Performance 6: Bareback – Matt Lait and Special Delivery – 87.75 points
CS+CS = Champion performances
Add to that a unique phenomenon – the combination of the initials worn by our CS horses and a certain “C.S.” cowboy added up to the CFR’s Top Gun award.
Cort Scheer (pictured above with Stampede’s Keith Marrington), the Calgary Stampede 2013 Saddle Bronc Champion, was on fire all through the CFR, taking home three go-round buckles all on the backs of CS-marked Stampede bucking horses. Cort kicked off the CFR with an opening-round win teamed up with Tiger Warrior, followed up a go-round ride with on Lynx Mountain on night 3 and another winning ride with Warped Logic in the fourth go-round, plus a fourth-placed finish on Until Kamloops in the final round.
In all, Cort bucked out almost $63,000 worth of performances, teamed up with Stampede stock in four of his six go-rounds, earning himself the Top Gun award for the most money earned by any cowboy at the CFR. This huge run on great rides lifted Scheer from 10th place standing coming into CFR from season’s earnings, to a second-place finish, a mere $238 behind Tyler Corrington’s championship-winning tally.