It was a fitting finale for the return of Professional Rodeo in Canada. After a 24 month absence, the Canadian Finals Rodeo returned to Red Deer’s Peavey Mart Centrium to ring down the curtain on the abbreviated 2021 season. It was a week filled with jubilation and heartbreak, and most of all drama, as the 2021 Canadian Champions were crowned on Sunday afternoon.

They call them the TV pens in the sport of rodeo.

Jake Vold made his presence known on night two of the Canadian Finals Rodeo. The three time Champion topped a talented field of bareback riders with an 87.75 point ride aboard 48 Fired Up - a new addition to the Big Stone Rodeo firm. Vold's effort was good for top spot and 9,360 points.

While there are over 30 first time qualifiers at the 47th edition of the Canadian Finals Rodeo, several veterans made their presence felt on night number one at the Peavey Mart Centrium in Red Deer, Alberta.

When the curtain opens on the 2021 Canadian Finals Rodeo, it will have been exactly two years since the last Canadian champions were crowned inside Red Deer’s Westerner Park Centrium. And CFR47 may look far different from its predecessor when the light shines through.

To say it’s a “wide open” field when it comes to the competition at this year’s Canadian Finals Rodeo would be an understatement. With only three returning event champions from 2019, just fourteen current and former Canadian title holders on the roster and less than half of the CFR46 competitors back this year—predicting potential champions in 2021 could be a dart throw.

After a year hiatus, the finalists have been decided, the back numbers have been assigned and preparations are underway as the countdown to CFR 47 continues. The six-performance event takes place November 3-7 at Red Deer’s Westerner Park Peavey Mart Centrium.

The Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA), Westerner Park and the Red Deer & District Chamber of Commerce made the difficult yet important decision to postpone this year’s Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR47) until 2021. 

The addition of the Maple Leaf Circuit Finals is not just another rodeo for the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA).

We asked Edgar Durazo from Moctezuma, Mexico to imagine what it would be like to win a Canadian title several times, but until it happened, he couldn't fully imagine how he would feel about winning the highest title in a country that he had called home for the past six years. He talked about the people that had welcomed him with open arms, the friendships he gained on the rodeo trail, the bulls he would have to conquer, but when the title was finally his, there was one thing he had to say about how it felt:

The 2019 Canadian Finals Rodeo was not going the way it was supposed to for Shane Hanchey. The reigning, and three-time Canadian champion was struggling through his week in Red Deer, Alberta, and it didn't look like he would be taking home a fourth title this year.

First time's the charm for the 2019 Canadian Champion Barrel Racer Brooke Wills who took home the title on her first trip to the Canadian Finals Rodeo in Red Deer, Alberta. Wills started off her rookie appearance at the CFR by knocking down two barrels, but the first-time jitters didn't last long.

He was the 2016 world champion, multi-time Calgary Stampede champion, he's won Houston, and just about any large rodeo you can think of, but he's been after the Canadian title since he was a kid and has finally checked his home country's highest honor off of his bucket list. Not only did Zeke Thurston win the 2019 Canadian Saddle Bronc Riding title, but he made sure of it by running away with the competition.

They said before their last run at Westerner Park in Red Deer, Alberta that they might go for the arena record and - while they didn't break that particular record - they did break another at the 2019 Canadian Finals Rodeo: the single-season earnings record. The previous record was held by Levi Simpson and Jeremy Buhler who earned $59,006 between the regular-season and the finals in 2017, but Sherwood and Koch raised that bar substantially with their $74,616.07 and $76,728.86 respectively.

Winning the 2018 Canadian title was special to steer wrestler Scott Guenthner because it meant he could share winning that title with his father, Ken Guenthner, who won the title in 1981. Winning the title again in 2019 was made all the more exciting because this time, Guenthner was a dad himself.