Alberta women buck tradition and blaze their own trail in ranch bronc riding

The Canadian Press

· Posted: Jul 02, 2025 2:12 PM EDT | Last Updated: 6 hours ago

Sophia Bunney launched the archetypal clip she tried ranch bronc riding, landing "quite a ways distant from the horse."

"I'm precise stubborn and I don't similar being defeated," said the 18-year-old from Cessford, Alta.

In different words, the teen was hooked connected a athletics that pits women against bucking horses for 8 seconds.

"I ever benignant of wanted to hop connected a bronc," Bunney said. "In Grade 3, we did 'what bash you privation to beryllium erstwhile you turn up?' and I said I wanted to beryllium a pistillate bronc rider."

Unlike saddle bronc, a rodeo mainstay, ranch bronc uses a regular occidental saddle — not a specialized 1 — and riders bent connected with 2 hands alternatively of one. A manus is connected a rein and the different connected a strap wrapped astir the saddle's horn.

Pearl Kersey of Millarville, Alta., who won the Canadian women's ranch bronc rubric Sunday successful Ponoka, Alta., is president of Women's Ranch Bronc Canada and teaches it astatine clinics.

"I've got teenagers, 20-year-olds, 30-year-olds and this twelvemonth a pistillate successful her 50s. I was similar 'you sure?"' Kersey said. "She doesn't privation to compete. She wants to effort it earlier she gets excessively old.

"We person bucking machines. She doesn't needfully request to get connected a horse. They tin spell done each the drills and the bucking machine, and if they're comfy enough, they tin get connected a horse."

"Women person travel up to maine and said, 'thank you for doing what you're doing.' They mightiness not spell into ranch broncs, but it conscionable gave them the powerfulness successful themselves to spell prosecute thing that they wanted that they didn't deliberation they could due to the fact that they were women.

"Other girls archer me, 'I saw you thrust astatine Ponoka,' and they're similar 'I privation to effort it.' Sometimes it's a confidence-booster thing. Sometimes they privation to spot if they'll similar it and immoderate are similar 'yeah, I'm doing this."'

It took a portion for 19-year-old Blayne Bedard of Linden, Alta., who grew up cattle riding successful the Canadian Girls Rodeo Association, to maestro keeping her feet guardant toward the horse's shoulders.

"If they travel back, I'm similar a pendulum and I conscionable spell caput implicit teakettle," Bedard explained. "For the longest time, that was my biggest occupation with riding ranch bronc and wherefore I kept bucking disconnected was due to the fact that my feet weren't moving and they'd travel down maine and I'd get lawn-darted close away."

She's improved to the constituent wherever Bedard has competed successful the past 2 Canadian championships.

"I similar the look of it, too," Bedard said. "You get chill pictures."

One of the lessons Bedard picked up astatine a Kersey session had thing to bash with riding signifier — and everything to bash with what goes wrong a boot.

"I enactment babe pulverization successful my boots each clip earlier I ride, and I deterioration my mom's boots that are a size excessively large for me, due to the fact that if you get your ft stuck successful a stirrup — which I've had a fewer times — you request your footwear to beryllium capable to travel disconnected truthful you're not being dragged by the horse," Bedard explained.

Women's ranch bronc isn't portion of the $2.1-million Calgary Stampede starting Friday, but women's breakaway roping volition debut astatine the 10-day rodeo.

Breakaway and tube racing are the 2 women's events connected a programme that besides features men's bull riding, saddle bronc, bareback, steer wrestling and tie-down roping.

Kersey competed astatine the Calgary Stampede successful 2021, erstwhile a "Broncs After Dark" accumulation was a substitute for the evening chuckwagon races, which were scrapped owed to COVID-19.

"When they cancelled the chucks for COVID, they were trying to marque an evening show. They called maine wanting ladies ranch broncs, but they wanted 10 days of it and I didn't person capable ladies up here," Kersey recalled.

"Since we couldn't get ladies from the States, I said, 'I tin get you 1 pistillate a time and the remainder volition beryllium guys.' We did mixed ranch bronc riding for 10 days, truthful that was awesome."

The Ponoka Stampede adding women's ranch bronc to its lineup successful 2022 was a large measurement forward, said Kersey. Inclusion successful the Calgary Stampede would beryllium different milestone.

"The eventual is the aforesaid with girls successful breakaway roping, which is getting into pro rodeos due to the fact that that's erstwhile you get the large money," she said. "We're mode bigger with the added wealth than we were, but it takes time.

"With breakaway, you've got thousands of contestants who tin bash it, but ranch bronc's a antithetic breed. It takes a portion to get contestant numbers up."

Kersey, 36, has qualified for the satellite finals July 19-20 successful Cheyenne, Wyo., wherever she won successful 2019 and has doubly finished second. Kersey intends to discontinue from contention aft this year, but proceed teaching.

One of her students, Calgary's Emma Eastwood, picked it up rapidly acknowledgment to years of riding horses and a stint arsenic an amateur jockey. She attended Kersey's clinics past autumn and this spring, and won an lawsuit successful conscionable her 3rd clip competing.

"It is hard to effort and deliberation done your thrust and bent connected done each that adrenaline," said the 27-year-old massage therapist. "Things benignant of get a small blurry, and it's hard to process everything going connected truthful quickly.

"Having erstwhile riding acquisition and being capable to get that consciousness for the question of the horse, however they determination and benignant of knowing what to expect retired of them, and getting signifier connected the bucking instrumentality makes a satellite of difference."

Rodeo bucking events person traditionally been the domain of men. Kersey, Eastwood and Bedard accidental the cowboys person been welcoming, though Bunney's acquisition has been mixed.

"I've had immoderate nasty comments," Bunney said. "I've had immoderate guys that person been existent bully and tried helping maine retired oregon hyping maine up."