All eyes on Ponoka Stampede for Monday’s finals and big wins

There’s nothing quite like the Ponoka Stampede Finals. On July 1, the top twelve rodeo athletes from each event take the infield to a packed crowd and the excitement is palpable.

There is almost $700,000 to be made in the rodeo and despite the odds, these athletes made it through for one last time and a chance to win.

Rodeo secretary Brenda Peterson keeps score to make sure every athlete gets paid and the rules are followed. It’s one of her favorite rodeos to go to because everyone says it’s the cowboy’s rodeo.

“It’s the largest professional rodeo in Canada and that’s why people talk about Ponoka Stampede. It’s open to everyone.”

There are a maximum of 72 entrants in each event, except Barrel Racing, where there are 96 entrants.

“It’s part of cowboy Christmas. All the Americans come here for the money, but also for the production that Ponoka Stampede offers. It’s snap, snap, snap.”

As a rodeo secretary, what she likes most about Ponoka is that the Ponoka Stampede Association guarantees great performances.

Additionally, it is also sanctioned by the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA), so money earned here also counts toward the PRCA standings if a cowboy or cowgirl competes in both American and Canadian rodeos.

And unlike exchange rate differences, one dollar is equal to one dollar in both the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) and the PRCA.

How it works is that the player in first place earns a larger percentage of the pot. So first place earns about 24 percent of the prize money, while fourth place might earn about 13 percent.

The percentages vary a bit between events; however, finishing in the top four will get you into the final four, which is another exciting experience. The full $60,000 isn’t all awarded during the finals; $15,000 is reserved for the showdown round.

It’s perhaps one of the most exciting moments in Canadian rodeo; the stands are always full, the tension is high and the stakes are high. With that $15,000, the split is 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 that has happened before, the $15,000 is split between the three, two, or sometimes the only finisher. For the last one, they can win the entire $15,000.

Zeke Thurston’s 2023 Ponoka Stampede performance earned him another $18,000; he came into the Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) with a total of $48,491.54. Ponoka alone brought in just over 37 percent 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 finished second in the CFR with earnings of $38,443.15 (just over 41 percent of his earnings came from Ponoka).

“It’s a lot of money,” Peterson said.