Several from Medicine Hat area at the Canadian Finals Rodeo, including Cypress County teen

“It’s been a passion,” Howe said.

Howe got involved in steer riding about five years ago, when he was around 10.

He learned the basics from older friends and his cousin, who introduced him to the sport.

Since then, rodeo has taken him throughout Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia, and he competed at about 25 rodeos this year across those provinces.

He won at the Benalto Stampede in July, and recorded several second-place finishes during the season, results that helped him secure his spot at the CFR.

“It’s been a lot of travelling, but it’s been good,” Howe said.

Steer riding requires competitors to stay aboard a bucking steer for eight seconds while reacting to the animal’s movements, something Howe said takes preparation as much as physical ability.

“We practise every week, so you’ve got to keep your mind right and think about every little thing and just keep hustling and trying to stay up there,” Howe said.

Howe said competitors sometimes have an advantage when they recognize the stock they’re riding.

This year, two primary stock contractors supplied many of the steers, allowing riders to become familiar with some of the animals and how they might behave.

While steer riding is his primary event, Howe also competes in high school rodeo and open calf roping in Saskatchewan.

His long-term goal is to move into bull riding.

Howe is also familiar with one of Canada’s best who retired at the end of last year.

His grandparents are neighbours with Maple Creek’s Jared Parsonage, who swept the top Canadian bull riding prizes in 2025.

Parsonage won the Professional Bull Riders Canada Championship, Canadian Pro Rodeo Association Bull Riding Championship, PBR Canada Championship, and PBR Canada National Finals.

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READ: Maple Creek’s Parsonage goes out on top with PBR Canada Championship (Nov. 17, 2025)

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READ: Maple Creek’s Parsonage wins bull riding at CFR (Oct. 6, 2025)

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Howe said it was special watching someone from the region reach the top of the sport.

“It was really neat,” Howe said.

“It was cool that we knew him too, and we were all really happy for him.”

He said watching and learning from experienced bull riders at rodeos has helped give him an idea of what it will take to reach that level.

Howe is also familiar with the three bull riders from the southwest Saskatchewan area who will compete at the CFR.

Grady Young of Leader, Dakota Buttar of Eatonia, and Kahl Wasilow from Maple Creek make up a quarter of the 12 bull riders set to compete.

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Leader’s Grady Young, Eatonia’s Dakota Buttar and Maple Creek’s Kahl Wasilow will all compete in bull riding at the CFR. (Image Credit: CFR)

Howe had competed with Young through high school rodeo, while their families have known each other for years.

Howe said his family has sent horses to training with another CFR competitor from Cypress County.

Tyler Popescul was ninth among 12 qualifiers for tie-down roping.

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Cypress County’s Tyler Popescul will compete in tie-down roping at the CFR. (Image Credit: CFR)

Howe said seeing familiar faces at Canada’s premier rodeo event will make the experience even more special.

But the biggest draw may be the opportunity to compete inside Rogers Place in front of a large crowd.

“I’ve never performed in that big of a crowd before,” Howe said.

“I think we’ll have lots of fun outside of the rodeo and doing the rodeo, and it’ll be a great time.”

Howe said he expects the competition in Edmonton to be tough, but plans to rely on the work he has put in throughout the season.

“I’ll have to keep working hard and try and do my best up there,” Howe said.

Also competing at the CFR in the team roping heeler are Cypress County’s Trent Tunke and Consul’s Braden Brost. Tunke and his teammate qualified in fifth, Brost and his teammate in ninth.

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Consul’s Braden Brost and Cypress County’s Trent Tunke will compete in the team roping heeler at the CFR. (Image Credit: CFR)

The CFR represents another step toward bigger rodeo goals for Howe.

He hopes his first trip to Edmonton will eventually become the beginning of a career that takes him to the sport’s highest levels.

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Cypress County’s Hayes Howe will compete in junior steer riding at the CFR. (Image Credit: CFR)

by Jesse Gill

Several from Medicine Hat area at the Canadian Finals Rodeo, including Cypress County teen

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