If his first season is any indication of things to come, a young local cowboy’s rodeo career is shaping up to be particularly bright.
Briley Scott, a student at Sundre High School who will soon be going into Grade 10, recently finished first in two events at the Foothills Cowboys Association (FCA) sanctioned Didsbury Rodeo, which was held Aug. 16-17 at the Didsbury Ag Society Exhibition Grounds. Click here for coverage of that event in the Mountain View Gazette.
The 15-year-old, who lives near Bergen, has competed in some high school rodeos since last summer, but said this was his first season following the FCA circuit.
Competing largely in novice horse riding to date, Scott had an opportunity to test his mettle in the saddle bronc event in Didsbury as well.
“I just kind of knew that I had to do my best out there — there was some good competition,” he said, adding he wasn’t expecting to win but went “in there hoping to do my best.”
Out of 12 contenders in the novice horse riding category, Scott came out on top with a score of 63.5. Placing second was Wyatt Simpson from Consort with 60.5 points, while Sawyer Eirikson from Okotoks finished third with 60 points.
There was a larger pool of 20 competitors in saddle bronc, but Scott still managed to outperform the rest, scoring 72.5 points to secure a first place finish. Mayerthorpe’s Zarley Johner was second after earning 71 points and Nick Forrester from Stettler placed third with a score of 60.5.
Scott’s recent success added to the numerous notches accumulated on his belt over the past season.
“I’ve been to quite a few rodeos,” he said last week during a phone interview.
Competing throughout the past summer in the novice horse riding category, he placed first at events in Hairy Hill, Crossfield, Delburne, and Bow Island.
Later this week, he’ll be headed down the Cowboy Trail to compete in the Cochrane Rodeo over the Labour Day long weekend. After that, he’ll be off to the FCA finals in Strathmore Sept. 13-15.
Scott also qualified to be a part of a junior event, called the Rising Stars, during the upcoming Canadian Finals Rodeo in Red Deer, which take place Oct. 29 to Nov. 3.
The adrenalin rush keeps him coming back for more, and Scott said that no sooner does he finish a ride, and he is already eagerly anticipating the next.
“Once I’ve got one ride done, I just want to go and do it again!”
Riding in rodeo events for just over a year after getting started last August, Scott, who grew up around horses and wasn’t exactly a stranger to being on horse, said his dad used to ride saddle bronc.
“It just runs in the family,” he said.
“I’ve wanted to do it since I was little.”
