By Dianne Finstad
The busiest cowboy at the Ponoka Stampede finds himself on the leader board after making the most of his multiple opportunities Wednesday afternoon.
Riley Wakefield took over the lead in the tie-down roping after adding a solid 9.1 second run to his morning 8.1 second run, during the second day of action at the 88th edition of the biggest rodeo on the Canadian pro circuit.
The combined 17.2 seconds puts him on top and is a good bet for a return trip to Ponoka for Monday’s finals.
Wakefield hails from O’Neill, Nebraska. It’s only his second trip to the Central Alberta town, but he was eager to get back. The timed event specialist is one of the few who really likes the famous, or infamous, Ponoka long score, which gives the animals a generous running head start on the competitor.
“I made it to the final four in the steer wrestling last year,” says the 27-year-old.
“These alley way setups just fit me.”
In an afternoon of steer wrestling where only three of the 11 contestants recorded a time, Wakefield was the first to do so, and his 6.9 seconds was best of the set, and is third fastest in the round.
But for a broken barrier in the morning, Wakefield would have been in great shape in that event as well.
Wakefield focused more on his tie-down roping for several years, but the long score enticed him to do steer wrestling at Ponoka in 2023, and then he added in team roping this year, with his partner Clay McNichol.
It’s the only event where he isn’t likely to get some Ponoka cash. Why all three?
Wakefield has some championship buckles in his sights.
“Here in Canada, we’ll get to, hopefully, around 50 rodeos. So, with that number of rodeos you can do all three. It’s not easy. The entering’s not easy, but you can do it.
“I’ve got goals I’ve had since the beginning of winter. I’d like to make the CFR in all three events, and I’d liked to win the All-Around,” states Wakefield.
The long score can be hard on the heart for timed event competitors trying to gauge the timing just right, at high rates of speed.
Holding horses back or urging them on from one instant to the next is commonplace. But Wakefield was calm, cool, and collected when he nodded his head, all three times.
“I just go back to doing my job. When I make mistakes, is when I try to go too fast, I don’t care what event it is. When I try to skip steps, that’s when bad things happen. I don’t know if my steer wrestling will get me a heckuva a lot of money in the second go-round, but if it gets me a piece of the go-round, I’ll be happy.
“The calf roping’s been just decent this year. It’s been a little tough, I would say, so, to have a go like this here in Ponoka, the biggest rodeo of the year in Canada, it feels good.”
Traveling with a trio of horses, one for each event adds to the challenges. Especially when you blow a couple of tires on the rig, which forced Wakefield to leave his living quarters trailer in southern Alberta en route to Ponoka.
“Looks like we’ll have to take a stock trailer to Williams Lake, 13 hours away, and we might be roughing it for a little while. It’s going to be wild. But when you’re doing good, a rodeo cowboy doesn’t care. It feels like I could drive all night right now!
"Hopefully this pays for some expenses on the trailer.
“But it ain’t about the money. I just enjoy what I do, and I’m lucky to live this life,” says Wakefield.
