You have to be pretty good friends to hop in a truck and head off to B.C. and then back to Okotoks for a rodeo.
How close are Okotoks barrel racers Lauren Byrne and Adel Hansen? Oh, there is only about $48.64 separating the two in the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association standings.
Byrne sits in 15th place in the standings at $10,957.64 while Hansen is 17th at $10.909.00.
With only four more rodeos left and the top 12 barrel racers going on to the Canadian Finals Rodeo, the pair might be giving each other the evil eye this weekend as they travel together to Merritt, B.C., Armstrong, B.C. and back home for the Sunday performance of the Okotoks Pro Rodeo at 1 p.m. at the Murray Arena.
“No, we are pretty good to each other,” Byrne said with a laugh. “We have to be supportive of each other. Who knows maybe we both can make it.”
Byrne got off to a good start, but struggled during the summer.
“I had a good spring and then it gets tough because the best in the world are up here,” Byrne said. “It seemed for a while there, I wasn’t beating the Americans so I wasn’t gaining any ground. So I changed my goal from trying to make the CFR to just not giving up.”
She is suddenly right there. The American riders can only take five of the 12 spots in the CFR in November in Edmonton. There are nine Americans in the top 15, which means Byrne and Hansen are in position to qualify as one of the top Canadians.
“Realistically, there are four holes left for the Canadians and there are six or seven us within a couple hundred dollars of each other,” Byrne said.
Byrne and her horse Macho moved up in the standings thanks to a pair of strong performances in which they finished fifth in both Cranbrook and Pincher Creek on Aug. 17 and 19. She picked up $1,075 for the weekend.
Hansen dropped in the standings when Byrne passed her at Cranbrook and Pincher Creek.
“She came from behind — that little stinker is ahead me of now,” Hansen said with a laugh.
“I’m looking forward to traveling with her next weekend. It’s good to have the company. If I can’t
get in, it might as well be her.”
Hansen won only $2,313 last year. She credits her horse, Freddie, being fit as a fiddle for her turnaround in 2012.
“My horse is healthy this year and we are just doing so much better,” Hansen said. “The next rodeos are really important. We have to maximize every single run at every single rodeo.
“All you can do is worry about your run and not add any pressure by worrying about the standings.”
Hansen has had success in Okotoks in the past. She won her hometown rodeo in 2009. The indoor arena fits her horse well.
“She is just like a little cat around the barrels when we are inside like that,” she said.
Byrne will have to weigh their options this weekend as well.
The Armstrong finals are on Sunday. If either one of them make it, they will have to decide whether to come home for their own rodeo.
“We will be in Armstrong and Merritt and then Okotoks for Sunday,” Byrne said. “The short-go in Armstrong is only the top four, while Okotoks pays the top 10, so we will have to strategize as to what we are going to do… Okotoks is a small arena and my horse runs well there.”
Byrne will be busy after the Okotoks rodeo. She starts back to work on her Master’s in counseling on Sept. 5 through Athabasca University,
The foothills area barrel racers at the Okotoks pro rodeo are: Friday, 7 p.m.: Suzanne DePaoli, Longview; Saturday, 7 p.m.: Sasha Noval, Turner Valley; Kelli Fry, Okotoks; Kendra Edey, Longview; Shawna Easson, Okotoks. Sunday, 1 p.m. Adel Hansen, Okotoks; Lauren Byrne, Okotoks; Sharyl Malin, Okotoks; Toni Dixon. Millarville; Becky Kendal, Blackie.
