Buttar bucks trend and wins big

Laurence Heinen
Times Contributor

 

Dakota Buttar already knew he was a winner before his highly-anticipated battle with an extremely rank Outlaw Buckers Rodeo Corp. bull on Monday.
Although he wasn’t able to ride No Good Deed for a full eight seconds, Buttar, of Kindersley, Sask., still won the bull-riding competition at the Strathmore Stampede.
By virtue of his 85.25-point ride atop Crooked Nose on Sunday, Buttar entered Monday’s finals as the top-ranked bull rider ahead of Jared Parsonage, of Maple Creek, Sask., and Rocky McDonald, of Hachita, N.M.
“I was pretty excited to draw him,” said Buttar of his duel with Crooked Nose, a Vold Rodeo Ltd. bull. “He’s been good all year. I knew if I rode him I’d have a chance to win it here.”
Buttar, Parsonage and McDonald were the only three out of 21 competitors to have successful rides in the first three days of competition.
Before Buttar even attempted to ride his bull in the final round, Parsonage was bucked off of Hittin Heavy, while McDonald was thrown from Wrangler’s Extreme.
“It takes a lot of relief off knowing that you’ve got first wrapped up,” said Buttar after accepting a shiny new belt buckle for winning the event, which was sponsored by the Strathmore Times. “I still like to ride every bull, that’s my main thing. I like to ride them all no matter what.”
Unfortunately, that didn’t go his way on Monday.
“I was hoping I could get him today,” said Buttar, who still took home $3,887.28 in official prize money, in addition to $3,880.26 in ground money that won’t count towards the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA) bull-riding standings. “I guess that’s how it goes sometimes.”
It’s safe to say Buttar likes competing in Strathmore seeing as how it’s the fourth year in a row he has qualified for the bull-riding finals.
“It’s a cool rodeo,” said Buttar, who was second in the CPRA standings behind Calgary’s Jordan Hansen as of July 29. “It’s one of the bigger paying rodeos of the year. It’s a good one to come to. I’ve made it to the short round every year I’ve come here, but I haven’t had any luck in the short round. I’ve always been bucked off.”
Although the same held true this year, Buttar can now say that he’s a Strathmore Rodeo champion.