A Gladys Ridge area barrel racer is going for the biggest rodeo junket Las Vegas has to offer, but first she’d like to earn some spending money in Edmonton.
After a two-year absence, Deb Guelly is heading back to the Canadian Finals Rodeo, Nov. 11-15 in Edmonton for her 22nd appearance.
“Last year my horse (Scooter) got hurt and I didn’t run him for 11 months,” Guelly said while travelling to Yakima for a rodeo this week. “This year, I am running him and two other horses, but I’m not sure which one I am running in Edmonton this year.
“It’s just great to go back. There’s a lot of money to be won in Edmonton and I’m glad to be getting the chance to win some of it.”
Guelly set a record with 20 consecutive CFR appearances from 1992-2011. She has won five Canadian championships. She took a mulligan in 2012, but made her 21st appearance in 2013.
Guelly qualified for no. 22 by finishing fifth in the Pro Rodeo Canada standings with $23,890 this year.
She was in the top two for much of the first half of the Canadian season, but with a spot in the Canadian top 12 to qualify for the CFR nearly guaranteed, there was bigger fish to fry – catfish as opposed to rainbow trout from the Highwood.
“After Aug. 8, I only went to two rodeos in Canada,” Guelly said.
Riding stateside paid off as Guelly qualified for the National Finals Rodeo Dec. 3-12 in Las Vegas. Her approximately $60,000 in earnings qualified her for Vegas by grabbing the final 15th spot through putting on more miles the final weekend of qualifying than a country singer on the honky-tonk circuit.
In fact, one of those days, she might have actually been in Amarillo by morning.
“I qualified on the last weekend (Sept. 24-26),” Guelly said.
“I went to four rodeos, Omaha, Kansas City, Stephensville (Texas) and Amarillo. I was able to win money on all of them.”
The miles proved to be worth it. It’s her first trip to the NFR since 2008.
“I planned on getting back there, I’m just glad I finally got it done,” she said.
First, she will be heading to Edmonton in an effort to win another Canadian championship.
Who she will be riding is still anybody’s guess. She ran the California-bred Royal Star Commander for much of this year.
“He either works or he doesn’t,” Guelly said with a chuckle.
She also runs the Arkansas bred, Pearl.
It’s Pearl who will likely get the call for the Columbia River Circuit finals in Yakima this weekend.
“Then I’m going to decide who is going to run for Edmonton,” Guelly said.
Guelly will have a few neighbours in Edmonton turning the barrels. Longview’s Kendra Edey qualified by finishing third in the standings with $25,642. Millarville’s Toni Dixon is going to her first CFR from the sixth hole.
Other Foothills area athletes who qualified for the CFR are: Matt Lait, Cayley, bareback; Coleman Kohorst, Okotoks, steer wrestling; Steele DePaoli, Longview, team roping; Sam Kelts, Millarville, saddle bronc; Jordan Hansen, Okotoks, bull riding; Adam Jamison, Okotoks, bull riding; Tyler Thomson, Black Diamond, bull riding.
For more information go to www.rodeocanada.com
