It’s been a whirlwind summer for the Pinchbeck family as they’ve been travelling rodeo to rodeo as they can, despite the wildfire crisis in the province.
Melissa, 10, Conway, 13 and Cordell, 16, have all been competing at respective rodeos throughout the summer posting some top-notch results.
Cordell, 16, competes int he BCRA junior steer riding and bullriding and is in the standings for both to compete in the finals later this summer.
Melissa, meanwhile, who competes in Little Britches Rodeo in goat tail tying and dummy roping, competed in her last rodeo in Falkland from July 22-23. She won her roping event on the first day and placed second the next day. She was also seventh in goat tying on one of the days.
“I thought I did pretty good,” Melissa said. ” I met lots of new friends, and I like competing.”
Conley, meanwhile, has competed at Little Britches rodeos this summer in Clinton, Merritt, Falkland and, most recently, just finished up at the Canadian Rodeo Finals in Nanton, Alta. in chute dogging after qualifying through the BC High School Rodeo Association.
“It went pretty well,” he said. “I placed in two of the three rounds but didn’t do as good as I wanted to. I guess it wasn’t my best weekend, but I was close. I still have the rest of the Little Britches circuit to do, with the finals coming here in Williams Lake Aug. 19-20.”
His older brother, Cordell, 16, who competes in bull riding and steer riding and began training at the age of 12, said he’s currently sitting seventh in bull riding and fifth in steer riding int he province for the season.
“Hopefully I’ll make finals,” he said, which take place in September in Vanderhoof. “I started competing when I was nine years old steer riding at Little Britches and have kept going.”
As for the havoc the wildfires in B.C. have caused, Cordell said at least two rodeos they were planning on attending were cancelled, while one was moved to a different date.
“Roe Lake, Quesnel (Billy Barker Days) were cancelled but Alkali has been moved to Aug. 20 or around there,” he said.
As he sits in the top 10 in each of his events, Cordell will qualify for the BC Rodeo Association Finals in Vanderhoof.
