Dawson Hay Leaves Mark in Calgary with Round 2 Win
Playing through pain is part of the game in rodeo. It paid off Friday for Dawson Hay at the Calgary Stampede, when he spurred to an 86-point ride on Calgary’s Yuppie Bubbles for the saddle bronc riding victory and $7,000.
While a bloody knuckle seemed the most obvious pain, that was a mere surface wound. It was the one hidden inside his left boot, just barely, that was worse.
“I’ve been on that horse before, and I went X and 5,” explained Hay of his rein length. “It was perfect until about halfway through the ride and then she had one little jump where she buried it, and I had to slide a whole bunch (of rein) and busted my hand open on my saddle swells.”
The ankle is more serious.
“It’s not pretty looking anyways. I’m not going to be a foot model anytime soon,” jokes the 3-time NFR qualifier. “I just landed on it bad (at Ponoka) and it rolled and tore the ligaments out of it. Just basically a bad sprain, so just a little bit sore.”
Call that an understatement, but with the help of lots of ice and the Canadian Pro Rodeo Sports Medicine Team taping experts, Hay has been able to ride.
“They’ve been making it feel good for eight seconds anyways. Tolerable, anyways,” he added. “You can block a lot of pain out, out in the arena.”
Still, Hay won’t blame the ankle for his buck off on his opening ride Thursday at Calgary.
“That horse just flat bucked me off. Would’ve bucked me off with two good ankles!,” he said.
Friday’s appointment had the much-improved result.
“The last trip I had on her was actually the same amount of points, but I think she was better today. She stayed hooked for the whole eight seconds,” Hay said.
The rest of the saddle bronc-centric family can more than relate to Dawson Hay’s pain. In fact, it’s a been a rough run for the whole clan. Older brother Logan is just off the injured list, managing recovery from elbow surgery. His father, Rod, a 4-time Calgary Stampede saddle bronc champion, has a broken heel and sprained ankle, navigating being behind the chutes with his boys, and on The Cowboy Channel telecasts, with what Dawson describes as a ‘peg leg’.
“He looks like a pirate,” he said. “It seems like it’s one thing after another in our family. Devon broke his back here (at the Stampede), a vertebra. He just got x-rays yesterday. He was getting around for three days, just sore.”
Devon, the youngest, competed in the novice bronc riding earlier in the week at Calgary.
Adding to his personal Calgary Stampede bronze collection on Friday gave Dawson Hay hope for the busy rodeo weeks ahead.
“I’ll see how it feels at the end of the week and make a decision about that. If it doesn’t go good tomorrow, I’ve got a whole week of rodeos next week.”
Two-time Calgary bareback winner, Kaycee Feild, was in winning form Friday with his long-time friend C5 Rodeo’s Black Feathers, for 87 points and his first check of the Stampede. Local favorite Kyle Lucas picked up the $7,000 in tie-down roping for a 7.6-second run, while the steer wrestling went to Jesse Brown for his 3.3 second effort. Brittany Pozzi Tonozzi made the barrel racing victory lap for her second day in a row, posting a 17.17-second run. There were only two bull rides, but they were both worth 85 points, from Josh Frost on Wayne Vold Rodeo’s By the Batch, and Stetson Wright on Outlawbuckers Rodeo’s 2 Guns, giving them nearly $10,000.
Pool C contestants have one last chance Saturday to earn their way into Championship Sunday at the Calgary Stampede. You can catch all the action on The Cowboy Channel and the PRCA on The Cowboy Channel Plus App.
Courtesy of PRCA