It never gets old.
Sure, Cochrane steer wrestler Tanner Milan is going to his 10th career Canadian Finals Rodeo.
Sure, he’s won a national championship already (in 2012). But it’s what competitors like Milan shoot for every year, pro rodeo’s version of the brass ring -- the CFR winner’s belt buckle.
He’s been working hard preparing for the Nov. 5-9 national pro rodeo championship at Edmonton’s Northlands Coliseum. The top 12 finishers in the Canadian Pro Rodeo Association (CPRA) season qualify for the season-ending spectacular.
“My practices have been going really good,” says Milan, who finished fourth on the CPRA circuit this year. “I’m feeling really confident.”
He has reason to feel confident. The bulk of the $22,226.03 he won this summer came on the back of Itzy, the CPRA’s steer wrestling horse of the year owned by Scott Guenthner.
“Riding Itzy, I don’t know what the heck,” he relays. “I seem to have luck on her every time I get on her. I’m feeling very confident with all of it.”
And, as in years past, it will be a family affair. While steer wrestling brothers Baillie and Straws Milan failed to qualify for the 2014 CFR, Baillie will make the trip with Tanner.
“My family’s been helping me lots. I’m going to have my brother Baillie hazing (guiding the steer) up there for me. It just seems like everything is lining up good for me. I’m really glad the way things have been going.”
All in an effort to win at the big CFR show.
“Exactly. From the very first rodeo we enter at the beginning of the year, that’s what we’re shooting for,” Tanner Milan states. “I’m just so glad for every year I get to be up in Edmonton.”
Tanner Milan, 31
Steer Wrestler, 12th CPRA season
Career CFR appearance: 10th (2012 CFR champion)
2014 CPRA Standing: 4th ($22,226.03 from 42 appearances)
2014 CPRA wins: 4 (Luxton, Wainwright, Coronation, Grimshaw)
2014 top time: 3.6 seconds at Ponoka (or 3.5 at Wainwright)
Rides: Itzy (2014 CPRA steer wrestling horse of year, owned by Scott Guenthner)
