If their lives were a song, Cochrane’s Milan brothers would own the venerable Willie Nelson country standard.
The three Cochrane steer wrestlers were at Strathmore Stampede Aug. 1, trying to score some Canadian Pro Rodeo Association (CPRA) earnings in the Friday morning slack performance before loading up and driving 11 hours for the Grimshaw CPRA show. Straws and Tanner hit the Aug. 2 show in Grimshaw before turning around and driving 1,300 kilometres from Grimshaw to Abbotsford, B.C., for the Aug. 3 CPRA steer wrestling event there.
Baillie did Grimshaw and Abbotsford in reverse, leaving Strathmore for Abbotsford and then swinging north for an Aug. 3 run in Grimshaw.
By the holiday Monday, the Milans drove their horses and themselves 2,267 kilometres before the return leg to Cochrane, which is 881 km from Abbotsford and 822 from Grimshaw.
Mad Max, the road warrior, has nothing on these guys. All in an effort to make the big, season-ending shows in Edmonton and Vegas.
To that end, Tanner Milan is in the driver’s seat for November’s Canadian Finals Rodeo in Edmonton. At $18,142.66 in earnings, he has a parking space reserved at Northlands Coliseum for the national championship. He sits second in CPRA standings. At the end of the CPRA season in early October, the top 15 cowboys in each event in the standings qualify for the Edmonton show.
“I’ve had a great year up here,” Tanner, 30, says of his Canadian season. “Can’t complain one bit about it up here. Been making good runs everywhere I go and picking up cheques every weekend and stuff.”
With his CPRA season in hand, Tanner is focussing on U.S. events in an attempt to qualify for December’s National Finals Rodeo (NFR) in Vegas. The top 15 finishers on the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association (PRCA) circuit qualify for that show, also known as the World Championship.
“I’d like to win a bit more down south. Get climbing up in the world standings and stuff,” Tanner related. “I’m 40th in world standings. I gotta be in the top 15.”
In 42nd place at $21,784.06, Tanner is $15,000 behind Ferndale California’s Billy Bugenig for the 15th and final NFR qualifying spot.
There are thousands more miles in front of him before the season ends, as he’s scheduled 15 more PRCA rodeo appearances in the U.S.
“I’m going to Sikeston, Missouri, Lovington, New Mexico and Hermiston, Oregon,” Tanner said. He flew out of Calgary Aug. 5 to hit the Missouri and New Mexico shows, where he’ll be riding other competitors’ horses in his events.
“I’ll meet up with Straws in Hermiston with our horses,” Tanner said.
From there, they’ll be on the road again.
