Vold Rodeo Continues Dominant Streak with Seventh Consecutive PBR Canada Stock Contractor of the Year Honor

AIRDRIE, Alta. –  In 2022, for the seventh consecutive year, Vold Rodeo, overseen by Nansen and Jenn Vold, was crowned the PBR Canada Stock Contractor of the Year.

And for Nansen Vold, he says no matter how many times their operation earns the honour, it never gets old, but he also never takes the award lightly.

"We have been doing this a long time now,” Vold began. “We love what we are doing and working towards building and bringing the best bulls we can.”

“We have great cowboys and bull riders coming up, so you want to see the best bulls coming to these events. We strive hard, we have a good program going, and we have a good team of people behind it.”

“It’s a great program on our cow side,” Vold continued. “We are raising a bunch of great bulls, we have excellent partners up here, and great partners in the United States as well. That is what makes things like Stock Contractor of the Year happen.”

This past season, the Vold Rodeo bucking bull operation effectively doubled in size.

Acquiring the majority of the Outlaw Buckers’ bovine program, Vold had to scramble to not only ensure that he was able to sustain that many bucking bulls, but ensure the operation’s breeding, training and care programs all remained at full force.

“When we got the phone call that they were looking to sell, it wasn’t an immediate decision,” Vold said. “It was an opportunity we weren’t going to let pass. We jumped on it and got the deal done.”

“It brought an extra workload for sure, and we were busy before. Between rodeo and PBR, we had a full schedule to begin with. Then we did this. We had to put some extra structure in place to make it all work and we did. I am glad we did it. Most folks thought it was going to be a pretty tough transition for us, but we got it done. There is a lot more cattle at the place, we made it work though. I think this coming year is going to be a great year for us in 2023.”

Looking back on the season, for Vold, the one moment that stands out above all others was seeing Lonnie West take Hard Not To Get to a 92-point score to win the Ponoka Stampede. Hard Not To Get was sent to the United States to J.W. Hart’s operation in 2021, when the Canadian bull riding season struggled.

This season Vold got Hard Not To Get, along with a host of other bulls back from Hart, and seeing his bucker carry a Canadian bull rider to one of the most prestigious rodeo titles in the country was a very special moment.

“We had those bulls down south that J.W. Hart had from us over the winter. We brought them all back this year, he had them through the COVID years while there wasn’t much going on up here. He kept them on the road,” Vold explained. “We got them back acclimated in the spring and were back on the truck for the summer run, to the big rodeos and PBR events right off the bat.”

“By and far the best bull out of that little group is Hard Not To Get. He showcased in Ponoka when Lonnie West got on him as the last guy in the four-man round, was 90 plus points. That moment made me think, ‘This is what it’s about.’” It was great for Lonnie too; he is such a good kid and to win Ponoka is huge. That bull had an amazing day too. That for me, that moment sticks out in my mind. One of the best bull rides I have seen in recent memory in Canada. Final bull of the night too, it doesn’t get any better.”

Vold attributed their success to the many other bucking bull stock contractors in Canada.

He said that unlike some other facets of stock contracting that are traditionally not too friendly, most of the Canadian contractors work to build one another up.

“I thought this was a great year all the way though,” Vold said. “There are so many great guys raising great bulls. It is something in Canada that we are all pretty tight for the most part. You hear about stories of guys really hating each other in other countries, and that is crazy to me. In Canada there is a great group of people doing this work.”

“The Wild Hoggs, they have a great program, we have bought bulls off them in the past, and they got to showcase their program this year with Bull of the Year. The Berezay family and Two Bit Bucking Bulls are tight friends of ours, we have known them forever. They are great people. There are the Skoris too. It is amazing to know these guys all make those same miles and are at the same events working with you, it makes it all more worthwhile.”

In 2022, it was a Wild Hoggs’ Phantom Fury who ultimately bucked to the title of 2022 PBR Canada Bull of the Year, and Vold had nothing but great things to say about the winning bovine.

“He is a great bull. Great little while muley, he has a lot of action to him. I think he would do fine down in the States and would be a contender on the big stage in the PBR for sure,” Vold said. 

“I joked one day and said there is only one thing wrong with that bull, and that is he isn’t on the right truck. He should be on a Vold truck. It’s pretty special to work in an industry where you can joke with guys like that all year, and have it come down to one or two trips at Finals. And this year's Finals were great.”