Shelby Boisjoli-Meged secured the biggest win of her summer run thus far with a 3.7-second run at Cheyenne Frontier Days on July 28, 2024, rounding up a total of $16,280.
For the reigning breakaway World Champion, the win was a sigh of relief following a “slow” summer start. Since winning the Parker County Sheriffs Posse Frontier Days Rodeo in early June for $4,625, Meged has had slim luck on the ProRodeo trail.
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“This Cheyenne win has given me so much confidence,” Meged said. “There are so many times this year I just wanted to throw my sucker in the dirt and go home. But I have tried to have a positive attitude, kept my head down and kept working at it.”
The win came on a patchy brown calf with some brahman blood—noted to be on the slower side and head right.
“I practiced roping the dummy to the right, and thought, ‘Stay down [in the saddle] and finish the throw when he steps right,'” Meged recalled. “And a calf that goes right is not my—or Onna’s—ideal calf. So I really wanted to hit the barrier, because in Cheyenne, if they beat you to the right, it’s this tug-o-war to get over there and get behind them.”
The game plan paid off, with the calf cutting to the right as Meged released her rope.
“I thought I broke out,” Meged recalled. “I think I was on my second swing when I heard Haven yell, ‘Yeah!’ And then I knew I got out, and tried to take my first good shot.”
“Haven gets after me all the time, like, ‘Shelby, you HAVE a gold buckle.’ But that doesn’t give me any more confidence or belonging. I feel the exact same as before I won the world. I am still panicked about making the NFR, and I don’t feel anything is a given. If anything, I have less confidence this year.” – Shelby Boisjoli-Meged
The rocky road to Cheyenne
Meged may be sitting in the Top 5 with more than $86,000 won, but she’s not nearly as comfortable as a casual onlooker might think.
“I’ve been roping good for myself this summer, but I’ll get a $200 check, $300 check,” Meged said. “I started off the summer really slow. I felt like if I made a good run it was a small check, and if I missed it was for a lot of money. I felt so behind this year. This week is the first week I have really felt confident.”
Fortunately, Meged said the Cheyenne win is a big mental boost. She squeaked through to the Cheyenne Quarterfinal performances via the Wildcard Round in slack, and then squeaked into the Semifinals in the fourth hole—the last hole—in her Quarterfinals perf. She admitted that more than anywhere, Cheyenne is a drawing game.
“I think you have to earn wins out here, more than ever. Even the girls that aren’t rodeoing full time, the circuit girls, they’re such talented ropers and there is great horsepower. I think breakaway is at a point where so many girls have it figured out and they’re at the top of their game. I’ve been struggling out here, so if you’re consistently winning, you’re really doing it. Because it’s not easy to win right now.” – Shelby Boisjoli-Meged
Meged is headed to her in-laws place in Miles City, Montana, for a few days to rest and practice on Onna and “Root Beer,” her second string mare. Then, she’ll head out for what she deems the “second half of summer.”
