The 2021 Pro Rodeo regular season ends on Sept. 30 with the Stockyards Pro Rodeo in Fort Worth, Texas, and Canadian breakaway roper Shelby Boisjoli is in the No. 1 spot in the WPRA/PRCA Breakaway Roping World Standings with 52,485.90 in regular season earnings, giving her a $1,363.80 lead on Sawyer Gilbert.
It’s a lead she took with her Sept. 23–26 California Rodeo Salinas win, which paid $8,786, and also allowed her to reach the goals she’d set at the season’s start.
“I was pretty excited to accomplish my goal for season leader.” Boisjoli said. “And my goal for the season was $50,000, so I was happy that I accomplished both of those short-term goals. I was a mess the week before. I shed so many tears. There were so many highs and lows and so many emotions. I literally did not sleep up until three days before Salinas. I was so excited, nervous, stressed out. My whole goal for the season was coming down to one rodeo. It probably wasn’t a very big deal to end up second, but it felt like it was a huge deal because that was a goal that I had set before I left for the summer.”
After coming up with a miss at the Amarillo (Texas) Tri-State Fair & Rodeo, Boisjoli flew to California to rope her first calf in the long-score setup on Thursday Sept. 23. She made a quick run in 4.3 seconds to split third place in the first round with Jackie Crawford and Jordan Jo Fabrizio, worth $721 each.
“It was a rollercoaster. I did bad at Amarillo, and I was crying; I did good at Salinas, and I was on the high again; then I went to Stephenville (Cowboy Capital of the World Pro Rodeo) and did terrible, and I was sad again. It was the biggest roller-coaster.”
Coming off of her miss in Stephenville, Boisjoli roped her second calf in the Saturday matinee performance of the California Rodeo Salinas and nearly missed. With luck on her side, her hondo caught the calf’s nose and brought her rope over its head to place sixth in the round with a 5.1-second run, worth $129.
“I have never missed a calf that bad and had it go on. I still have no clue how that loop went on. I was already ready to start crying because I missed her and then, all the sudden, my rope popped off. It must have been meant to be because it was a terrible loop.”
The lucky catch was good enough to place third in the average with a time of 9.4 seconds on two head, worth $979 to advance her to the Top 8 round.
Boisjoli won the Top 8 round with a 4.6-second run, worth $1,928 and came into the Top 4 round as the high-call roper. She finished on top of the leaderboard in the Top 4 round with a 3.8-second run, which tied the fast time of the rodeo, to take home the Breakaway Roping Tour Finale title and $5,029.
“Haven [Meged] and I made a game plan of what I was going to do if I was going to have to be fast or if the round fell apart.” Boisjoli said of her World Champion Calf Roping boyfriend. “I knew that calf was going to just lope out there and wasn’t going to try and get away. I wanted to make sure that she was all the way out, so I was clean at the barrier. I just had to go catch my calf.”
After tossing around the idea of jump riding Meged’s mare, Boisjoli settled for her 6-year-old sorrel mare, Onna.
“I was nervous that my mare wasn’t going to get behind because, sometimes, she likes to get strong and stay at the left hip,” Boisjoli said. “She did a really good job. Last year was the first year I really hauled her. I threw her to the wolves this summer. She’s taken everything great. I really feel like she loves her job, and she tries hard for me every time. She knows when we do good, and she knows when we do bad. She genuinely gets upset when she messes up or we don’t do good.”
As Boisjoli prepares for her second National Finals of Breakaway Roping in December, she plans on switching up her practice sessions to best prepare her for battle over the two-day competition at The Orleans (dates to be announced) for a shot at the World Title after competing at the Stockyard Pro Rodeo to finish out the regular season.
Listen: Crawford, Boisjoli and Angelone: NFBR Average Leaders on The Score BONUS Edition
“I don’t think I’ve ever, in my life, made runs for myself in the practice pen—gone at calves and just roped for myself. I’ve always roped for my horse in the practice pen, and I’ve always rode young horses. This year, I’m still going to ride my young horses, but I’m going to get them all rode in the mornings, and I’m going to end my day and ride three or four horses and strictly practice for myself. I’ve never done that before. I’m kind of excited to switch up the practice a little bit and be able to just rope for myself.”
