A Ponoka bull rider has set some big goals for this season and taken a great first step in hitting some of those.
Jordan Hansen captured the title at the Rebel Energy Xtreme Bull Riding event held in Red Deer on Jan. 11.
“My focus will definitely be on rodeo again this year,” Hansen stated, in a release from the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA).
“I want to get back to the WNFR. Once you’ve been there, you want to be there every year. And, I’d like another Canadian title. I don’t want to win just one.
“And if it worked out, I think it would be cool to make all three major finals - the CFR, the WNFR and the PBR World Finals. I was close last year; I was alternate for the PBR World Finals. If I can have some luck at a few of the big PBR events, who knows. There haven’t been many guys make all three.”
The victory for Hansen, who was the 2016 Canadian champion, topped the long go at the Rebel Energy event with an 86.5 point score on Eno Bucking Bulls’ Thunder Road. He added a second 86.5 in the short round on Outlaw Buckers’ Too Hot to finish up with 173 points on two head for an impressive $5,088 in earnings.
“I’d seen my long round bull once before, and he was really good,” Hansen said.
“And I got pretty lucky in the short round. All the guys were telling me I had the easy one and I’d better not screw up. They said he’d start to the right and come back left; that’s exactly what happened.”
This latest win has the 26-year-old bull rider starting the year off on the right foot.
“There’s no doubt that winning the average and going six for six at the CFR, and then having a good NFR (including a final go-round win) was huge for me,” he said.
“My confidence is through the roof and I was ready to get the season started.”