O’ Canada

Kash Bonnett and Logan Spady Secure Spots Among Maple Leaf’s Top 3
Kash Bonnett and Logan Spady have picked up ProRodeo checks throughout the 2024 season to consistently stay afloat in the Maple Leaf Circuit.
Kash Bonnett and Logan Spady. | DDD Photography

Ponoka, Alberta’s Kash Bonnett and Alliance, Alberta’s Logan Spady are making a run for their money sitting inside the top 3 of the heading and heeling standings in ProRodeo’s Maple Leaf Circuit.

When interviewed on July 11, Bonnett, 23, and Spady, 26, were in the Maple Leaf Circuit driver’s seats. Now, with the July 12 ProRodeo standings update, Bonnett is third with $13,768.67 and Spady is second with $12,612.53 in earnings, while Levi Simspon and Logan Cullen assume the lead with $15,649.71 each. Kolton Schmidt is second in the heading with $14,763.01 is circuit earnings. 

“It’s just been pretty consistent where we have just been picking away every week and staying afloat,” said 2023 Canadian Finals All-Around champion Spady. “We haven’t had any real big hits or any weekends that haven’t went that good. It’s just been pretty consistent where we place a few times every week it seems like.”

The team has been cashing in at rodeos like Rimbey (Alberta) Pro Rodeo, Rocky Mountain House, Alberta’s Pro’s Out West, Brooks, Alberta’s Newell Pro Rodeo and more with consistent runs, to help them stay on top of the standings.

“We haven’t been super-fast anywhere, but we seem to be catching quite a bit,” said Bonnett, who works on hisfamily’s farm and ranch that runs about 500 head of cows and operates a feedlot with a few thousand head. 

Where have Bonnett and Spady placed?

  • Stavely Pro Rodeo: 2nd, 4.3-second run, worth $4,728.20 each
  • Rimbey Pro Rodeo: 2nd split, 4.9-second run, worth $1,162 each
  • Daines Ranch Pro Rodeo: 5th split, 5.6-second run, worth $1,246 each
  • Pro’s Out West: 4th, 5.4-second run, worth $749 each
  • Newell Pro Rodeo: 3rd, 5.8-second run, worth $1,510 each

The Previous Year

As professional rodeo cowboys are nearing the midpoint of the season, Bonnett and Spady are in a more comfortable position at this point compared to the previous year. 

In 2023, Bonnett finished 11th in the Maple Leaf Circuit with $11,758.46 in earnings and Spady finished fourth with $25,108.21.

“Last year I was not in a good spot this time of year, and we had a lot of winning to do,” said Spady, who is sitting third in the Maple Leaf Circuit All-Around standings with $18,572.01 in earnings between the team roping, calf roping and steer wrestling. “It’s dang sure a lot easier feeling when you’re sitting good this time of year with a lot of rodeos left rather than knowing that you need to win.”

“Last year was not good for me at all, so this year I’m just having fun doing it really,” Bonnett added. 

‘Bucky’ and ‘Dandy’

Bonnett lacked horsepower in 2023 as his good horse, Zbar Lightning MCQ—a 10-year-old buckskin gelding named “Bucky”—was out while recovering from a deep digital flexor tendon tear.

“My good horse is back, and I can ride him,” Bonnett said. “He got sore in 2022. I didn’t really have him until the end of last year.”

Kash Bonnett's Zbar Lightning MCQ
Zbar Lightning MCQ

While Bonnett’s main man “Bucky” is back in business after recovery, his 9-year-old bay gelding, Boy Wrangler Lark, also known as “Joe,” is still loaded up in the rig after being seasoned in 2023. 

“The one that I rode last year a little bit is getting a lot better, so now I have two good horses,” Bonnett said. “He’s faster and probably more talented, but he just took a little longer to season than my other horse.”

Kash Bonnett's Boy Wrangler Lark
Boy Wrangler Lark

Spady is mainly heeling on his veteran horse “Dandy,” an 18-year-old gelding he has had for 10 years.

“I know everything about him,” said Spady, who shoes horses on the side.“He’s just kind of a warrior, I guess. I don’t think he’s great by any means, but he never gets in my way when I rope. We’ve ran a lot of steers together. Then I have a gray that I bought last year that I’ve been heeling on a little bit, and he’s pretty good, too.” 

Switchenders: Unite!

Before Bonnett and Spady teamed up, they both could be found roping on opposite ends in 2020. Bonnett originally heeled, and Spady was caught cracking it on the horns.

Actually, Bonnett and Bucky each started their careers on the heel side but, around 2020, they both swapped over to the heading.

“He was my heel horse when I heeled, and he was so good at heading, so that’s kind of partly why I went to heading: because I had a good horse,” Bonnett explained.

Handily, Spady was ready for the switch, too.

“Heading wasn’t working out,” Spady said. “After COVID, I switched from heading to heeling, and he switched from heeling to heading. We were winning at jackpots together that summer, so we decided we would rope that next year in 2021. We made our first Canadian Finals together and our second together, and we’re roping again now.”

Canadian rodeo goals

While Bonnett and Spady are pushing to finish on top of the standings in the Maple Leaf Circuit, they are also focused on the Canadian Pro Rodeo Association Finals. Bonnett is 11th in the heading with $2,612.51, and Spady is 12th with $12,953.42.

“The circuit is important,” Spady said. “You get to go to the circuit finals and rope for money that counts for next year and get a chance to get to Colorado (for the NFR Open). Whether we’re winning Canada or making the Canadian Finals, it’s right up there and just as important.”

Finding rhythm in Canadian competition

Despite the growth of the sport in Canada, team roping through the Great White North’s winter months remains a significant challenge for committed competitors.

“We are still growing up here, I guess, but the biggest thing is we only get about half the year,” Spady said. “If you don’t have anywhere to rope in the winter, you only have maybe six months of the year you get to practice. You get behind just because of the weather. That is why if you do want to succeed at it and get better, you have to go south to get to where you can be roping year-round.” 

For ropers who aren’t able to travel south in the cold months, an indoor arena in key—a truth Bonnet’s parents recognized as Bonnett and his two older brothers Logan, 30, and Keeley, 28, dove deep into the sport.

“My parents worked really hard, and we ended up building an indoor arena once me and my two brothers got into it big time,” Bonnett said. “I’ve gone to Arizona for probably 8 years. For me it wasn’t as bad as some people, I guess.”

Despite the challenges Canada’s seasons present, Spady is happy to be rodeoing there.

“I love rodeoing in Canada,” Spady said. “Everybody gets along and is friends. We all cheer for each other and help each other out. There’s getting to be where there’s a lot of good rodeos, and you can make real money rodeoing in Canada now, where five to 10 years ago as a team roper that wasn’t justifiable.”

Heating up

With big money still to be won, Bonnett and Spady are looking forward to rodeoing in the States before heading back across the border to hit the August run. 

For Bonnett, 2024 will be his first attempt to sieze some of the big opportunities found in the States.

“We’re going to Cheyenne (Frontier Days) this week, Salt Lake (City, Utah’s Days of 47 Rodeo) and then we’ll go to rodeos like (Rodeo) Salinas (California),” Bonnett said. “I think that’s going to be pretty cool.”

Meanwhile, Spady dipped his toes in the U.S. summer run waters in 2023 roping with two-time NFR qualifier Kolton Schmidt. Still, he’s looking forward to getting back on home turf.

“August is great in Canada,” Spady said. “There are probably three to four rodeos every weekend, so, if you hit a bunch—most of them are the Maple Leaf Circuit rodeos—you can win a lot of money.”

X(box) marks the spot

Previously, Bonnett and Spady traveled with Bonnett’s brothers, Logan and Keely, who are both sitting sixth in the circuit with $9,400.01 and $6,130.58, respectively. For their U.S. tour, though, they’re now in the rig with the Graham brothers, Dawson and Dillon

“This year, we are traveling with the Grahams since we’re down here,” Bonnett said. “Nobody gets too upset with Dawson in the truck. He never has a bad day. You don’t have the option.”

Spady adds that “beating Dillon at Xbox” does the trick when it comes to hauling down the rodeo trail.

Top 5 Maple Leaf Circuit Heade

  1. Levi Simpson, Ponoka, Alberta, $15,649.71
  2. Kolton Schmidt, Barrhead, Alberta, $14,763.01
  3. Kash Bonnett, Ponoka, Alberta, $13,768.67
  4. Tee McLeod, Waldeck, Saskatchewan, $12, 427.66
  5. Grady Quam, Crossfield, Alberta, $11,716.23

Top 5 Maple Leaf Circuit Heelers

  1. Logan Cullen, Courtenay, British Columbia, $15,649.71
  2. Logan Spady, Alliance, Alberta, $12,612.53
  3. Denim Ross, Botha, Alberta, $12,601.50
  4. Tyce McLeod, Waldeck, Saskatchewan, $11,716.24
  5. Kasper Roy, Mossleigh, Alberta, $9,435.60
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