Jeremy Buhler crossed the $1-million milestone to join the top ranks of PRCA heelers with the paycheck he won at the La Fiesta de Los Vaqueros in Tucson this February, the 2023 RodeoHouston $50,000-a-man Championship check he earned with partner of two years Rhen Richard was some sweet icing on the cake.
“Getting here means a lot to me,” Buhler, 35, said. “It’s the same deal as the majority of the guys out there—it’s a cool idea to have won a million bucks with a rope in your hand.”
The win at RodeoHouston not only pushed 2016 World Champion Buhler well over the $1-million mark but put him squarely at the top of the 2023 PRCA world standings with $70,198.
$1-million beginnings
Buhler hails from in Arrowwood, Alberta, about an hour outside of Calgary. The town’s population hovers around 200 people, and Buhler grew up competing in small, indoor rodeos that took place in converted hockey rinks.
When he moved to Texas to compete at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, and was working as a farrier in between rodeos in 2010, Buhler purchased his PRCA card.
Sporting facial hair that resembles a Canadian backcountry man—except that one time he shaved in 2018—Buhler has put in his time on the ProRodeo road.
“Being successful requires a few different factors—our run, but almost more importantly is the horsepower that lets us make that run,” Buhler said. “That’s the stuff that lets you find the consistency to make that same run.”
Buhler’s handy horsepower
By Buhler’s estimates, he’s won between $400,000 and $450,000 on 19-year-old gelding “Hoss,” who is registered as Knight Robber Son (Knight Robber x Petes Little Peppey x Pele San). The well-seasoned sorrel helped Buhler win Pendleton Round-Up in 2021 and the famed California Rodeo Salinas rodeo in 2022.
“Before we won Pendleton, I’d won Tucson in 2020,” Buhler explained. “I’d won a lot of seconds, but here just recently we’ve been knocking the big ones off.”
Buhler’s winning foundation was laid with a horse he purchased in 2009 from Northern Alberta named Rick James. The horse, Buhler said, was the first strictly heel horse that allowed him to make mistakes and “run a million steers on.”
Rick James carried Buhler to his 2016 World Championship, which he earned with fellow Canadian Levi Simpson. Buhler entered that NFR sitting 12th in the world before amassing some $186,000 across the 10 performances.
Winning that gold buckle made Buhler the first Canadian heeler to win the NFR. He also set the then-record for NFR earnings and single season earnings in team roping heeling with $258,311—a record broken by Paul Eaves in 2018 with $289,291 in earnings.
Buhler’s teammates
From 2009 to 2012, Buhler alternated between roping with brother Clint Buhler and Montana Circuit competitor Delon Parker from Worden, Montana. He briefly paired up with current partner and five-time NFR Qualifier Richard in 2014 before competing with Simpson from 2015 to 2018. (He did rope with Tom Richards at the 2017 NFR when Simpson didn’t qualify).
Buhler heeled for Kolton Schmidt in 2019 before returning to Richard in 2020, and the rest is history.
“I’m fairly monogamous with my partnerships.” Buhler said jokingly.
