Canadian Finals Rodeo rookie Kavis Drake and veteran Jeremy Buhler split the 2024 Canadian Team Roping Championship titles after duking it out for the first time inside Edmonton, Alberta’s ice hockey rink Rogers Place, held Oct. 2–5, 2024.
Both Drake and Buhler won the coveted titles but came about their success in different fashions. The difference? One is a first-time CFR qualifier, and one has 11 CFR qualifications, a world title and three Canadian championship buckles to his name.
The Kavis Drake story
At just 18 years old and a recent high school graduate, Kavis Drake had a stellar first-ever CFR outing and amassed $62,195.17 in total season earnings with the help of his partner and lifelong friend Denim Ross, 19, who finished second in the heeling.
“It was a dream come true,” said the 2024 Canadian Champion Team Roping Header of Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. “I’ve dreamed of being there ever since I was old enough to even know what it was. It hasn’t really sunk in honestly. I don’t really think it will sink in until the buckle comes back in the mail with my name on it, or else the next year when they say, ‘This is the reigning Canadian champ.’”
The unreal feeling also set in when Drake backed into the box for the first time inside the packed Rogers Place.
“The atmosphere in that building is pretty dang cool,” Drake said. “It feels like the people are sitting right on top of you, especially from the back of the box. There’s no seats down low, so it definitely felt like they were sitting right on top of you. It was the coolest feeling I’ve ever had.”
The CFR outcome
Drake and Ross had a nearly knockout performance at the 50th CFR, winning three of the five go rounds.
The young guns won the first and third rounds with a 4.2-second run and a 3.9-second run, each worth $11,100 a man, and split the win in Round 5 with Dustin Bird and Tyce McLeod with a 3.7-second run worth $9,676.93 a man.
“All together our game plan was to rock it back and send it because when we back off is when we start messing up,” Drake said. “The two rounds that we messed up we kind of backed off a bit. We didn’t rope as aggressive as we should have and that’s just not us. We just try to win first every time and that’s when it seems like we don’t mess up because we’re not thinking as much.”
Ross missed on the heel side in Round 2 and, in Round 4, Drake missed the right horn.
“I dropped the ball,” Drake said of their Round 4 run. “I was so bummed out because I thought that was my chance right there. I thought if I caught two more steers and placed in the round, I would win it for sure and was pretty sure Denim would get it, too.”
That’s when it all came down to the final round where they went lights-out.
“We were riding in the arena and Denim looked over at me and said, ‘I think if we go 3.7 right here, I think we both will win it,’” Drake said. “And no kidding, when we looked at the big screen and it said 3.7, we went, ‘Wow!’ I’ve never felt that much emotion in the arena at all after a good run.”
Drake’s “Lil D”
Drake relied on Dynamicability—a 17-year-old sorrel gelding called “Lil D”—to get him his first Canadian title.
“That head horse is amazing,” the young header said. “That horse will forever hold a special place in my heart. He means a lot to me”
Drake came about the horse from 11-time CFR qualifier Brett Buss mentioned he had a horse that he needed to try.
“I didn’t get to it until three days before Strathmore and ran four steers on him and said, ‘I’ll take him.’” Drake said. “I rode him at Strathmore that week and that was my fifth run on that horse. It was great timing because my blue horse (whom Drake purchased from Kasper Roy in 2023) is only 6 years old, and he was getting a bit rodeo-smart and tired. It was great timing when that horse popped up.”
The Drake-Ross connection
Though Drake is partially heartbroken that he couldn’t seal the heeling title for his heeler Ross, he is forever grateful to have a heeler, who is also one of his closest friends who shares the same love for team roping as the two of them grew up competing in dummy ropings before ever competing on the back of a horse.
“I’ve known him since I was 4 years old,” Drake said. “I lived with him all summer and we see each other a lot. All we want to do is rope. If you don’t see us at the Subway or the Dairy Queen, you’ll see us in the arena.”
This partnership was just about out of a movie, as the two teens’ parents Kent and Kara Drake and Rocky and Christine Ross had envisioned them roping together on big stages.
“It was only a matter of time before it was going to happen, our parents just said that one day it was going to happen,” Drake said of the partnership. “Little did we know it was going to happen so fast.”
Drake realizes that he wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t for the many people who have supported him down the rodeo road.
“Without mom and dad I wouldn’t be out here at all,” Drake said. “They drove countless hours to get rigs to me and different horses. I lived with [Rocky and Christine Ross] and Denim. There’s too many people to even count, but those are the closest ones for sure.”
Roping with heroes
This win and title are one for Drake’s record books, especially after getting to compete against a long list of men that he has looked up to while starting his team roping career.
“Just to be able to go there and rope against the guys that I got to rope against was unbelievable. I got to rope against my heroes.”
Drake didn’t just rope against his heroes; he won a Canadian title alongside the now three-time CFR champion heeler Jeremy Buhler.
“I’ve looked up to Jerry (Jeremy’s nickname) since I was 10 years old,” Drake said. “Growing up roping the cowboy toy it was, ‘I’m Jeremy Buhler this time.’ It was bittersweet not having Denim there just because he roped so good for me all year long and I feel bad that I couldn’t get him there with me. It’s just how it turned out and it didn’t work out, but to have Jeremy standing beside me… I still look up to him. He’s still one of the best in the world, and to be standing there next to him receiving our gold buckles was pretty special.”
When it was time for all the Canadian champions to be crowned, it was the small moment he had with his fellow team roping titlist that gave him surreal chills.
“He shook my hand and pat me on the back and said, ‘This will be first of many,’” Drake recalled. “I got goosebumps.”
The Jeremy Buhler story
For Buhler, this Canadian championship felt a little different than his first two titles, as he is now a dad to Brock Buhler, who recently turned 1 on Sept. 30.
“To me, winning the year-end stuff—winning the World and winning the Canadian championships, stuff like that—that’s all great,” said Buhler, of Arrowwood, Alberta. “It’s the fruits of your labor, it’s the reward at the end, but I think where I’m at now, I truly enjoy the process more than the results. I enjoy the practicing throughout the week and getting ready for stuff. It’s obviously good to have success in town, but as far as comparing the fulfillment to having a son and winning a buckle, that’s not even close on my radar.”
The 36-year-old had a successful season in Canadian Pro Rodeo. Buhler finished as season leader with $47,947.22 won in the regular season and finished out the year with $66,874.14 as the CFR concluded.
“I feel like we had a decent Finals, but not a great Finals, so this one is different than my other championships,” Buhler said. “My other two [CFR titles], I feel like we went in in decent spots and really did well at the Finals, where this one, I feel like we caught a lot of steers and roped good, but we just didn’t win a lot in the rounds.”
The go rounds
The go-rounds at the CFR were bittersweet as Buhler, who heeled for Trey Gallais, of Sundre, Alberta, pulled two checks throughout the week for a total of $13,092.30 each.
A broken barrier cost them in the first round, resulting in a 14.2-second run. They finished sixth in Round 2 with a 6.0-second run, pulled a fifth-place check in Round 3 with a 5.0-second run worth $2,276.92 a man, then another check for third in Round 4 with a 5.2-second run, adding $10,815.38 to their names. Unfortunately, Buhler came tight on a leg in Round 5, putting an 11.2-second run on the board.
“When we got the barrier, that was just bad luck I think,” Buhler said. “I don’t feel like [Trey] saw any less than everybody else. Just that time it didn’t work out. That was a good run. I really don’t think I would change a whole lot. I felt like we made good runs on every steer that we ran. I think that we went in with a game plan to just be steady and place along in the rounds, but as good as everybody else roped, there was three or four teams that were blasting every night there. That kind of takes care of the idea of just going and catching them all.”
Getting to Edmonton
To make the 2024 CFR, Buhler qualified with the help of three different partners, including five-time NFR qualifier Dustin Bird.
“I’ve always known Dustin, and we’ve always got along good, but that was a lot of fun getting to know him better and spend time with him and his family,” Buhler said of Bird’s two sons and wife, Alicia. “He turned a lot of steers, and I didn’t heel great behind him at first, and all the sudden we hit our lick. We were kind of feast-or-famine it felt like. When we connected, we’d win first or second, and it was just a blast. I was super pumped to get to rope with him. He was in a good spot and wanted to go home and take care of business.”
After Montana-born Bird headed back to the States to take care of business, Buhler picked up all-around contender Jesse Popepscul for two rodeos, then finished out the season with Gallais.
“He spun me great steers,” Buhler said of his short-term partnership with Popepscul. “I don’t want to say he was the opposite of Bird, but our run was just different. It seemed like we placed at darn near every rodeo. That says a lot for a guy to be able to get out of the barrier and turn that many steers for money. Trey is the same deal. He’s got a young family, too. He has a 6-month-old. It was a blast getting to know Trey better and getting to watch our boys play. It was honestly such a great summer. I had a blast.”
Both Bird and Gallais also qualified to compete at the 2024 CFR.
Buhler: ‘Great horses make great ropers.’
Buhler started his CFR on his main mount, 20-year-old “Hoss,” but when an abscess manifested before Round 3, he made a quick change to his backup, a 13-year-old sorrel he calls “Pork Chop,” aka MCRNicolena.
“He’s been the best horse in my career I feel like,” Buhler said of Hoss, registered as Knight Robber Son. “That horse is really good on every single set up. After the second round, I went to get on him Friday night and he was sore. [Pork Chop] has been a good fill-in horse. He’s not as athletic as Hoss, but he is a good horse. He’s very easy. I’m pretty lucky to have a couple good ones right now. Great horses make great ropers.”
Heel-side support
Whether it be a Canadian title or a World title, those don’t amount to the support team and, for Buhler, his better half Katie Waterston is the one behind the scenes keeping the Canadian champion grounded.
“Katie, before we had Brock, she was my main practice partner,” Buhler said. “She turned steers for me all day long. She’s been there from the time that I didn’t make the Canadian finals because I didn’t rope good enough, through the World title, through all three Canadian championships. The thing is about her support is you would never know if I won the world, won Canada or ever made it to the Finals that year.
“Having someone around like that that is very levelheaded when it comes to my success, I think helps me find the middle a little better,” Buhler continued. “She’s really good at not having the highs too terribly high, and the lows are never too low. That is everything. A person like that is worth a lot in a game that has so many peaks and valleys.”
Buhler knows that without the support from his family, sponsors and practice partners are worth their own weight in gold.
“Everybody that I’m partners with right now, as far as sponsors go, are some of my closest friends,” Buhler said. “The fact that they stood with me through this shows an awesome amount of support. Then after that, you have the other guys that you hit the practice pen with: all my buddies I got to rope with all summer. Then I have my brothers and my sister. Everybody, big or small, plays such a huge role, and I’m very thankful for all of them. That’s the good stuff.”
Buhler also appreciates the changes that were made for CFR 50.
“We have to give a shoutout to Tanner Gerlitz and his crew and a bunch of other people that made that possible,” Buhler said. “Every time you get to go to the Canadian Finals, the atmosphere is great. I think that Red Deer (Alberta) did an amazing job whenever they had it. I think that being at a little bigger venue just kind of proves how many people there are out there that will come and watch the rodeo. Now, where we’re at, that venue can grow and continue to make our sport better up here. It was unreal.”
Watching the rookie succeed
Beyond the recent addition to his resume, Buhler also finds joy in watching the young and upcoming talents.
“I don’t feel like I’m an old guy and I don’t try to talk like I’m an old guy, but I think those guys are very good for how young they are,” Buhler said of Drake and Ross. “That is cool for me to see the next generation in our sport to rope that good. By the end of it, they were breathing down my neck. They roped great. They had a great Finals. I’m actually really looking forward to battling it out with those guys for the next however many years.”
Buhler has grown up with the sport and has single-handedly watched how team roping has progressed in Canada and Drake and Ross are a true testament to that growth.
“No one is a bigger fan of that than I am,” Buhler said. “The fact that the last steer—even though I didn’t do a great job on it—that there was that much weight on the last steer, I love that. That is why we do it. That’s the competition. I’m sure those two guys will win plenty of Canadian championships. There’s no telling how next year will go. Maybe the roles will be reversed and maybe we will be battling it out again. I’m very excited about how those young guys rope. I think if anyone is a true competitor and a true team roping fan, whether they’re trying to take your money or not, you love watching and seeing that amount of talent at that young of an age.”
Not done yet
Buhler is now directing his focus back to the rope horse futurity scene and taking a step back to focus on his family.
“To me, one of the main deals is providing for my family,” Buhler said. “That is something that I don’t take lightly. I love competing with those guys down there and going to some of the biggest rodeos. But as soon as Brock came along, it started getting heavy on me that this summer I didn’t want to leave. It’s always been about creating a good life for me and my family.
“I’m more about the process than anything. I’m very focused on the futurity game right now. I love everything about it. I like roping a lot every day and breaking down the horsemanship part of it and training. I also still enjoy rodeoing.”
Canadian Finals Rodeo 2024 results
Canadian Champion Header
Kavis Drake
Canadian Champion Heeler
CFR 50 Average Champions
Kash Bonnett and Logan Spady: 40.0 seconds on five head, $16,650
Canadian Pro Rodeo Header Standings
- Kavis Drake – $62,195.17
- Kash Bonnett – $54,528.70
- Levi Simpson – $50,231.58
- Dustin Bird – $47,757.60
- Trey Gallais – $45,133.75
- Kolton Schmidt – $41,133.75
- Grady Quam – $40,995.72
- Tee McLeod – $35,208.31
- Roland McFadden – $34,384.11
- Dawson Graham – $32,722.85
- Brady Tryan – $20,119.80
- Levi Schmidt – $18,612.79
Canadian Pro Rodeo Heeler Standings
- Jeremy Buhler – $66,874.14
- Denim Ross – $62,195.16
- Logan Spady – $54,869.60
- Logan Cullen – $50,231.55
- Tyce McLeod – $44,956.17
- Landon Glenn – $41,133.72
- Tyrel Flewelling – $37,533.98
- Brady Chappel – $37,433.98
- Dillon Graham – $32,722.85
- Sid Sporer – $30,606.26
- Calgary Smith – $20,119.76
- Braden Brost – $18,612.92
