An injury didn’t keep Keith Young out of the rodeo arena.
It just led him to stand inside it as a judge, rather than as a participant.
He’s been doing it for years now, and he chuckled when he explained how a city boy’s passion for all things western came to a lifelong involvement in a sport where decisions must be made in eight seconds.
In the days when he competed in saddle bronc and steer wrestling, judging was not as official as it is now, he said. A sheet of paper would go up at the rodeo site and cowboys would write down a few names of others to serve as judges. The participants would then place checkmarks beside the names they wanted.
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“Well, I was injured, and somebody put my name on a sheet,” Young said during the Canadian Cowboys’ Association finals during Agribition.
The checkmarks appeared and his fate was sealed.
“It’s one way to keep in touch with the young fellows coming into the business,” he said.
Young manages a Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration pasture near Tyvan, Sask. In fact, he drove home an hour each night after the Agribition rodeo to check on his cattle.
He was raised in Regina and the closest he came to riding was an old plow horse his grandfather kept. Once he was done school he went to work on several ranches and ended up at the Beierbach ranch south of Maple Creek, Sask.
“The more western it got, the better I liked it,” Young said.
He also recognized there was a future in working for PFRA’s pasture program while still being able to do the things he loved.
He used to judge rodeos all over the country but now he limits it to those rodeos closer to home and favourites, such as Weyburn, Radville and Val Marie, Sask.
Before a performance, the judges draw for stock, set up the barrel pattern for the ladies’ event and set the barrier for steer wrestling, tie-down roping and team roping.
“We make sure the animals are healthy and able to perform,” Young said.
At most rodeos, there are two officials scoring both the rider and the livestock in the riding events. At the CCA finals, there are four.
Each judge awards points out of 25 for the horse or bull and the rider for a total possible perfect score of 100. In the finals, the points from the four scores are divided by two.
Young watches how a horse bucks and kicks and how the rider spurs to get a good ride.
“You want a spinning bull but not a spinning horse,” he said.
If the bull spins both ways, the score is going to go up.
In the timed events, officials are watching to make sure the calf or steer gets a head start on the cowboy. Otherwise, penalties are applied to the score.
Young said he’s only questioned his scoring of a ride once or twice.
“You pretty well have to live with it,” he said.
“You have to be confident in what you’re doing.”
The video replay available at the finals usually confirms that he made the right decision, he said. Rarely does someone complain about a score.
Most rodeo officials have had some close calls with unpredictable livestock. Young said he’s never been badly injured.
“I’ve seen some judges get knocked right out.”
Judges are paid a set rate for their services and a little more for the finals. Young said he officiates at high school rodeos “pretty cheap.”
His involvement in rodeo rubbed off on one of his children. His son Blade is a professional bull rider who competed at the Canadian Finals Rodeo in Edmonton.
The pros used to compete at Agribition but the show switched to the CCA Finals two years ago.
Young said the move has meant a full house of spectators for mostly prairie cowboys who all have other jobs to finance their rodeo habit.
Although he has judged the Agribition rodeo for two years now, Young earlier participated in the show’s ranch horse competition and one year exhibited the grand champion open feeder heifers in the commercial cattle show.
The winners of the 2006 CCA Finals were:
Dustan McPhee, Hanley, Sask., bareback riding and all-around champion.
Mark O’Dempsey, Mayerthorpe, Alta., saddle bronc.
Kory Ginnis, Grenfell, Sask., bull riding.
Stacy Cornet, Mossleigh, Alta., tie-down roping and high point winner.
Jason Pollock, Qu’Appelle, Sask., steer wrestling.
Sheena Dunham, Souris, Man., barrel racing.
Kent Drake, Moose Jaw, Sask. and Todd Kulczycki, Meadow Lake, Sask., team roping.
Taylor Drier, Pierson, Man., junior girls barrel racing.
Tanner Byrne, Prince Albert, Sask., junior bull riding.
