When the riders on the Professional Bull Riders Canadian Touring Pro Series look back on the 2016 season, Thursday's Gold Eagle Casino PBR Classic at the North Battleford Civic Centre might go down as one of the toughest.
Of the 39 rides that took place over the course of the evening, only eight ended up going the full eight seconds and just two riders went the distance in the long and short go-rounds.
On a night where everyone was being flung around the arena, veteran rider Scott Schiffner of Strathmore, Alta. called on all of his 18 years of experience as he captured the title.
“The bulls keep getting better each year and the contractors do a really great job in giving us great bulls to ride,” Schiffner said. “In our game it's just a matter of staying on.
“I put my hand in the rope of two bulls that I had some experience with in the past and it just worked out. Half of it is about getting the right bull and it ended up being a good thing for me tonight.”
Schiffner was in fourth place after the opening round after scoring 82 points on Rolling Coal.
He saved his best ride for the final round as he rode Minion Stuart to an 88 point ride to give him a combined score of 170 points.
“Sometimes on bulls like that you have a good idea of what they are going to do,” Schiffner said. “There are other times though where that line of thinking can end up working against you.
“I just kind of take that with a grain of salt though and just go with it. Both bulls ended up being pretty similar tonight and it ended up being a good night for me on them.”
His closest competition was Dakota Buttar of Kindersley who finished just a half-point behind Schiffner.
A former Calgary Stampede and PBR Canada champion, Schiffner had actually taken some time off in recent weeks before returning to action in North Battleford.
“The spring and early season was really good and I was able to win quite a few rodeos,” Schiffner said. “Then after that it was slim pickings for quite a bit before I took two weeks off.
“I wasn't dealing with any major injuries but sometimes at my age (36) you start to get a little bit worn out. I took the family out to the lake, did some things around the house and I didn't think about bull riding until a couple of days ago. Obviously the rest did me some good with a win in the first event back.”
Schiffner had been to North Battleford for the first two Gold Eagle Casino PBR Classic events, which were held outdoors.
With the move into the Civic Centre this year, the riders had to deal with a much smaller space to maneuver in.
“The biggest thing here is just picking your spot when you get off the bull,” Schiffner said. “If you get off to close to the fence or the chute you don't have much room to take those couple of steps you need to get up on the rail. We have some great bullfighters though and they are able to help with that.
“I would say though that the biggest challenge tonight was being in an indoor building on a warm summer night in July. As you can tell all of us were pretty hot out there.”
Despite the heat, Schiffner said having the event indoors this year was a positive move, especially with the atmosphere the cowboys felt as they rode.
“When you are in a building like this it really feels like there are twice as many people watching you with all of the noise that's going on,” Schiffner explained.
“There's great fans out here in North Battleford and all over Saskatchewan. It's really a great event here and I'm glad to come back.”
While the pro riders showed off their stuff, Austin Taylor of Biggar had an impressive night in the junior steer riding event as he finished in first place.
“This is my second year competing and I'm really enjoying it,” Taylor said. “The challenge of it makes it a lot of fun.
“I rode that steer in Biggar and it didn't really jump very high. It just came out running. This time it did what I was hoping it would do for me to have a good ride.”
