Used to travelling on the high school rodeo circuit, Heidi Bedwell welcomed an opportunity to compete at home on the May 3-4 weekend in Lloydminster.
“It’s really nice,” Bedwell said on a sunny Saturday during the Bordertown high school rodeo at the Lloyd exhibition grounds.
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“I just live 20 minutes away, so I don’t even have to keep my horses here overnight. They can go back home and stay there.
“And with a home crowd, it’s always nice to have friends and family come out to support you.”
Bordertown high school rodeo co-chair Marty Bedwell and his daughter, multi-event competitor Heidi Bedwell, flank her horse, Red Light, on May 3 at the Lloydminster Agricultural Exhibition Grounds.
John MacNeil Meridian Source
A small-but-dedicated parent group organized the Bordertown rodeo — now in its third year — to promote the sport in Lloydminster and try to encourage more local students to participate in the Saskatchewan High School Rodeo Association.
“It’s usually the Lloyd people going south,” said Bedwell, a multi-talented Grade 12 student at Lloydminster Comprehensive High School.
“There’s a few from Lloyd — about five — in events here today. But there’s definitely more people from the south who come up.”
Bedwell, who resides on an acreage in the Streamstown area, was a busy athlete on the weekend as she competed in barrel racing, breakaway roping and pole bending.
“It’s been pretty good,” she said, patting her horse, Red Light. “My horse is solid. She’s always good to me.”
Of course, Bedwell’s athletic achievements go beyond the rodeo circuit. She helped the Lloyd Comp girls’ rugby team place second in a high school tournament at home, just one day before the Bordertown show.
She’s also a candidate to play with Saskatchewan’s rugby entry in the Canada Summer Games this August in St. John’s, N.L.
More accolades came Bedwell’s way this week as the LCHS student was named April’s female athlete of the month in the Alberta Schools’ Athletic Association.
As she caps her high school rodeo career, Bedwell reflects on her unique start in the sport.
“Our family kind of got into it a little later,” she said. “My parents didn’t rodeo when they were younger. But my oldest sister (Halle) really wanted to get into it. When I was about five (years old), I was riding horses. Then, in Grade 6, I started high school rodeoing.”
At the senior high school level, she’s been involved in rodeo “a little less” than previously, because she’s heavily committed to rugby, both with the Barons high school team and at the provincial level.
“In grades 10, 11 and 12, I’ve made as many rodeos as I can,” she said. “But rugby is my main sport.”
Bedwell’s rugby schedule often entails weekend events that conflict with rodeos. But she wasn’t about to miss her hometown rodeo, which was well-received by local and visiting competitors alike.
“The weather is really nice,” she said. “I think people like Lloyd. It’s a good spot in town. Some of the Saskatoon people who usually have to go south (for school rodeos), they also like having one that’s a bit closer, too.”
Bedwell’s father, Marty, is a co-chair of the Bordertown rodeo, which he reports has grown appreciably in just three years.
“The Lloyd Ex grounds have been absolutely excellent to deal with,” he said. “We have probably the best facilities, right here in Lloydminster, when it comes to all the Saskatchewan rodeo associations.
“We’re just trying to expand the product, which is high school rodeo and rodeo in general, and horsemanship and everything that goes with it.”
One of the primary objectives is to involve more students from Lloydminster and area.
“That’s the goal — to try to get more kids into rodeo,” Marty Bedwell said. “It’s great camaraderie. You’ve got horsemanship with local people. There are scholarships available for kids that are in high school rodeo.
“It’s just a great event and we’re looking to expand to what we call the north here. Obviously, being in the border city gives us a lot of options with Saskatchewan and Alberta.”
About 150 students participate in junior and senior high school rodeos across Saskatchewan, and many of them were in Lloyd on the weekend.
The summer weather Saturday contrasted with the Bordertown rodeo’s debut in 2023, when three feet of snow threatened the event before it even got off the ground.
“As a committee, we were pretty worried, because we still had snow going about two weeks before the rodeo,” said organizer Mikey Hillis, whose son and daughter compete in high school rodeo. “We weren’t even sure we could get into the arena.
“But it all melted, and it worked out.”
Likewise, this year’s rodeo provided worthy competition and popular entertainment.
“The turnout has been great and the weather has been great,” Hillis said. “Our third year is going quite a bit smoother.”
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