Horse shoer by day and team roper by night, Ponoka's own Brett Buss, along with his cousin and teammate Klay Whyte are hoping to win top prize in team roping at this year’s Canadian Finals Rodeo.

Growing up in Ponoka, Buss worked his way up in the rodeo scene, participating in High School and amateur rodeos before breaking into the professional rodeo world.

Buss and Whyte are currently in the middle of Canadian Finals Rodeo action, and sit 7th in the standings as of Friday morning, following a fifth-place finish opening night at a no time on Wednesday night.

Having both a father and uncle involved in the rodeo scene made getting into the lifestyle an easy choice for him.

Buss says team roping also has a practical function behind the sport, and it's used almost as much today as it was back before ranchers had access to modern technology.

“It kind of originated from back in the old days and it’s still used on ranches today as a way of doctoring cows and stuff. If you got a sick animal then you’d go to the pasture and head and heel it to give it it’s medicine and stuff.”

As the header, it’s his job to first rope the head of the cow, and then his partner Whyte is known as the heeler, who then ropes the hind legs. Points are deducted if the header breaks the barrier, which is put in place to give the cow a head start, or if the heeler only ropes one leg.

Buss says having the CFR in Red Deer is perfect for his team as they can sleep in their own bed at night and have all of their supporters there is person to cheer them on during the rodeo.

Brett Buss with his girlfriend Shannon O’Neill and her son Noah at the back number ceremony in Red Deer on Monday night. Photo courtesy of Brett Buss.

“It’s huge to be able to have support from family, and then there are quite a few friends who are like family that have supported a guy down the road. So to be able to make the main stage and have them come and watch and support means quite a bit.”

Buss and Whyte will have a couple more chances to get into the money during championship Sunday when the CFR wraps up, starting at 2 pm that day.

The rodeo goes again tonight starting at 7 pm.