Paddle Prairie Metis rider has rodeo in his veins

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When Kenton Randle isn't in the saddle competing for rodeo purses like the Canadian Finals Rodeo and the Calgary Stampede, he is tending to his cattle on two quarter sections of land in Fort Vermilion with his father.

Riding horses in the arenas and wrangling cows and bulls at his ranch, Randle still finds time to work the winter months in the logging industry.

Randle, from the Paddle Prairie Metis Settlement in northwest Alberta, started in the pro rodeo circuit in 1981 as a bareback and bull rider. Over the years, he has dropped the bull.

The decision to stick just to the horses was a matter of common sense, said the Metis cowboy.

"It's just too hard on my body," he said. "My heart was telling me not to."

In his rodeo career so far, Randle has chalked up quite a number of victories. In 1982, he won the Indian Rodeo Cowboy Association, then quit for five years. He's made seven trips to the Indian National Finals Rodeo, winning first in bareback in 1989, '92, '95 and '96.

His best year at Calgary Stampede was 1994 when he was only a half-point out of the top 10. At this year's Canadian Finals Rodeo, Randle took third spot overall in the bare back competition.

Was Randle satisfied with his third place standing?

"Oh yeah. I was pretty lucky to get some good draws," he said, adding that he was a little disappointed with his own performance. "On the first night I could have done better."

Unlike many rodeo riders, Randle isn't following a family tradition. He is the only one of five kids in his family who rides for the money.

The scariest moment for the 37-year-old cowboy was the time he got hung up on a bull at Standoff [Indian Rodeo Cowboy Association] Rodeo in 1981.

Getting dragged around by a 900 kg tank with horns is reason enough for anyone to re-think their career choice, but Randle said he loves the rodeo. He loves the challenges it presents.

"I think it's the challenge of different stock."

A country boy through and through, Randle prefers to drive to each rodeo in his half-ton Chevy pick-up, rathera than fly. Driving in the comfortable surroundings of his old truck takes the edge off his dislike of travelling.

Winding his way through the circuit and eventually back home to Fort Vermilion, Randle keeps close to home, his three children and his wife Audrey, during the winter months, until next year's stock is ready to be tested in the arenas across western Canada.

How much longer he'll ride is anybody's guess. He doesn't know the answer himself yet and plans to "play it by ear."