The Bulls Were Back in Town

Hayden Mulvey of Brooks, AB riding the “Bounty Bull” Wacky Mojo stayed on and rode an eight second ride to gain an extra $2,500.00 on top of his top ten earnings.
Dayton Johnston of Milk River, AB was the overall Bulls on the Beach 2025 Champion for the evening with 172.5 in points on two bulls. His total winnings for the event were $4,360.00 The junior steer riding champion with a total of 74.0 points was Myles Tucker.
The dark clouds skirted around Chestermere with threats of rain, but it didn’t start raining until the bull riding event finished. General Manager of Bow Mitsubishi Jon MacPhee was thrilled about sponsoring the event. “Everyone from our company is here with their families to enjoy and support this event. Five years ago, we saw an ad posted on social media looking for event sponsors. We answered that ad. My family moved to Chestermere five years ago so we are so proud to support this community.
Visitors from Chestermere and nearby communities, Calgary, Drumheller, Strathmore, Airdrie and Langdon enjoyed the cowboys giving it their all aboard the very athletic bulls. Ross Eremko squatted down to coach his grandkids about what they would be seeing. “We’re not country people but we do our best. We learn a little bit more each year.”
Ahead of the competition I interviewed Gilmar Santana a bull rider from Brazil. He’s been bull riding for ten years and this is his second-year bull riding in Canada. He is in Alberta working on a ranch as a horse trainer and looks forward to sharing many good stories of the cowboys out on the prairies. Before he rode, he spoke with his family via live video chat. We used an app on his phone to translate our conversation. He is just learning to speak English.
Sam Schellenberg, a bull fighter for the event said, “It’s muddy, so it should keep things interesting, but our job is to keep the cowboys and bulls safe, and that’s what we’ll do. There are three bull fighters here tonight and we love our job, to me it’s the best job in the world.
Kyle Graham who was stationed on his horse just outside the gate with another cowboy on horseback were ready to head into the arena to clear out any bulls who decided they would like to stay in the arena. These two cowboys did a great job directing some very boisterous big bulls to the alleyway out gate.
To start the evening; rodeo royalty Sophia Cooper from Crossfield, AB riding Paddy, a bay quarter horse, took to the arena with the Canadian flag for the singing of national anthem, O Canada.
The food vendors were busy filling spectators’ bellies with all kinds of great food options. A lady sitting behind me offered to share her mini donuts with me. They smelled so delicious! Another spectator was happy to help during the Calcutta where people made bids on each of the top ten bull riders.
The name of the game was spur’n and ride’n in a hope to win the 2025 Bulls on the Beach title. They didn’t disappoint! The crowd was amazed and thrilled by the bravery and skill these cowboys showed. One of the steer riders was actually – a cowgirl. She is a real role-model for young girls who have an interest in youth steer riding.
Special thanks to each of the sponsors, vendors, volunteers, cowboys and the Rocky View Chestermere Agriculture Society for putting on such an amazing event. An a very special thanks to the City of Chestermere for supplying the heavy loader equipment needed to set up the new stock panels and rodeo chutes.
See y’all next year for the 2026 Bulls on the Beach!