ProRodeo Sports News - February 5, 2021

“He’s helping me pick which rodeos to enter and how the ropes work down here,” said Guze, 26. “Having the last year off was good for healing up old injuries that might bother you during the season. It’s a clean slate now.” BACK AND FORTH Bareback rider Mike Solberg is an eight-time qualifier for the Canadian Finals Rodeo, making it in novice bareback riding (2003- 04) and bareback riding (2009-13, 2016). Meanwhile, his ProRodeo endeavors in the U.S. have totaled about $66,000 over the last 16 years. “My main goal is to make the yellow bucking chutes,” Solberg said. “I’ve been to the Canadian Finals that many times, and I want to make Vegas. I’m 36 now, so I have to be in shape to keep up with these kids. It’s what’s keeping a guy going, and I feel like I’m in better shape than I was in my 20s.” Before COVID hit, Solberg estimated that 80% of the rodeos he competed at were in Canada and 20% in the U.S. Solberg, who comes down to the U.S. for six months at a time, is working on obtaining a visa. “We are waiting for the government to allow us to do something,” Solberg said. “It’s tough right now, the prime minister is keeping things closed and the premier of Alberta is keeping it closed. We’re at 15% capacity for restaurants and no home gatherings or anything like that, so hopefully the case numbers go down so we can do this stuff again. But for the moment, I’ll be staying down here (in the U.S.).” Going to and fromCanada is possible but far from convenient, with each time requiring two weeks of quarantine. Solberg has spent a total of two months quarantined. “Weening my calves in the fall was the last time I went home,” Solberg said. “I kind of want to stay down here.” Solberg began to focus on U.S. competitions about a year ago, but it’s been a rocky road. He broke his back in August 2019 and his first rodeo back was the 2020 National Western Stock Show and Rodeo in Denver. Then, he started having shoulder issues. By the time he returned, COVID-19 had changed the game, with more cowboys at fewer rodeos. “Last year you had to have your riding pants on or you wouldn’t make any money,” Solberg said. “It made the competition that much fiercer since you really had to bring the heat, and that made it interesting and fun.” FLYING SOUTH Tie-down roper Kyle Lucas, 26, has been with the PRCA since 2013, finishing 36th in the world standings in 2019 and 32nd in 2020. The Alberta cowboy also made multiple qualifications for the CFR (2013, 2015-18) and finished second in the Canadian standings in 2018. “I dang sure miss them, that’s kind of a honey hole for me since I can pluck away and be home and practiced up and tuned up,” Lucas said. “I’d figured out where all the good runs are, and I’m kind of figuring it out down here.” The 2016 season was the first time Lucas went hard in the U.S., but he backed off for a couple years to focus on Canadian competitions. Now he’s focusing on the U.S. “I went back for a couple of weeks to line up some stuff and have been down here (in the States) since May, and it might not be until May before I go up there again, depending on the rodeos,” Lucas said. Lucas has a sports visa to make crossing the border easier. “As soon as I got that, that helped a lot, and they’ve been good to the rodeo cowboys,” Lucas said. Lucas’ dad, Joe, competed at the Canadian Finals 22 times (1981- 92, 1994-2002, 2006) and at the NFR six times (1983, 1985, 1987-88, 1990-91). “I was around it so much that it was just my life and I grew a passion for it,” Lucas said. “I don’t know what I would do without it or who I would be without it.”

Billie-Jean Duff photo Bareback rider Mike Solberg has been one of the top contenders in Canada for several years. For the first time in his 16 years of ProRodeo competition he’s competing entirely in the U.S.

Hailey Rae photo Kyle Lucas has competed at the Canadian Finals Rodeo five times and is seeking his first NFR trip just like his dad, Joe Lucas, who qualified for the CFR and NFR multiple times in the 1980s through early 2000s.

ProRodeo Sports News 2/5/2021

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