'They make me dig deep': 63-year-old CFR champion looks for 2nd win in Saturday finals

Professional barrel racer Lynette Brodoway stands with her 10-year-old horse, Cowboy. (Sean McClune/CTV News Edmonton)

Barrel racer pro Lynette Brodoway has been riding in rodeos since before some of her competitors were born.

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The 63-year-old Albertan is a top Canadian Finals Rodeo (CFR) cowgirl and last year's barrel racing champion.

She said was born into the rodeo, starting as a team roper in the late 1980s.

Team roping sees two mounted competitors work together to immobilize a steer by the head and hind legs, and Brodoway's brother and son have both been CFR finalists in the event.

"The team roping is a family affair," she said. "I got away from it, obviously.

"I was not going to get here as a team roper. I think that's probably why I went into barrel racing, because I could see that my future was limited as a woman."

Brodoway said she got serious about barrel racing in the 90s, and decided to go pro in 2017.

It was a good first year.

"I made the finals. The first round, I hit a barrel to place. The second round, I won," she said. "(My horse) was staying at a facility off site, when he come in for the third round, he was late. That was the end of that."

Last year Brodoway won her first CFR title, thanks in big part to her partner, Cowboy.

"It takes a really amazing horse," she said. "That's the most important aspect … if you don't have a really awesome horse, you're not going to do anything."

When asked about what it's like to compete against younger cowgirls, Brodoway said it keeps her on her toes.

"They make me dig deep," she said. "If I was going to say, what's something that drives me on to be better? It's those girls.

"Because they're good and if I'm not getting better and not working on things, I won't survive amongst them."

Brodoway will be looking to claim her second title Saturday night. Her top contender going into the fifth and final round looks to be Yellowhead County's 20-year-old Taylor Manning.

The CFR championship starts at Rogers Place at 6:30 p.m. 

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Sean McClune