'They make me dig deep': How this 63-year-old Alberta CFR champion stays on top of the competition

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 and Cowboy were not able to clinch a repeat win, with Yellowhead County's 20-year-old Taylor Manning taking top spot at the CFR barrel racing chanpionships on Saturday. 

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Sean McClune