The Yeti Junior World Finals in Las Vegas runs in conjunction with the National Finals Rodeo in December and will host the top contestants in the 10-18y/o divisions. 

Many Canadian competitors who had qualified to compete on the international stage of the World Finals in the past, reported that they felt under-prepared for the high level of competition they faced in Las Vegas. The CJRA is committed to narrowing the gap and ensure the Canadians that earn their way to Las Vegas are truly prepared, and this is “The Road To Vegas”.

The bucking stock that are selected for CJRA events are some of the best in the world; many of them are also selected to be bucking stock for the World Finals. This means that our competitors are developing on the same caliber and in some instances even the same stock, that they will be facing should they make it to the ultimate goal of competing at the World Finals.

Unlike other junior roughstock events in Canada, where each horse is hand selected for the competitor, the CJRA uses a ‘Chute Draw’ system. This is intended to mimic the random draw system utilized at the highest level of rodeo and ensures that the competitors learn the mental toughness required of an athlete who desires to compete in the sport of rodeo. In the Chute Draw system, competitors are assigned a chute number when they check in, and they will be competing on whichever horse ends up in that chute when it is their turn to ride.

The Chute Draw system also enables riders to train on both right hand delivery and left hand delivery as the CJRA ensures both sides of the arena are assigned to each contestant over the course of two rounds. This is another important step in the development of our young rodeo competitors who are on the “Road To Vegas“.

Competitors are also required to be ‘clock aware’ and prepared to go when their time is up. At the World Finals, competitors who are not over the horse and out of the chute within 30 seconds face disqualification. The Chute Draw system ensure competitors have plenty of time to get their equipment in place and be prepared to rig up as soon as their mount enters the chute. On the “Road To Vegas” competitors gain an advantage by having developed the discipline of watching the clock and getting out of the chute in a timely manner.