"It was pretty special to win the first two CFR titles, and now the last few years to have the opportunity to make a living with my rope, it's all I can ask for"

Growing up in a rodeo family, one might think Kendal Pierson would one day become a barrel racer. But she was born to be a roper.

Whether she was running around her family ranch near Wardlow, as a toddler practising roping her dog, or chasing down her father trying to rope his feet, roping is all she wanted to do.

Now, over the last five years, she’s become one of Canada’s best breakaway ropers, and she has dreams of one day becoming a world champion.

“Ever since I was a little kid at four-year-old, I always had a rope in my hand. I was never much of a barrel racer, even though I did it in high school. Roping was always my passion, what I wanted to do,” said Pierson in a phone call with Postmedia on Friday.

When you think of women in rodeo, it’s hard not to just think of barrel racing, but in 2019 women’s breakaway roping started gaining momentum in Canada and was part of select rodeos0 and, in 2021, it became an official women’s event at the Canadian Finals Rodeo.

At just 17, and fresh off a high school rodeo world championship, Pierson won the inaugural breakaway roping title at the 2021 CFR, and then went back-to-back in 2022.

This week, as the CFR wraps up on Saturday in Edmonton at Rogers Place, she’s aiming for her third Canadian title.

“It was pretty special to win the first two CFR titles, and now the last few years to have the opportunity to make a living with my rope, it’s all I can ask for,” said Pierson.

Ladies’ breakaway roping made its historic debut at the 2025 Calgary Stampede with equal prize money ($310,250), marking the first new event added to the main rodeo since 1979.

Pierson said giving cowgirls more opportunities to compete in more than just barrel racing is big for the sport, and it will give young girls who love roping just like she did the ability to live out their dreams.

“I think that’s as important as anything, because up until just a few years ago, barrel racing was the only event that you could ever do as a woman in professional rodeo,” said Pierson.

“Now we have the opportunity to show our talents, and now little girls can be that multi-event cowgirl.”

Breakaway roping isn’t an individual sport. Pierson gives full credit to her horse Smoke, who was purchased when she was in seventh grade, and the duo went on to win two CFR titles and two NFR appearances.

Pierson said the relationship between cowgirl and horse is integral to having any form of success.

“You and your horse need to be on the same page, and if he’s having a bad day, you need to know. You need to know your horse like the back of your hand. You’re working together, because I can’t do this job without a horse,” said Pierson.

“I’ve rode Smoke for 10 years, and I got the opportunity to grow up with him. I know exactly what he’s going to do, and he’s going to give me a shot every time to be able to win.”

The Piersons may well be the most well-known family from Wardlow area. Her father Bruce competed multiple times as a bareback rider and was the 1989 Canadian Novice Bareback Champion. Her sister Shelby is a talented trick rider on the pro rodeo circuit.

And Kendal is certainly making her mark as a breakaway roper on the rodeo circuit as she’s currently ranked No. 7 in Canada, and among the best in the world. She will be looking to qualify for her third National Finals Rodeo later this year in Las Vegas, Nev.

“The thing that I love most about this sport, is it’s something you can never really master, and it drives you to always thrive and be better every day,” said Pierson.

“My ultimate goal is to get to another national finals and win a world title. One day, I’d love to say I was a world champion.”

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