Gardner picks up year-end bull riding awards despite disappointing PBR Canada finals finish

EDMONTON, AB. — Although the year-end bull riding finals in Edmonton ended in disappointment, one rider with ties to Fort St. John did nab a couple of year-end awards.

Jake Gardner entered the Professional Bull Riders Canada (PBR Canada) finals in Edmonton in third place in the overall standings, just 102.83 points behind tour leader Jared Parsonage, according to a press release.

However, the 29-year-old Gardner had to quickly rebound to land in the championship round after the opening two rounds on Friday, November 14th at the Rogers Place arena.

In his first ride, Gardner was bucked off by bull Grand Slam in 4.02 seconds, and then by bull Just Cause in just 3.77 seconds in round two.

His re-ride on bull High Plains Drifter netted him a score of 84, enough to get him into the championship round on Saturday, November 15th, but it quickly went downhill from there.

After being tossed in 2.44 seconds by bull Blue Nerve, Gardner ended the event in 15th place. The event was won by Parsonage, who took the overall title. 

The Maple Creek, Saskatchewan native is just the fifth person in PBR Canada history to win the Canada Elite Cup overall title and the season-ending finals.

Gardner, however, did pick up end-of-season accolades: the Wrangler MVP and the Road Warrior awards.

The Wrangler MVP is given to the bull rider with the most aggregate points from all events, with Gardner 2,877 points in both PBR Canada Elite Cup and Touring Pro events throughout 2025.

Meanwhile the Road Warrior award was taken by Gardner for competing in the most events, 38, throughout the season.  

With the bonus money, it took Gardner’s cash season total to $104,967.68, marking the first time in PBR Canada history more than one competitor has ended the year with over $100,000 in purse money.

The full list of competitors and events are available on PBR Canada’s website.