Eight Seconds on Disco Party is Never Enough

When the whistle blew on Denver Leitch's ride at the Canadian Finals Rodeo held in Edmonton this October, the rookie from Grimshaw, Alta., wasn't relieved. He was disappointed. "I was pretty mad when the whistle went," he says. "I didn't want it to be over."

That's the effect Disco Party has on people. The Calgary Stampede bareback mare was just named the 2026 Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association Bareback Horse of the Year and was also named the Canadian Bareback Horse of the Year for the second straight season.

For Tyler Kraft, Manager of the Calgary Stampede Ranch & Stock Contracting Operations, one word explains the honour: consistency. "You could always see a little glimpse of it, but the consistency over the last two or three years is what separated her and put her in the running," he says. "Pretty happy to have her finally get it."

Disco Party’s bloodline is the result of a partnership between Outlaw Buckers, owner of the mare Lunatic Party, and the Calgary Stampede’s legendary stallion Grated Coconut. She was born on the Stampede Ranch and raised like every other foal. “There was always a glimpse of being a superstar,” Kraft says. “It just took a few years to get that consistency.” Today, he calls her “a sweetheart of a mare.”

In the arena, she is something else. Kraft says Disco Party doesn't always buck cowboys off, but she is "so awesome to watch and electric," and she tries every time. Her career is full of big moments. One of Kraft's favourites came at the 2025 Calgary Stampede, when Cooper Cooke rode her to the win on Championship Sunday. "I thought she tried like no other," he says. "She just rises to the occasion every time she's put on there to make a big play."

She did it again this month at the Canadian Finals Rodeo, where Leitch was riding in his first CFR and got on Disco Party for the first time.

"It was pretty unreal. I didn't think I'd get on it here," Leitch says. He had watched plenty of video of other riders on her, so he had a plan: ride her jump for jump. "I knew she was probably going to do one or two good ones out there, and then do her thing," he says. "I stuck with that, and it worked."

It worked very well. Leitch scored 86.50 to win the round and earned $11,500.50. It was his only round win of the week, and he finished eighth overall.

What does he remember most? "Just how electric it feels, getting in the air and spurring. It feels so good." And what does drawing a Calgary Stampede horse mean? "You're getting on probably one of the better horses in the pen that night, and you've got a chance to win every time."

That reputation took generations to build. Kraft is quick to credit the people who came before him, including Winston Bruce. "They were so far ahead of their time, and I'm just trying to keep up with them," he says. Across the industry, he notes, breeding programs keep getting better, so the Stampede's approach stays simple: "Stick to the basics and do what works."

Next up for Disco Party is the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, Dec. 3 to 12. Until then, she's on a break. Kraft says this is the horses' vacation, so they'll head back to the 26,000 acres of the Stampede Ranch, away from the bright lights and carnivals. The ranch crew will check on them daily, but otherwise they'll be left to enjoy "some good R and R that they well deserve."