Dawson Hay has qualified for his fourth National Finals Rodeo as his 2023 season brought in big rides and unforgettable highlights
“It’s been a crazy year really, few ups and downs, a couple bumps and bruises but it’s been my best regular season so far,” Hay said.
Among the highlights are two rides in the 90’s and a huge win on Hay’s home turf of Canada when he cinched the Calgary Stampede to add to his family legacy while he also followed in his father and brother’s steps.
“Calgary this year was just a dream come true, everything I wanted, a lot of it didn’t sink in until afterwords,” he said.
As far as Hay’s lows for 2023, a few injuries couldn’t keep him down for long. The beginning of June brought an ankle injury and he took things slow in July before hustling at the end of the season.
Hay still needs to heal some but NFR preparations include practice horses and the foot on the gas. He has less than a month until those Thomas and Mack butterflies take over and he enters his fourth NFR as the No. 5 saddle bronc rider in the world.
