Jim Thompson Reflects on Coveted 2025 Stock Contractor of the Year Award

AIRDRIE, Alta. – In 2025, the riders of PBR Canada voted to recognize one of the most consistent and long-standing operations in the sport. Thompson Rodeo Livestock was named the PBR Canada Stock Contractor of the Year, receiving the honour during the annual Ty Pozzobon Awards Banquet on the eve of the PBR Canada National Finals.

For veteran stock contractor Jim Thompson, the moment brought a wave of validation after more than two decades in the business. While never one to chase accolades, the recognition hit home.

"I don't even know how to explain it. You think you're on the right track, but it kind of confirms that for you," Thompson said.

"I'm pretty close with all them guys, so it's pretty special. There's some pretty good guys and everybody's in the running. There are good pens and bulls. It's kind of a different feeling when you win that one, you know. It kind of makes all the years of hard work trying to get a pen, it makes it sure worth it."

Thompson was quick to share the spotlight, crediting the entire Canadian stock contractor community with raising the standard in bull riding across the country. In his eyes, the award could have gone to any number of outfits working just as hard.

"Anybody could have won that," he said. "Everybody's buying and raising and now training these bulls earlier, trying to get them right for these events. There's a lot of work from everybody. It could have been anybody's award."

"Nansen Vold has got a heck of a pen. Kinky Buckers, now with the Calgary Stampede, have a pile of bulls. Lindsay Carlier is raising them and hauling them every weekend. And all the little guys. Slim Wilson is always bringing his best. Darren Eno is building a new herd. He's bought a pile and has been trying to get them bucked and ready. Shay Marks is breeding a bunch of cows, and his bulls are getting better and better, and more of them."

"That's what everybody seems to be doing. It's a hobby, but it's not. Everybody's trying to have a trailer load a little better than the trailer load from the year before. A bull that everyone wants to get on."

For Thompson, the effort behind developing a great pen doesn't stop at breeding. Preparing bulls for professional competition takes time, care, and repetition. And just hours after the 2025 season wrapped, he was already working toward 2026.

"The Sunday after the PBR Finals, we dummy-bucked 36 head of bulls," he said. "It's a matter of dummying them, handling them. The more you dummy them, the better they get at standing in the chutes. They know what's coming. And then you just keep working with them. The good one’s kind of have a pattern."

"It takes a little time. We bucked those calves all winter. Them guys know them. They're well aware of what they are. Then they get hauled to smaller events, because it's a big deal on an animal like that. It's like anything. You've got to train them with the hauling, trucking, different guys sorting them. Mentally, they've got to be ready just as much as a bull rider. And that's the work everybody's trying to put in."

One of the biggest advantages in Thompson's operation is his heated indoor arena located at home in New Sarepta, Alberta. Featuring four chutes and permanent back pens, it's become a hub for bull riding in the off-season and a year-round training facility for bulls and riders alike.

"I should've built it 20 years ago," he admitted. "It's so much easier to work them calves when you don't have to haul. I think we bucked 27 bulls the other night. I can't haul that many. Nobody wants to haul 27, rent an arena. You don't know what's going to happen, weather, roads, whatever. It's easier for two or four of them guys to get in a pickup, drive over, and know the bulls are already there."

Regular visitors to the Thompson arena include a long list of PBR Canada campaigners like Nick Tetz, Ashton Sahli, Austin Paley, Chanse Switzer, Weston Davidson, and many others. When you head to the Thompson Ranch, you're not just coming to practice, you're treated like family.

"Got nothing to do? Come and buck some bulls. When they want to practice, Nick's been setting them up. Nick phones his guys and we've got guys everywhere, from guys just starting to the juniors going to start in the open," Thompson said.

"They're my friends, but they're like a whole herd of my kids. Over the years we've had somebody living at the house or staying there for a while. If they need a job, they'll work for me for a bit. But they're just like our little extended family. You want to see them do good. They come to the house. And Janet feels that too, because they've helped us, let's feed them, make sure they go home fed."

While Thompson had previously taken home Canadian Global Bull of the Year honours in 2023 with standout athlete Built Tough, 2025 brought a rare double win. Not only did Thompson Rodeo Livestock claim Stock Contractor of the Year, but his bull Moonwalk was crowned 2025 Canadian Global PBR Canada Bull of the Year, thanks in part to his synergy with 2025 PBR Canada Champion Jared Parsonage.

"This bull might really mean it," Thompson said of Moonwalk. "He showed us a few times during 2024 where he wasn't quite there to push Grand Funk last year. He sure showed that he can run with these guys. So we thought he might do a little better this season."

With nearly three decades of hard work behind him, Thompson's passion for bulls, riders, and the future of the sport continues to shine. From practice pen to the national stage, his family-first approach and unwavering dedication have earned him a place among the best to ever raise bucking bulls in Canada.