Miss Rodeo Canada visited Surrey to promote the sport of rodeo

Published 11:00 pm Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Miss Rodeo Canada was in B.C. last week to promote a local rodeo.

Abbey Harty, who hails from Edam Sask., was crowned at the Canadian Finals Rodeo in Edmonton last October. She’s now spending the year representing the sport of rodeo nationwide. As Miss Rodeo Canada 2026, she’s the ambassador for the sport. She likes to showcase a little bit of what happens behind the scenes as she helps promote both the sport as a whole and individual rodeos across the country.

“It’s been an incredible opportunity and I’m just excited to come out to B.C. and represent rodeo and our athletes and our stock,” Harty told the Cloverdale Reporter. “Just being able to do it from coast to coast is really special. I couldn’t ask for a better job, honestly.”

Harty visited a local ranch to ride some horses and film a video to promote Valley West Stampede, Langey’s pro rodeo. She filmed the video with Sheila Hicks, president of Valley West.

“The community behind the rodeo here is very special,” she said. “It’s like a family. It’s wonderful to be a part of it. And it’s nice to be able to come out here and make connections.”

She added that, as Miss Rodeo Canada, she feels lucky to be adopted into all rodeos across the country.

Hicks said they brought Harty out to help raise awareness in B.C. for the sport.

“Abbey is a great ambassador for rodeo,” Hicks said. “She’s helping move the sport forward.”

Hicks, who is also the leader of the Bit-A-Bling Grand Entry Team, added that Harty will be back for the Valley West Stampede in September. (Bit-A-Bling opens each rodeo competition for both the Cloverdale Rodeo and Valley West Stampede.)

“We’re sanctioned by the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association (CPRA), which is great because that means there’s three pro rodeos in B.C. that weekend.”

She said Miss Rodeo Canada will attend all three, the Interior Provincial Exhibition & Stampede, the Nicola Valley Pro Rodeo, and Valley West Stampede.

“Abbey will be in Armstrong at IPE. Then she’s gonna hit Merritt. Then she’s spending Monday with us at Valley West Stampede.”

Harty said she enjoys being the face of Canadian rodeos and she’s grateful she has the opportunity to promote them all. When she’s in one province, she’s always promoting rodeos in other provinces. She also promotes rodeos out west when she’s on the east coast.

“Every rodeo that I go to is special and unique in its own way,” she noted. “But I’ve really felt a deeper connection with the people from Valley West Stampede. They’ve really adopted me as one of their own.”

Hardy will be crisscrossing the prairies for the rest of the summer and even heading back east. She’ll attend a rodeo in Cape Breton. Earlier this year, when it was colder up here, she was south of the line promoting Canadian rodeos.

“I’ll be going to as many rodeos as possible,” she said. “My season will take me back to Alberta and Saskatchewan over the next few months. Then in August, a lot of the CPRA’s B.C. rodeos will kick off. It’s going to be really special to be able to travel all over Western Canada. Then I’ll be heading out to the east coast to do some promotion for rodeo out there. So my season’s pretty busy from now till the end of the year.”

And Harty isn’t just an ambassador for rodeo, she’s also a rodeo athlete. She competes in barrel racing.

“Miss Rodeo Canada has never attended the Valley West Stampede,” Harty added. “So I’m really excited to be the first one and to be able to come back for that. It’s also the 5th anniversary for the Valley West Stampede, so I’m very excited to be able to be a part of that (celebration) too.”

The Valley West Stampede will take place Sept 5-7 at the Langley Riders Arena.

For more info, or to grab some tickets, visit valleyweststampede.ca.