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An Ace among steers in Western Canada

Casie Brokenshire never would have imagined that she would enjoy so much success with her steer Ace this year.
Casie Brokenshire pic
Casie Brokenshire (seventh from right) gathers for a group photo with her steer Ace, as well as family, judges and others at the Calgary Stampede last week. She won the reserve champion steer award at the UFA Steer Classic this year. Photo submitted

Casie Brokenshire never would have imagined that she would enjoy so much success with her steer Ace this year.

Casie, a member of the Outram-Madigan 4-H Beef Club, won the reserve champion steer prize at this year’s UFA Steer Classic on July 16 at the Calgary Stampede. It’s the latest in a string of awards for Casie and Ace.

“It’s been shocking to see how far he has come,” she said in an interview with Lifestyles.

Ace had been the reserve champion steer at a show in Saskatoon, reserve champion at the Lord of the Rings show in Estevan, and grand champion at a show in Weyburn.

Then he won the grand champion steer prize at the Estevan Rotary Regional 4-H Show and Sale on July 6.

“I’ve put a lot of work into him, to make him look the way he does at the shows,” said Casie.

Breeding has also resulted in an outstanding animal, she said.

Casie said she has never had a steer like Ace before.

“He was the first one that I have ever won shows with,” she said.

Thanks to the success of Ace this year, Casie’s parents, Heather and Wade Brokenshire, thought it would be a good idea for Ace to be entered in the Calgary Stampede competition. 

Competing at the Stampede was “nerve-wracking,” she said, but she managed to get through the nerves. There were eight people in her class, and nearly 80 people in total vying for the grand champion steer award.

When she finished first in her class, Casie won $1,000 in prize money and a $250 scholarship, and her reserve champion distinction carried another $3,000 in cash and an $8,000 scholarship.

Casie said the judges in Calgary were impressed with how Ace looked, how he moved and how complete he was in his lines.

Heather Brokenshire said they never expected this kind of result.

“We had set a goal that if one of the steers that Wade and I had raised had been top six, that would be great,” Heather said.

She noted that another of their steers finished in the top 20 of the UFA Steer Classic show.

“The best steers in Western Canada are at that show,” said Heather.

The Brokenshires have had a couple of division winners at the Stampede in the past, but they have never had success to this degree, and so she believed Ace was a long shot to post such a strong result.

“There are probably only one or two people who have routinely shown up on that list of winners in the last 34 years,” said Heather. “The level of competition is very, very strong.

The majority of the entrants at the UFA Steer Classic would be 4-H members as well, she said.

Casie and Heather noted that Ace was purchased by Fire Sky Energy at Estevan’s show and sale earlier this month. But the grand champion and reserve champion at the Calgary Stampede show become property of the Stampede, and those steers are auctioned off immediately after the show, with money going to a scholarship fund. 

Heather said Fire Sky Energy has been very understanding since they won’t be receiving Ace, and the Brokenshires will be supplying with the local energy company with another quality steer, which, ironically enough, was the steer that beat Ace during the show in Saskatoon.