High River Rotary Presents Cheque to Colten Lefthand

Ralph Nelson, Colten Lefthand, and Norm Denney. Photograph by Jeff Nelson

Yesterday, Ralph Nelson and Norm Denney presented a cheque from High River Rotary to Colten Lefthand. Colten is Keith and Jamie Lefthand’s youngest son.

The reason for the presentation of the cheque is that Colten qualified for the 2021 Indian National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. The starting date is October 19th which is just around the corner.

Colten is a heeler in the team roping event. I watched him rope last October in Brooks. He and his teammate came in second with a time of 8.1 seconds (see video below). This year, in late September, Colten and his teammate from Montana, won the competition in the Ponoka rodeo with a time of 5.3 seconds. This was enough to qualify Colten for the finals in Las Vegas.

As an aside, but incredibly important, Colten is the only Canadian who qualified for the final Indian National Finals Rodeo this year. This is remarkable and truly impressive for a young roper from Eden Valley, Alberta.

Below is a video of Colten (in red shirt) at the rodeo in Brooks in October 2020. He and his partner came in second with a time of 8.3 seconds.