Jayden Wilson and Fame Is Dynamite came into the 2025 Canadian Finals Rodeo as the regular-season leaders and left with the year-end, average and Barrel Horse of the Year titles.
The 27-year-old Gleichen, Alberta, native finished her time in Edmonton, Alberta, with a total of 70.17 seconds on five runs and added $39,608 to Fame Is Dynamite’s lifetime earnings.
“It was just crazy, honestly,” Wilson said. “It’s not what I expected. I feel like that’s something that maybe you hope for or dream of happening but never expect.”
Fame Is Dynamite, “Whiskey,” and Wilson kicked off their CFR week with a 13.99-second run for third in the first round to pocket $5,554.
“In Round 1, I just wanted to go have a smooth, clean run,” she said. “I feel like the first barrel is kind of tricky there. We don’t have a very long alley, and it’s totally blind until you’re in there—it’s quite close to the fence. My whole game plan was to try to get our first barrel and then go from there.”
The team won second in the second round with a 13.85-second run for $8,477. In the third round, they were second again with a 14.09-second run for another $8,477 payday. The fourth round saw them go 14.20 seconds, and the fifth round had them one out of the money with a 14.04-second run to solidify their win in the average.
“He felt really good,” Wilson said of her 8-year-old. “Every run, it felt like he ran so honest—they all felt pretty much exactly the same.”
This year’s trip to the CFR was Wilson’s second and a chance to improve on her and Whiskey’s run in the tight setup in Edmonton.
“I think having made it last year, I feel like I’ve had a game plan of what I wanted to do since Round 5 of last year,” Wilson said. “There were things I wanted to do differently, so I really wanted to go back and be able to do what I’ve been working on.”
The CFR witnessed sub-14-second runs winning every round, proof of the tight conditions. Wilson credited her horse’s honesty for their average win.
“It doesn’t matter if we’re in Ponoka, where there are no fences anywhere, or in Rogers Place in Edmonton—he’ll just go do his thing,” she said. “He doesn’t hit very many barrels. I feel like his style isn’t one to hit many; I think his honesty really is the biggest thing.”
A Win for the Home Team
Whiskey is an 8-year-old gelding by Frenchs Hula Guy and out of Wranglers Dynamite by Doc O Dynamite, raised by Wilson and her family.
“My sister ran his mom when we were running junior barrels at the amateur rodeos,” Wilson said. “When we retired her, we really wanted to get a baby out of her—she was one of those special mares that everybody loved.”
The 2025 CPRA Barrel Horse of the Year award was not something Wilson expected Whiskey to receive—it was a welcomed surprise.
“It was so cool,” Wilson said with a smile. “I didn’t expect it at all. When I got a phone call saying it was from the CPRA, it didn’t even cross my mind that that’s why they would be calling me. Obviously, I love him—he’s mine—but for other people to also like him enough to vote for him is pretty cool.”
Their year together was full of success, winning or placing at 35 of the 49 rodeos they entered. Wilson said the secret to their success comes from being Whiskey’s person from the start.
“I’ve been on him since he was 3,” she said. “I feel like we haven’t changed hardly anything as long as I’ve been working him. I know what to expect with him, he knows what to expect with me. He likes having a routine. I do the same thing after I run him every time. He just likes having things his way. Having that consistency helps him a lot.”
After their wins at the CFR, Whiskey’s lifetime earnings jumped to $290,000. Wilson looked back on their time together and remembered when she knew Whiskey would be something special.
“When he was five, I ran him at Strathmore,” she explained. “I was in one of the last performances; it was already super tough to place. I thought, oh, let’s crack out the futurity horse at one of the biggest rodeos of the year, and he went out and won money. That was one of those moments that was really cool.”
Wilson’s plan from here is to give Whiskey a short but well-deserved before gearing up for the Maple Leaf Circuit Finals at the end of November in Regina, Saskatchewan. She also has aspirations to travel south if the opportunity presents itself.
“I went to a few rodeos down in the states this summer; I’d really like to try and get to a few more of those.”