Brothers Graham and Justin Armstrong, alongside childhood neighbor Thomas Thorlakson took first place at this year’s Open Class of the Team Cattle Penning Championship.
Teamwork was evident when the penners worked quickly and efficiently together to help them secure top spot.
The trio have been in ten stampedes together and have spent the years bonding over many road trips, movies, childhood stories, and their history of success.
The idea of only having 60 seconds to round three specific cattle from a herd of 30 and get them into a pen, that bonding time is imperative.
Graham says it means a lot to do it with these three.
“Coming down with these guys and winning with them means a lot more than winning with anyone else, really”.
Armstrong recalls how he and his brothers got involved with cattle penning, and how it wasn’t originally their idea off the bat.
“Our dad was a cattle penner and he kind of got us into the sport. We had a horse that we all really loved, and he told us that he would sell him unless we started riding and penning so that pretty much got us into it , and we were hooked after that,” he recalls.
Thorlakson, who has been very close to the Armstrong family since a young age adds that his start at penning was with the Armstrong’s.
“We had ranches right next to each other out in B.C., and we stopped by one day, they were out practicing, so I jumped on a horse and went with them.”
