For the second year in a row, Cariboo rancher Bryan Poffenroth is making prize buckles for the Indoor Spring Rodeo Classic.
“This year’s are quite a bit different than last year’s,” he said. “I want to keep them fresh.”
Each of the nine buckles will be sterling silver on copper.
While he started working on them about a month ago, he has had a bit of delay getting the materials needed to finish them.
Poffenroth started making bits and spurs in the early 2000s, learning from Vernon Lyons.
“I went to a few other people and have been moving to silversmithing more and the buckle making and jewelry making.”
Last summer he spent some time learning from Kelly McRae of Pincher Creek, Alta, one of the most premiere engravers in Canada, he added.
A former rodeo competitor himself, Poffenroth competed in calf-roping and was a former pickup man for C-Plus Rodeos, the stock contractor and one of the organizers of the Indoor Rodeo.
“I was there when Roy Call got his start with C-Plus and was pick-up man with Earl Call, Wayne McNolty and David Maurice, which would have been back in the early 90s.”
A fan of indoor rodeos, Poffenroth said it was good but April is a challenging time of the year to put on a rodeo in B.C.
He plans to attend and lend a hand where needed.
Like many ranchers he started calving mid-March and will be doing so through to the end of April.
“I have all rodeo-type cattle. They calve pretty easy. You don’t have to help them much.”
Originally from Cochrane, Alta., Poffenroth met his wife Raylene Ilnicki at Olds College in 1987.
She did not like the winters in Alberta so they moved to Riske Creek where she was from.
“I either had to come over here or break up,” he said, chuckling. “We have been together 30 some odd years together. It was still a good decision.”
Today they live on the VB Ranch, named after their children Virgil and Bailey who were both born in the Cariboo Chilcotin.
Competing with other buckle makers is always a challenge, he added, noting there are lots of “decent” buckles out there and the prices are low, especially for big orders.
“Roy Call is a big fan of the hand-made stuff so that helps me out,” he said.
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