Coy Robbins Silently Sits Second

AIRDRIE, Alta. – Coy Robbins is entering his 10th year in PBR Canada competition. He attempted his 300th bull in the PBR ranks this past February in Red Deer, Alberta, and he's got momentum at his back, quietly propelling him to No. 2 in the national standings.

After what he calls an average 2025 season, two wins on the PBR Canada Touring Pro Division, finishing the season No. 8 in the nation, Robbins says the fire is lit for 2026.

That spark was fueled late last year, when the season's final stretch turned into a test of toughness.

One month before the PBR Canada National Finals, Robbins came down hard off 2024 PBR Canada Bull of the Year Grand Funk during the Canadian Finals Rodeo and suffered broken ribs. Just four weeks later, he was back. Robbins covered his first bull upon his return, High Voltage, a strong red bull from Wilson Rodeo, giving him a much-needed confidence booster as the grueling two-day National Finals in Edmonton, Alberta began.

"There are highs and lows, and sometimes they carry right through the whole year — that's what I think of most about 2025," Robbins said. 

"But you've got to be able to find the highs in it as well. Coming back from breaking my ribs at the CFR, and coming back to the PBR Canada National Finals on a bull that had bucked me off before, that felt good."

That tough finish to 2025, paired with a fast start to 2026, has brought a familiar edge back to Robbins. Asked to describe what's driving him, he points to a simple goal: come back stronger, prove it to himself, and apply what he's learned travelling with veterans of the sport — including Jordan Hansen and last year's champion, Jared Parsonage.

"I think it's just wanting to prove myself right, in what I know I'm capable of, and then doing my job and getting bulls ridden," Robbins said. 

"At the end of the day, that's the job. Whether it's pretty or it's not, whether it gets you placing points or it doesn't, as long as you stay on.

"One thing I've learned rolling with Jared and Jordan over the years is that consistency always wins. And you can see it with Jared. He wasn't often the guy with the flashiest bull rides, but you could bet your bottom dollar he was very likely going to stay on."

Historically, Robbins tends to start seasons strong before levelling off later in the summer and into the fall, when the miles and the bulls begin to catch up. This season, he's determined to make consistency a year-long strength instead of a short-term spark.

"That's kind of the main goal this year, consistency in all aspects," Robbins said. 

"It'll put a guy where he wants to be. I'm looking forward to continuing to put in the work and doing everything I can to make that happen.”

"When I look back over the last few years, I do typically have a pretty good start. In 2023, coming into the event in May here in Camrose, Alberta, I was first in the standings. And I think even last year I had a decent start, if I recall.”

"But where I struggle, I think, is mid-summer or early fall. It starts to taper off. That time of year is more on my mind, staying consistent when you've been pouring the diesel fuel and beating the highway up and down. A guy has to make sure he's still got his foot on the gas."

Robbins' travelling partnership with Parsonage, who retired immediately after winning the 2025 PBR Canada Championship inside Rogers Place last November, also left him with a lesson that goes beyond mechanics and travel schedules. For Robbins, the biggest tool Parsonage brought to the table was mindset, and he remembers a moment from 2025 that drove it home.

"A 'no-give-a-shit' attitude, but really it's just such a strong belief in yourself," Robbins explained. 

"Why would you worry about anything else if you have that belief? In simple terms, know what you're capable of and forget the rest. It was late June, I think. I was worrying about the standings. I was doing pretty decent. And Jared, at the time, in the rodeo standings, you couldn't even find his name. If you scrolled all the way to the bottom, he had no money won. And we're in late June. He says to me, 'What the hell are you worried about?'

"I'm like, 'I'm falling down in the standings.' And he goes, 'I'm not even in the standings, and I'm not worried.' I asked him how he gets there. He said, 'Because I know I'm going to win. Surely there'll come a time when I'll win, and then you'll look back and all the worrying will have been for nothing.'"

Robbins believes that attitude wasn't just part of Parsonage's Championship run — it's a blueprint that could elevate anyone who can learn it.

"He brought a masterclass that should be studied when it comes to the mental side of bull riding," Robbins said. "If everybody had the same mindset Jared had, I think the bull riding world would be on fire."

With 300-plus bulls behind him now, Robbins also has a clearer view of his own path, especially the injury-riddled early stretch of his career. Asked what he'd tell himself back in 2017, he didn't hesitate.

"It'll all work itself out how it should, so stay out of your own way," Robbins said.

"Coming out of those injuries early on in my career was a battle for me, and it was solely because I was in my own way. Even last year, I can find times where I was in my own way again. Now it's easier to see that and change it as I've matured in the sport. But, hell, 300 and we're still learning. Maybe we'll talk at 600."

The Cup Series event in Red Deer also underlined another truth for Robbins – he's reached a point in his career where he can feel the next wave coming. With a new crop of bull riders making their start at the central Alberta event in early February, including riders Robbins once helped on in steer riding, the future looks bright for bull riding in Canada and beyond.

With names like the much-anticipated arrival of rookie Jeremy Maisonneuve and standout early performances from the likes of Nash Loewen, Jhett Wheeler and Westen Wade, there are rookies already turning heads in 2026.

"The last couple of years have been some of the best rookie lineups I think we've seen in a long time," Robbins laughed. "And it's funny for me to look around the locker room, being a little younger than some of the other veterans but definitely part of the older guard. It's kind of weird to feel that, and I felt it immensely in Red Deer.”

"Jhett Wheeler, Grady Young, I helped those kids on in steer riding and now I share a locker room with them. You know they were coming, but in Red Deer there were some kids there that I genuinely did not know. A fair few of them actually. I might not have known them when I looked around the room, but I'll be damned if I didn't know their names after they rode.”

"I think it shows. We rode 16 out of 28 that night in Red Deer. A very impressive lineup. And I'll be eager to see how they do throughout the year."

Now, attention turns to one of the most anticipated stops on the calendar. With less than a two weeks to go until the long-standing, two-day PBR Canada Cup Series event in Lethbridge, Alberta, Robbins is looking forward to the kind of atmosphere that can set the tone for a season.

For Robbins, it's the first major weekend that feels like the season is fully rolling, with improving weather and a schedule that starts to fill in.

"I think the overall feel of Lethbridge is different from some of the other events," he said. "And I think that's mainly the crowd, just how kick-ass they are. Being a two-day event too, it definitely feels like a big event, being there for the whole weekend.”

"The bulls are usually a little better, a little better shape, because they're not right in the mix of the cold winters we have up here. The bulls are good, the crowd's good, the atmosphere's badass, and that all leads to pretty kick-ass bull riding. I'm always excited for that one."

Robbins is also an event producer himself, and as the man behind the Rose City Invitational each May in Camrose, he has a reminder for fans – don't wait. The PBR only comes to town once per year, and seats don't last long.

"Loud music, fireworks, and bull riding is only available one time a year in select cities," Robbins said. "So get your tickets while you can.