After six months sitting on the shelf and rehabbing after a devastating knee injury spoiled his chances at a World Championship, Airdrie bareback rider Jake Vold is just about ready to throw his riggin' back on another horse.  

Vold, who was at the Canadian Pro Rodeo Association (CPRA) office in Airdrie yesterday (May 16) for an announcement that Finning would become the title sponsors of the Finning Canada Pro Rodeo Tour, talked about having to take time off to heal after dislocating his kneecap.

"It's a four to eight-month healing process so, five months right now and feeling pretty good so I'm going to give her a go here the first of June."

The injury occurred during the eighth performance of the National Finals Rodeo when a horse called Redigo threw him against the chute gate.  The injury forced Vold to miss the final two NFR performances.  At the time he was hurt Vold was leading the bareback average at the NFR and was sitting fifth in the world standings.

Vold says the being injured at that point of the season was a major disappointment but he has a real "cowboy" attitude about it.

"It was you know but that's rodeo.  It's happened before and it's happened to a lot of guys.  It's just one of those deals but it's in the past and you just forget about it the next day and move on and look forward to the future so that's what I did."

The injury has given Vold more motivation to make an impact when he returns.  He says, "It sours a guy for a little bit for sure.  I feel like I have some unfinished business and I still want to come back in a dominant force and I've just been making sure I'm physically and mentally ready for that before I do make the big step."

Vold, who won the Canadian Bareback Championship three straight years between 2014 and 2016 says he's been going to rehab since the operation to fix his knee and has recently been able to get back to jogging to get it in shape.

"I'm finally able to run these last couple of weeks, I can finally go for a jog and that's what I've been waiting for.  It's not necessarily just healing the muscle, it's healing the muscle to your mind too.  You need that reaction time.  I want to make sure that I am on my A-game when I come back and not just try it out.  I want to be able to just right back into the swing of things and try to go to winning."

Vold is entered into the Grande Prairie rodeo on May 31st where he'll make his comeback.  He says he's looking forward to the Airdrie Pro Rodeo at the end of June and the time that's known as "Cowboy Christmas" which includes the Calgary Stampede.  

The CPRA's announcement of the Finning Canada Pro Rodeo Tour features nine high-profile, lucrative rodeos that offer rodeo contestants a combined total of over $1.25 million in prize money, including the Ponoka Stampede, Edmonton's K-Days Rodeo, and the Strathmore Stampede. 

Questions?Comments?Story ideas? Email us at news@discoverairdrie.com