Scott Schiffner Talks About His Retirement Timeline

A gentleman. An icon. A true competitor.

We may get two more chances to watch Scott Schiffner ride; we may get more. All the winningest bull rider in the history of Canadian rodeo can say is he wants to go out on a good one.

Schiffner knew he wanted to start slowing down and there was no way he was going out not riding to the best of his ability by pushing his body further than it would allow in this physically testing game of rodeo. But after Schiffner announced his plans to retire at the Calgary Stampede just over a week ago, things haven't been going his way. 

“My last few rides have been terrible,” said Schiffner. “Calgary was obviously awful for me—a great tribute to me and I loved everything Calgary did for me—but I definitely wanted to end on a ride there and I didn’t. I went to Morris last night and things didn’t go my way; I got a reride and then got bucked off.”

It truly hasn’t been a great go lately for the two-time Canadian champion, until K-Days Rodeo last night. 

Watch the K-Days Rodeo LIVE on FloRodeo July 20 to 22. 

“It’s the third time I’ve been on him, it was kind of a rubber match,” said Schiffner of the bull Y70 Cuckoo Kong. “I rode him the last time, he bucked me off the first time and I was pretty excited to have him… I had to dig pretty deep today because I haven’t been riding that good and it worked out really good.”

While Schiffner knows he will be done after this rodeo season, he doesn’t want to end on a bad ride. That 87-point ride in the city he won both his Canadian titles showed rodeo fans exactly what they’ve become used to seeing of the bull rider with a mile-long resume. 

“The biggest thing with me is I want to be remembered as a true competitor and I want everyone to remember me as somebody that could win on any day still, not as a ‘once-was,’” said Schiffner. “I still feel like I can beat anybody on any day, just every day I probably can’t, going to all of them rodeos and traveling.”

So far now, Schiffner will keep entering but doesn’t plan to go chasing down the rodeo trail. Rodeo fans will see him compete at the Finning Canada Pro Tour events in Medicine Hat and Strathmore, but a big win at the completion K-Days could see the bull riding hitting up a few more rodeos before he hangs up his bull rope.

“To be honest, I’m going to see how this plays out after here,” Schiffner said of his chances at K-Days. “If I get a big check out of here, I wouldn’t mind going to the CFR one more time. So if I run the table at the last few, I’m going to enter a couple more of those big ones here in the fall.”

While the decision to retire from the sport he’s competed in for the past 20 years professionally is a tough one, there are four beauties at home that Schiffner is excited to spend more time with: Schiffner’s wife Brandy and daughters Maysa, Hadley, and Oaklyn.

“It’s time for me to give back to them for what they’ve given me for the last 20 years,” said Schiffner.