GREEN COVE SPRINGS – Zac Bourgeois knows the rodeo season has reached crunch time. Literally.

The Canadian saddle bronc rider has a month to move up in the Pro Rodeo Cowboys Association’s Southeastern Circuit standings to qualify for the nationals. He not only has to stay aboard a bucking horse for at least eight seconds, but he must also display enough riding style to impress the judges.

This weekend’s Clay County PRCA Rodeo in the Cattlemen’s Arena at the Clay County Fairgrounds will be the start of his final-month drive.

“I'm trying to pick up some more points before the end of the season. Because being from Canada, I have to do more events than the other guys have to do to qualify for the finals because I'm a non-resident,” Bourgeois said. “So, it's my first time coming back to Florida in August [and September]. I'm excited to rodeo down here. I like the heat and everything that comes with it.”

The rodeo starts on Friday at 7:30 p.m., but organizer J.C. Kitaif Pro Rodeos said since there will be so many auxiliary events, they will open the gates on Friday and Saturday at 4 p.m. to accommodate everyone.

The show will be more than bareback bronc, saddle bronc and bull riding, team and calf roping, steer wrestling, women’s barrel racing, mutton busting and trick riding. It also includes food trucks, vendors, children’s games, mechanical bull riding, pony rides, music and exhibitions.

“We'll kind of have the same pre-rodeo market,” General Manager Jade Kitaif said. “We've got a few more vendors and food trucks. We’ll have a DJ for line dancing. So. we've got more things for the people to do pre-rodeo shows, exhibitions, that kind of stuff.”

Kitaif added Sunday to the schedule with barrel racing and bull riding. That performance starts at 3 p.m., with the gates opening at noon.

Bourgeois will ride on Saturday. He said he’s behind in the point standings because his work visa forced him to return to Canada for nearly two months.

“I won Lafayette, Louisiana back in January, so that was my biggest accomplishment of this season,” he said. “My season was going really well until maybe end of April, and then I had to go back to Canada. I skipped the month of May in the PRCA, and then when I came back in June, I had to catch back up.

“Some stuff didn't work out really good for me, but it was a good experience. We're moving forward and we're trying to finish 2026 strong. Then the 2027 season is around the corner.”

The current season ends on Sept. 30, wrapping up with the Twisted R Pro Rodeo Sept. 18-19 in Jasper, Alabama. The season also includes the Cinch Playoffs in Puyallup, Washington, with the top 23 riders in series points competing for one of four spots in the Cinch Playoffs Governor’s Cup in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Sept. 25-27. Those lead up to the $17.5 million Wrangler National Finals Rodeo Dec. 3-12, in Las Vegas.

Bourgeois started as a bull rider, but he quickly added saddle bronco riding to his hard-rocking career.

“I'm a third-generation cowboy. My dad was riding broncs, and when I was 7, I started riding calves and then steer riding,” he said. “I entered junior bull riding, and I was actually a bull rider before I was a bronc rider. I was in the PRC circuit for a little bit and then the PBR Canada circuit in the bull riding.”

A groin tendon injury made bull riding more difficult. He also said he sided with saddle bronc riding so he could concentrate on one discipline.

“I have always loved the bronc riding aspect of it,” Bourgeois said.

Tickets are available at jckitaifprorodeos.com.