Cinch stars Boisjoli, Meged to tie the knot, intertwine their roping lives
Shelby Boisjoli always believed she’d marry a cowboy.
Raised near the town of Langdon, Alberta, just outside Calgary, Boisjoli and her two sisters were raised around horses and cattle while building a fascinating resume of athletic achievements. It served as the catapult for her to become one of the greatest breakaway ropers of this era.
It’s also why she’s head over heels for a cowboy who not only shares her interests but also her lifestyle. While Boisjoli is a three-time qualifier to the National Finals Breakaway Roping, Haven Meged is a four-time National Finals Rodeo qualifier and the 2019 world champion tie-down roper. The two Cinch contestants have set a wedding date for May 13 near Lipan, Texas.
“It was kind of important to me to be with a cowboy, because that’s how I was raised,” Boisjoli said. “I was raised around cowboys, hard workers and that way of life. It’s great that I have somebody that knows all of that. We never run out of things to talk about. We love our lives equally, and we get to do it together every day.”
The couple lives near Stephenville, Texas, and they’ve known each other most of their lives. Meged was raised near Miles City, Montana, where his folks operate the Miles City Livestock Commission, the sale barn in the community of 8,400. He and Boisjoli were around each other often through the years.
“The rodeo world gets pretty small sometimes,” said Meged, who became just the fourth man in ProRodeo history to win a college title (while at Tarleton State University) and a world title in the same year. “We’d see each other rodeoing and at the jackpots. We saw each other at the high school nationals and at the junior high nationals. It was just part of growing up in rodeo for the most part.”
They actually moved to Texas at about the same time. Boisjoli transitioned to the Lone Star State shortly after high school to attend Ranger College. In 2019, when Meged was setting the calf roping world on fire, she was the reserve college champion breakaway roper. That was the same year popularity of breakaway roping began to skyrocket. She also found her way to Stephenville, the Cowboy Capital of the World.
While Meged’s credentials were more known – he became the first Resistol Rookie of the Year in tie-down roping to win the Montana Silversmiths gold buckle since Joe Beaver accomplished the feat in 1985 – Boisjoli was establishing a name for herself. Men and women who compete with a rope were talking about her ability.
“Shelby is a much better roper,” Meged said. “She can out-rope me any day.”
They laughed about it a bit, but he was certain. She was in the field for the inaugural breakaway roping finals, which took place in conjunction with the NFR during it’s COVID-induced, one-year stay at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. She finished the 2020 season eighth in the world standings. A year later, she was the reserve world champion. In 2022, she earned more money than ever and was fifth on the money list, a testament to how much things have changed with women’s roping.
They ride horses extremely well, and they can handle about any task assigned them. They began dating in 2020. By October, it was serious enough to tell everyone on social media. Their first date?
“I went and worked the sale barn with him,” Boisjoli said with a laugh.
“She’s such a hard worker,” Meged said of his bride-to-be. “She does so much for me, so much for us. She’ll do whatever it takes. Her heart is probably the best thing about her.”
That’s a common thread for the pair. They’ve leaned on it already. With both competing at an elite level of rodeo, they tried to figure out the best time to have their nuptials. Springtime seemed best, but that’s difficult when looking at the various schedules. They opted for the second weekend of May knowing their wedding will still be a destination site for friends and family from up North.
“Trying to rodeo for a living, we’ve both got our own things going on along with all this trying to get everything ready,” said Meged, who admits that he leaves most of the planning to his partner.
He is, however, handling all the plans for the honeymoon, which will be in the Dominican Republic.
“Haven makes sure everything is done outside, and he doesn’t have to worry about the wedding planning,” Boisjoli said. “I’ve been taking care of that. He’s been taking care of the horses and pretty much everything that needs to be done outside, so that leaves me free to handle the rest of it.
“We actually tried to have the wedding in April. By the time we got to picking a venue, all of the dates were already taken, so May 13 won by default.”
It’s also before Meged and Boisjoli take off on the busy summer run. Because they are not able to enter rodeos together, their rigs will part ways once the summertime hits, and they’ll see each other intermittently until rodeo’s regular season comes to a close Sept. 30.
“That’s probably the hardest part, the being away from each other,” he said. “We’ll see each other about once a week, sometimes more, sometimes less. It sucks, but it’s also our job. Hopefully someday we can get that changed so we can enter together.
“It’s pretty rare that we get to be up at the same rodeo on the same day. When they come, we try to just enjoy it.”
From roping to riding to caring for others, the couple shares similar interests. They work together well, and one is a compliment to the other. As they prepare for the next steps in their lives together, they’re at least starting off with the right foot forward.
“He does all my entering,” Boisjoli said. “He could enter us together so that we could be together more, but he enters me the way I need to be entered to be successful. We both want to make it worthwhile. We don’t let each other get in the way. We know we’ll have our wintertime to hang out.
“Haven is just a really good and a really happy person. He’s the same person win, lose or draw, and he’s super humble. He never changes, and it helps me a lot. I used to sometimes be grumpy, but because if him, I feel like I’m a better person.”
Winners always strive to be better, and they surround themselves with other winners. For Shelby Boisjoli and Haven Meged, their roping passions intertwine and make for an ideal life together.