He’s headed to his eighth consecutive NFR in December.
Haven Meged grew up around horses and cattle, riding, learning about cattle and preparing for his future.
His family didn’t plan on a future in the rodeo arena and, in fact, the 2019 world champion tie-down roper is the first to compete in rodeos. His family had a ranch near Miles City, Montana, which will always be home. His father was also a partner in the Miles City Livestock Commission so if they weren’t ranching, they were working at the sale barn.
As ranchers, showcasing their beef was very important. Haven’s father, Bart, grew up showing cattle in 4-H and FFA and that is something the children did as well. In between the ranch and the sale barn, Haven and his three siblings also found a way to attend public school in Miles City where Haven found time for wrestling and basketball until he was a sophomore.
He had ranch-kid friends that would go to some play days and youth rodeos locally. Then, his parents started letting him go with them. It wasn’t long until they were building an arena and the more Haven roped, the more he loved it.
To juggle that schedule of ranch work, school, being at the sale barn and roping, he and his friends would use the headlights of three tractors and two trucks to light up that arena to practice.
Working on the ranch with his dad gave him a solid foundation in horsemanship and enhanced his natural ability to read cattle. That understanding of how calves move and being able to anticipate where they will go has put Haven among the best ropers in the world.
“When you’re sneaking up on calves to ear tag them, you better figure out how to catch because you got one opportunity,” Haven said. “If you miss, you have to come back the next day and you have even more calves to tag. It makes your job longer, so you figure out how to catch.”
In eastern Montana, the wind might be blowing, it was likely cold and possibly snowing when those calves needed to be roped as well. It taught Haven how to work hard and be efficient no matter what the conditions are.
Brett Flemming, who had a lot of success in the Montana Circuit, helped Haven learn about roping competitively. Haven had been saving his money from his 4-H cattle and was looking for a horse he could compete on. He used that money to buy “Rev” from world champion steer wrestler Ty Erickson.
Haven always knew he was going to college and his parents were hoping he would stay close to home. He had offers in Montana and Wyoming, but he never considered any of them.
“I told my parents I was getting so far away from home they couldn’t call me to come home and work,” he said with a laugh. “I knew I needed to go south to get better.”
After winning 11 rodeo titles in Montana, he made the choice to go to Western Oklahoma State College in Altus. After two years there, he jumped in the deep end of the tie-down roping pool and moved to Stephenville.
“The first two years I came south, I got my butt kicked everywhere I went,” Haven said. “I was over at Brent Lewis’s practicing and Jerry Jetton was there. He really helped me with my flanking. It was at that time a light bulb clicked on and everything that I’d worked for my whole life started to work.”
That was also about the time that he purchased Casanova’s Cowgirl “Beyonce.” He won the College National Finals Rodeo (CNFR) on her while he was competing in PRCA events. In fact, at the time of the CNFR he was sixth in the world standings.
Haven went on to qualify for his first Wrangler National Finals Rodeo in second place where he nearly wasn’t able to compete. Less than a month before his first trip to Las Vegs he had a wreck in the practice pen that resulted in two torn ligaments in his ankle as well as a severe sprain. He laid in the arena and thought that his dreams of a trip to Vegas were fading away.
He also thought there was no way he was going to miss it, so just like he does in the arena, he looked for the best options for healing. He started physical therapy, had injections in his ankle and drove a golf cart around leading his horses to keep them in shape. When he got to Las Vegas, he spent time in the Justin Sportsmedicine Room getting that ankle taped.
It all paid off. He was the Rookie of the Year, won the average title for the fastest total on 10 runs and his first world championship. And when he was on the stage getting his buckle and saddle, Ty Erickson, who sold him his first horse, was getting his for being the world champion steer wrestler. Since then, Haven has faced more injuries including bulging and ruptured discs in his back in 2025. He missed two big months in the rodeo season but came back and qualified for the NFR in 13th place.
In 2023, he won his second average title and set a record roping all 10 head in 77.40 seconds. He also set a Thomas and Mack Arena record in round 7 at 6.4 seconds. That was also the year that his wife, Shelby Boisjoli – Meged won the world title in the breakaway roping.
Last May, the couple that now lives in North Texas welcomed their first child, and it was Shelby’s turn to catch up in the standings. She has qualified for the National Finals Breakaway Roping every year they have had it since 2020 and will be competing again this year. Haven will start the NFR in second place behind Riley Webb.
Outside of the rodeo arena, he and Shelby are building their future on the backs of rope horses. They are raising foals of their own, training them and competing in futurities with the horses, including one that they are producing. They also have registered cattle. Haven and Shelby have been referred to as rodeo’s power couple, and if that is the case, the power comes from hard work, ethics, and a strong business sense.
“My parents both instilled business in me,” Haven said. “Growing up around the sale barn, I used to take my own little note pad and go with dad to do contracts when he’d ship cattle. He’s written his contract up and I’d write my contract up. I’d copy all of his numbers and make sure everything added up. I’ve always liked numbers and business so I stay on top of that.”
Growing up on a ranch and in a sale barn is an opportunity that he will never take for granted. It gave Haven the tools to become a very successful rodeo athlete who loves competing and looking for ways to improve the industries that he cares so much about for future generations.
“Nothing beats hard work,” he said. “If you put your head down and work your butt off, there are a lot of opportunities that will present themselves. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the arena or out of the arena, if you work hard it will pay off.”
