Calgary Stampede – part 3 guest post by Cathy R

 

I wanted to sample as many Western / Cowboy events as possible, but we were both wilting in the heat. We found two events, both indoors in the relative cool, which were great fun. One was team cattle penning, and the second was Cowboy-Up racing.

The team cattle penning required teams of three riders to single out three cattle all of the same number from the herd and direct them into the pen in the shortest possible time. The announcer doesn’t tell the riders which animals (ie which number) they have to separate out until they are already galloping towards the group.

Separating the three steer for penning.

 

Three animals successfully penned.

The speed and agility of horses and riders were thrilling, and had the audience cheering and clapping when the three target animals were successfully penned. Often, though, a wily steer either snuck back into the herd it had been got out of, or one with the wrong number got past the riders and disqualified the team!

Oh no! That number 4 steer shouldn't have broken free from the herd ... disqualification awaits this team, unfortunately.

 

Cowboy-up could be described, I guess, as a combination of a Western version of show jumping and an obstacle course. The course comprises a variety of fun and complex obstacles and challenges for horse and rider to negotiate as fast as possible, whilst accruing the minimum number of penalties. It was a huge amount of fun to watch.  The horses and riders had to make sudden transitions from flat out galloping to calmness and control, from rapid turns and stops to dainty tests of surefootedness, and cope with all sorts of stuff I never knew horses were bothered by.

Some of the horses hesitated at jumping this water, some - like this one - jumped daintily over to keep their hooves dry, and a couple just trotted on through.

 

 

A flat out gallop around the arena.

 

 

Testing the horse's surefootedness.

 

The reins have to be loose and relaxed.

 

Another mad sprint with a basket full of eggs, which then have to be carefully set down on top of a barrel. Points are lost for every egg dropped. The eggs must have been hardboiled - although only two riders actually dropped any at all.

The challenge here is for the horse to stand calmly on the tilting platform while the rider pulls the yellow and white ball alongside and hooks it onto the stand.

 

Then it's onto lunging, to the accompaniment of live fiddle music.

I think this may refer to Hide Races which took place between the First Nations Indians at the afternoon rodeo for many years at the Stampede. The chap being pulled on the hide must have been black and blue by the end of the event.

 

And to the victor, the spoils. The obstacles and challenges become more demanding in each round of the competition, and the eventual winner takes home a substantial paycheck.

 

So, two days of the Calgary Stampede – and they were everything I’d hoped for, and more. This holiday revisited several places we’d been to on our honeymoon 18 years ago (although the Stampede was new), and it was just wonderful from start to finish.

Now, back to those hundreds of photos …. got to get that photobook finished soon!