• If you are having problems logging in please use the Contact Us in the lower right hand corner of the forum page for assistance.

Calgary Stampede

N

Northern Rancher

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 10, 2005
Messages
12,247
Location
saskatchewan
Damn was hoping OLN would cover it again this year-an hour of highlites just doesn't do it for me. That bullrider Steve Woolsey is a hand he too a reride and got trashed but he sure has some try. Was anybody who posts here at the wagons-my buddies had a tough night-it looks like Ray Mitsuing must of lost a horse but they didn't show it so not sure. Gary Gorst had a tough go to-they're out of the average now so it will be run and gun next nine nights. Don't know if I like the new format but there sure were some good cowboys up-Will Lowe got a bit of a gift-he was spurring over the neck half his ride-he had a horse I've never seen out before.
 
Bad news-just watched news from Calgary and Ray lost his left hand leader to a heart attack and his left hand wheeler broke his leg. I thought there was trouble when he took a no time-sad for the horses and darn bad luck.
 
OLN's not carrying the Stampede :? I didn't get a chance to even turn T.V on tonight because I worked late.....man thats too bad about RayI'll have to check out the wagons website! So is it not on CBC?
 
Sounds to me like those wagon races are darned hard on horses.

When I was a kid, my folks never missed the Casper, Wyoming Fair
and Rodeo. They started having Chuckwagon Races there. I remember
one beautiful horse kicked out of the traces and was drug most
of the way around the track and right in front of the grandstand.
I never forgot it.
 
Faster horses said:
Sounds to me like those wagon races are darned hard on horses.

When I was a kid, my folks never missed the Casper, Wyoming Fair
and Rodeo. They started having Chuckwagon Races there. I remember
one beautiful horse kicked out of the traces and was drug most
of the way around the track and right in front of the grandstand.
I never forgot it.
Click to expand...

There were chuckwagon races in Gordon back in the mid 1970's, only with ponies and mules. I was just a spectator in the happenings, but there were four or five wagons racing, each with a four-up team. One of the pedestrian stove-thrower-inners got the stove in, but didn't get in fast enough himself. The wagon took off, and he grabbed the tailgate. He drug all around the track, and was afraid to let go because he figured he'd get run over by the commotion behind him. The poor ol' guy was about plumb tuckered out and rather the worse for wear when the race was over. He was pretty battered and beat up.
 
A few weeks ago in Grand Prairie,somehow Mark Sutherlands leg got wrapped the the line,pulled out of his seat,fell kind of between the horses and wagon,held on underneath the wagon until the race was done. Marks horses are one of the fastest teams.A few cuts and bruises and he drove again the next day.

Its an exciting,a bit dangerous sport,but thats what the horses,and yes even the drivers are bred for.
 
For every horse lost in a wagon wreck there's a thousand that get years added to their lives. Lot's of those lead horses are well into their teens. The wagon guys salvage tb's off the track that would be going to get canned otherwise. If anybody knew the work and time it takes to develop a horse good enough to run at Calgary or anywhere for that matter. Those horses are well taken care off-tragedies happen it's a part of any sport-I remember a horse getting hurt in the Preakness too. I know that nobody feels worse than Ray about what happened he's a good horseman.
 
Stampede is going to be on Global <Calgary> channel 244 on Bell Express from 11am to 1 pm today.
Globals coverage sucks. At the very least they should have somebody hosting it that knows what they are talking about.
I agree with whoever said it. Wagon racing has saved lots of horses from going to dinner with a frenchman.
Those wagon horses have a lot better life than the average horse that gets sold to some of these so called recreational horse lovers.
Whats the deal with Kelly? Ever since Mark has been into it Kelly seems short on horsepower?
Watching the wagons on TV sucks. We were going to go to high river here last week but they wanted $25 a ticket!!!!
 
Kelly won Ponoka last week :) We've been in the wagon camps of Harden and Helmig,those horses are the most babied animals there are!! For sure you can't say a wagon horse isn't looked after.
 
Some report just came out of Arlington international racetrack (Just outside of Chicago) about... I wish I could remember the exact number but it was double digits... fatal accidents this year. They have had experts come in and check out certain areas of the track where the accidents have happenned and can't find any reason for the track.. They theory is the horses aren't as structurally sound as they used to be and that early life training is causing some of thse problems... I don't know, I have heard this excuse for years. Makes some sense, pushing young, still growing horses so hard but I don't know... All I know is that it is sad when any horse goes down for any reason like that., not saying that the chuckwagon races are wrong or anything like that, just find it sad when a critter goes down and never gets back up.
 
IL Rancher said:
Some report just came out of Arlington international racetrack (Just outside of Chicago) about... I wish I could remember the exact number but it was double digits... fatal accidents this year. They have had experts come in and check out certain areas of the track where the accidents have happenned and can't find any reason for the track.. They theory is the horses aren't as structurally sound as they used to be and that early life training is causing some of thse problems... I don't know, I have heard this excuse for years. Makes some sense, pushing young, still growing horses so hard but I don't know... All I know is that it is sad when any horse goes down for any reason like that., not saying that the chuckwagon races are wrong or anything like that, just find it sad when a critter goes down and never gets back up.
Click to expand...
Trust me no one feels worse then the teams owner.
 
Hard to imagine how many good horses Bensmillars and Sutherlands have-they have three outfits and I bet 3-4 good hooks for each one. My bud Grant Preece had a heck of a run off four barrel in heat one I thought. The Saddle Bronc Transport that Doug Vold set the record on (95) in Meadow Lake was off a TB stud of Bensmillars if I remember right. Ohh I'm pretty sure Kelly has got a few horses left in the barn-that was quite a race he had with Neil Walgenbach-everybody owes it to themselves to hear Joe Carberry call a wagon race. Rod Tande from Scobie,Montana does a good job too-he used to do our pro rodeo.
 
IL Rancher said:
Some report just came out of Arlington international racetrack (Just outside of Chicago) about... I wish I could remember the exact number but it was double digits... fatal accidents this year. They have had experts come in and check out certain areas of the track where the accidents have happenned and can't find any reason for the track.. They theory is the horses aren't as structurally sound as they used to be and that early life training is causing some of thse problems... I don't know, I have heard this excuse for years. Makes some sense, pushing young, still growing horses so hard but I don't know... All I know is that it is sad when any horse goes down for any reason like that., not saying that the chuckwagon races are wrong or anything like that, just find it sad when a critter goes down and never gets back up.
Click to expand...

These wagon horses are former race track horses. I think they are done at the track and sold off before they turn three years old.
Wagon guys buy them. Turn them out on pasture for atleast a year before they even start training on them.
All aged events are terrible in my oppinion.
Not many want to adopt or buy an Ex Racehorse.
 
Roper, I think a lot of horses race past 3 years old, for a famour recent example think about Cigar... He was what. 5? About all I remember is that he was about worthless as a 2 year old, won a bunch of races as an older animal and than was sterile... I remember he raced against a 2 year old in some event, (Arlington Million maybe?) and he just dwarfed the two year old that as a Derby winner or a Belmont winner.

I think it is great that these events give a second life for a lot of the horses that either don't work out or are used up and tossed away. My grand father used to raise TB's back in the 70's. He had a couple that did okay and one filly that won a nice tidy sum for him over her career (Probably not enough to pay off all the busts, lol). My dad got one of the burnouts as a riding horse (After it got some training) This horses name was His Way (nickname was chumley but his given name was much, much more approbriate). He was a real fun horse to take care of.. Huge Gelding with a my way or the highway type of attitude....He eventaully calmed down but it took a while.


edited :-> rereading it are you are saying that most of the chuckwagon horses are horses taken off the race tracks as 3 year olds?
 
EXACTLY
Northern Rancher said:
Hard to imagine how many good horses Bensmillars and Sutherlands have-they have three outfits and I bet 3-4 good hooks for each one. My bud Grant Preece had a heck of a run off four barrel in heat one I thought. The Saddle Bronc Transport that Doug Vold set the record on (95) in Meadow Lake was off a TB stud of Bensmillars if I remember right. Ohh I'm pretty sure Kelly has got a few horses left in the barn-that was quite a race he had with Neil Walgenbach-everybody owes it to themselves to hear Joe Carberry call a wagon race. Rod Tande from Scobie,Montana does a good job too-he used to do our pro rodeo.
Click to expand...
:D
 
I didn't get a chance again tonight to watch the wagons,working but Greg said Ray won the first heat tonight...good comeback.
 
What a section of broncs today at the big show-those 5 year olds they bucked in the saddle bronc were awesome-Cody Wright was 92.5-Jason Jeter won the bareback on 'Grated Coconut'. I'd love to raise just one like that in my life. Stran Smith is tearing up the calf roping and Curtis Cassidy the dogging. Was talking to Chris Hanson's cousin today-he cut his riding hand at that charity bull riding at the Ranchman's earliar this week and darned if he didn't get it stomped today-bad luck. Those poorly cared for wagon ponies are running that 5/8 of a mile in 1'17 or less-some good heats again tonight.
 
NR,what station are you watching the rodeo on? Greg said he could only find wagons tonight,rodeo should have been on this afternoon,or did they air it tonight?
 
There's a half hour of each on CTV -Calgary at 10'00 P'M every night-they interviewed my Gary Gorst on there tonight-he had a line screw up on him last night-lots of wagon drivers in that family-nice he mentioned all us peons back home in Meadow Lake. His brother lives a half mile east of us and his sister just west-the whole family are great horse people-in fact Gary's sister was only woman to ever outride in Calgary. Mae is only 5' tall but she can swing on a 17 hand TB like nothing-mean chariot driver too.
 
IL Rancher said:
edited :-> rereading it are you are saying that most of the chuckwagon horses are horses taken off the race tracks as 3 year olds?
Click to expand...

Im under the impression that a lot of the wagon horses are bought as three year olds. I dont know what the average age would be for all the guys buying prospects. I know some off the prospects are ones that dont do so well on the track or some of them that are a bit rank with a rider.
I honestly know nothing about Thoroughbreed racing. But im under the impression that some horses can get bared from the track if they have problems loading into the starting gate,ect. A lot of these horses end up pulling wagons.
Im sure a lot of it has to do with the pocketbook of the guy buying prospects. Wagon outfits need a lot of horses. I think Kelly Sutherland has over two hundred horses in Grand Prairie.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top