This is what we had come to the rodeo to see- the chuck wagon races. Not to take anything away from the rest of the rodeo- we had seen it before but not as professional as this- but this was a real thrill.
The four rigs have to line up against a numbered barrel, and on the klaxon take off to round another barrel 5 yards in front without touching it, then speed. round the course at a rate of knots. The course squeezes them in after 100 yards, so if you are not there first.....
These horses are thoroughbreds, and trained to go on the klaxon, so it is fast. Just one round of a km long course and they are back in front of the stands, not necessarily in the order that they left. The back straight gives them the opportunity to overtake, and they must get onto the rails before the turns.
Earlier we had attended another afternoon of rodeo, much like yesterday, we had expected rain but it stayed dry. However we could see a serious thunderstorm just south of us, and the evening news told us that there had been flooding in the south of the city, with cars washed away! How lucky were we?
Between the two events we had seen a "Cutting Out Competition", where a rider had to cut out a steer from a bunch and prevent it from getting back in for a period.
They must do this three times within a time limit, but it is the skill of the horses as well as the rider that counts towards the scores. They must move quickly from side to side to prevent the steer from returning to the herd.
This twelve year old buy won the junior award, his skill was amazing.
We also took in a motorcycling show, unfortunately as it was indoors with poor lighting it was not easy to photograph, so I have to show the screens to get a half decent picture.
They not only used motorbikes, but also skidoos, riding up ramps which threw them at least 40 ft up in the air, and performing tricks like full turns, or standing on the seat, they were good. All of these performances were included in the entrance fee for the Stampede.
We visited the Indian Village, they had taken part in the Stampeded for almost 100 years, and the Tipis had been handed down from father to son during that period. Almost 200 Indians actually live on this site for the whole ten days of the Stampede, just as they did on the first one they attended.
It is tradition before each performance in the main stadium to line up a band on the stage, and introduce some of the participants in the stampede. This band has over 100 musicians, and wile mainly brass has a few woodwind and percussion. And what a great sound they make!
Lined up this evening are some of the first nation people, along with Mounties and other Canadian forces. And the National Anthem is sung every performance, but this time a helicopter flew over trailing the Maple Leaf flag! They do things big here!
After the racing they put together an enormous stage in front of us, took about 20 minutes, but what a stage! It was towed on by a tractor with two lots of tracks on each side, and placed exactly in position, and then the frontal decoration was lowered into position by wires from above.
The above shows the main part of the stage being towed into position before the front rings are added, and the one below the completed stage. The show itself was equally spectacular,
with grand pianos and girl filled bubbles floating over the stage while artists danced below.
The performance ended with a spectacular fireworks show which we watched from a taxi on the way back to our hotel, after almost twelve hours enjoying the day.
One of the dozens of food stalls in the park.
A general view of the park,
Another view of the cutting out.
Taken from the big screen.
The bubbles floated above us.
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