Stampede!!

The city of Calgary is packed with Rodeo goers- the stampede is on! It is big! It goes on for ten days, and is the biggest rodeo in the world, and competitors come from as far away as Australia to take part.
There are at least four big stadiums, the biggest of course being the rodeo stadium itself, where two sessions a day take place, the first starting at 1-15, where we were today.

I really don't know how many people this will take, maybe 80,000, including a large standing area below the stands. We sat about halfway up at one side, but our view was good, as you will see by the pictures we got. By the time the show got started the stadium was full, including that stand opposite which looks empty at the moment.

Part of the entertainment was this big marching band, maybe 100 musicians, and the flag wavers. The commentary was great, the two guys doing it were very funny, and there was a clown in the ring, but he kept his distance from the action.

Indian dancers took the stage then, in full dress and some with full head dress. The TV cameras were everywhere, and we could get close ups of all the action on big screens.

The main show opened with the novice saddle bronc- for riders under 20,  they were let out of the gate and had to stay on for eight seconds until the buzzer sounded, this one didn't make the grade, but some did. There were some spectacular falls, but fortunately no injuries today, but it isn't always so.

It was followed by the tie-down roping- the steer is released a fraction before the rider, who has to lassoo it, jump off his horse which is trained to keep the lassoo tight, and tie a front leg and both hind legs with three turns of the rope. This is timed and the best ones did it in around seven seconds. The animal seemed to come to no harm, it was released immediately and ran around before being ushered out of the ring.

The next event was the Junior Steer Riding Championship, Young bucks 11 to 15 take on young bulls. They don't get to choose which bull they will ride, some are easier than others, and are provided by the stampede by ballot. The animals themselves are marked according to difficulty, and that score is added to the riders score, if he manages to stay on for the full eight seconds.

Then followed the Steer Wrestling Championship, a steer is released between two riders and the competitor has to jump off his horse onto the steer, and bring him to the ground. Look closely and you will see that the steer has horns, and if the rider misjudges his jump he could end up being impaled on them. There were a couple of spectacular misses on this one, but these are tough guys and take it as it comes.

Bareback riding was next, the rider has only a strap round the middle of the horse, and usually rides holding on with one hand. They literally lie back on the horse's hindquarters, and their legs fly everywhere, again they have to stay on for eight seconds.That is a very long time when the horse is doing it's very best to throw you. The guys on the other horses are safety men, there to rescue the rider if things go wrong, or even to take them off after their eight seconds safely.

The saddle broncs are even meaner, some of them come out of the chute veering wildly from side to sire while they buck. It may be easier to stay on with a saddle, but the broncs are pretty determined.

But these horses are trained to perfection and belong to the riders, they are timed over a course which takes them round three barrels set in a triangle, two to the left and one to the right. This event was won by a 67 year old woman, who beat the men by almost one second in an event lasting just seven seconds!
The prize money for all these events is big, Mary Burger has now won $21000 this week in this event.

The final event of the day in the ring was the Bull Riding Championship. These animals are huge, weighing over a ton, with pointed horns as long as your forearm. Very dangerous creatures, witness the guys jumping out of the ring as the bull comes near. Again, all the rider has to stay on is a rope around the animal's midriff, with a bell underneath to add weight to it so it drops off when the rider lets go. Two riders come in to take the guy off if he survives the eight seconds, they take great care to keep their horses away from the horns. They then have to lassoo it to get it out of the ring,

Earlier we had seen the judging of the Heavy Horses in another ring, Clydesdales, Shires, and a couple of other breeds. They showed best Mare, best Stallion and best colt from each breed.

The overall winner was a stallion Persion, beautifully manicured. They have to decorate their tails too!

The heavy horses showed their paces through the day in harness, we saw eight Clydesdales being made ready to pull a large stagecoach, but we missed them actually pulling it.

Vintage tractor pulling was also a "big draw", They had to drag this huge vehicle as far as they could while it gradually got heavier as the box on the top moved up the ramp. Some managed over 100ft, despite the fact that all were over 50 years old.

Rotary had a big presence here, they were selling raffle tickets for this house, which cost over £500,000. They also had a 50-50 draw, and they had already taken nearly a million dollars in the first four days, with six to go. They get to keep half while the winner gets the other half. What a way to fund raise.
Anne and I are really looking forward to another day at the stampede tomorrow. Watch this space....