Controlled Chaos or We went to the Chuck Wagon Races.

July 7, 2013

Today was another day spent entirely at the Stampede. We arrived about 11am and by 11:30 Katherine and I had our Corn Dogs…Yummers! As we had more time today we discovered just how big the Stampede Park is and how much there is to see and do that we had no time for. A Nashville Tent for Country Music, some type of Aquatic Show, Art and Craft exhibits market places and more food vendors than you could imagine selling just about anything. One could easily spend 3 full days wandering and engorging oneself. We also shared a plate of Poutine, French French Fries he said redundantly. They are regular fries with cheese curds, topped with brown beef gravy. They were delicious and not salty at all as I had expected. OK here are some others I did not indulge in: deep fried butter, deep fried Philly Cheesesteak(?), hot beef sundae (?), etc.

 

We went back again for a second round of the Rodeo. That was good since I finally began to understand the scoring. Some events are simply time, calf roping, steer wrestling, barrel racing while bareback bronco, saddle bronco, and bull riding you must ride 8 seconds to get a score. Then the subjective judging begins that includes both performances of the horse/bull and the rider. Thus a great rider can get poor horses and not win anything because his scores are low, skill and luck of the draw. There were also junior events and one for kids (under 10?). In this one, 3 kids hold a rope on a pony. The object is to control the pony and have one person ride the pony for 2 strides. This was a fantastic event to watch but rarely successful. Not for a lack of effort as the kids hang on persistently. The ponies won. The Rodeo final for big money are next weekend.

 

We also had tickets for the Evening Show. This includes the Chuck Wagon races (9 heats of 4 Wagons), entertainment and a fireworks finale. The Chuck Wagon races are very serious racing by professionals for big money. This week was qualifying for 8 semifinal positions for next weekend’s semis and the grand finale, a $1M purse. This is one exciting event to watch. Each wagon is pulled by 4 thoroughbred horses, most retired from racing but not quite good enough for big stud fees. Each wagon starts from a standstill, with two outriders, dismounted, one in front who gets the wagon moving, one back who must load a large bag into the wagon after the start. Both outriders then must mount on the run and follow the wagon. The wagon does a figure 8 around barrels then heads down the track for the half mile oval run. It’s absolute pandemonium with 4 wagons 16 thoroughbreds, and 8 outriders circling the track, sometimes 4 abreast. One race had a near photo finish with 3 wagons abreast and the fourth just behind the leader. There’s a lot more to it as wagons can be penalized time for various infractions. We saw three new track records set last night.

Calgary Stampede Midway



Who Dat? YUP! We got our T-shirts

Canadian Forces Jump Team during Opening Ceremonies

The Show



Start of the Chuck Wagon race doing the figure 8 and outriders mounting horses.

Stampede Finish!

 

KISS!

After the races was the entertainment and fireworks. It was a great show. The acts ranged from KISS to opera and just about everything in between, including Chinese Acrobats. The fireworks were fantastic as they were set off only a couple hundred yards in front of us! All in all the Calgary Stampede was one wild great show! By the way, up here it’s YA-HOO, not YEE-HAW! Would I come back again? Damn right I would!