You know I live in Calgary, right? And the second week of July every year, that’s Stampede Week. Yes, it’s time for the annual Calgary Stampede, an exhibition, rodeo, agricultural fair and overall excuse to party and wear cheesy western clothing. The Stampede is billed as “the greatest outdoor show on earth”, and it definitely is a big deal – it’s an event that manages to take over an entire city of over one million people for 10 days every summer.
It’s also the setting for what I believe is North America’s biggest rodeo. The rodeo boasts a number of wild and crazy life-threatening events: there’s the bullriding, bareback, saddle-bronc, steer wrestling, calf roping, and barrel racing, to name a few. Some of these events involve either grown men attempting to ride very large, very strong, very, VERY angry bulls or horses. Some involve grown men taking down baby animals, either by jumping on them and dragging them down by the head, or by throwing a lasso around their necks, yanking it tight and tying it to the saddle of your horse and then running up and tying three of the animals legs to the rope around its neck. Well, those are the basics, anyway. There are some nuances that I may have missed, but…you get the picture. Oh yeah. And then there’s the Chuckwagon races (just click on this link and trust me), which is far and away the most dangerous event at the Stampede.
So I’ve never really been a big fan. Thing is, the first year we lived in Calgary, we bought into all the Stampede stuff. We bought white cowboy hats and cowboy boots and plaid shirts and we dutifully went down to the grounds to try corndogs, mini donuts and to catch the events. The only problem is that the first time we watched “the chucks” (as they’re called locally), there was a terrible accident in which a chuckwagon overturned — ass over teakettle style — killing the driver and several horses. Right in front of our eyes. Then there was the calf whose neck was broken right in front of our eyes in the rodeo that same year and I started to wonder about this whole Stampede thing.
It’s not new, the question of fatalities (animal and human) at the Calgary Stampede. But this year, it seems to be a lot more front-and-centre. So far three horses have died and a young woman is in intensive care with broken ribs and severe head trauma. It’s Day FOUR, people. This is not a good precendent. And I just don’t want to be a part of it. I don’t want to go down and deal with the crowds (they’re RIDICULOUS) and spend a ton of money (it’s EXPENSIVE) just to support an event that seems not a whole lot better than the Roman Circus.
I wrote just last week about my daughters’ newfound love of horses, and I thought this might be the year to take my kids to the Stampede. That and the fact that it might well be (hopefully!) our last chance, as I’d dearly love to move back to my hometown (Toronto) in the near future. But after they heard about the deaths on the news this afternoon, they asked, “why would we want to go somewhere where horses might die just because people like to watch rodeos?”
And I had no answer (obviously, because it was a rhetorical question. Which is a well-known sign that your children are growing up and becoming smarter than you are. Which is very scary. But also a total tangent.)
So, even though it might be our last chance to go, we’re going to take a pass on the Calgary Stampede this year, and spend our money supporting something else. Like possibly the Humane Society.
Go back to Toronto. As a cowgirl who owns my own horses and barrel races as much as I can, I can tell you that my rodeo family doesn’t want someone like you trying to wreck our way of life. We do what we do because we love it, we love our animal partners and in no way do we ever wish harm to come to them, just as we don’t wish harm to our family and friends when they are travelling or participating in other sports that could bring them harm. Accidents happen everyday in our worlds, human or animal. Although the Stampede is over for this year, keep your opinions to yourself. And do yourself a favor, don’t give in to your daughter’s new-found love of horses. She might prove you wrong in your negative outlook then, God forbid, you’d have to admit that you were totally uneducated about the equine world.
I’ve really enjoyed the Stampede in the past (esp the pancake breakfasts!) but I agree that this year’s events have seriously impacted my desire to attend again.
The Stampede is definitely NOT what I thought. Injury and death? No thanks.