Organizers of the Bowden Daze rodeo are "in shock" after a horse died during the Central Alberta Rodeo Association (CARA)-sanctioned rodeo on July 26.
Organizers of the Bowden Daze rodeo are "in shock" after a horse died during the Central Alberta Rodeo Association (CARA)-sanctioned rodeo on July 26.
Keith Bailey, president of the Bowden and District Agricultural Society and a CARA board member, said this is the first time an animal has died in the Bowden rodeo's 21-year history.
"We're all quite torn up about it. It's never happened before," he said, adding the incident happened during a bareback riding event on the rodeo infield at about 1:30 p.m.
"It had some kind of spell and then when it fell down it broke its hind end."
Bailey said he wasn't sure about what exact part of the horse's body was broken.
He added the horse was taken out of the infield and euthanized.
Bailey would not disclose who the owner of the horse was and he did not know any details about the animal's age or sex.
But he said the horse belonged to a stock contractor and was "the very first horse in the very first event."
According to a rodeo program guide, the first horse in the bareback and saddle bronc event on July 26 was rode by Clay Delay.
No one was injured when the horse fell.
All of the rodeo organizers are devastated by the incident, Bailey said.
"It's like a death in the family."
He added everyone involved with the Bowden Daze event cares deeply about the animals used in the rodeo.
"We love rodeo but we never want to see animals get hurt," he said.
Bailey said since this is the first animal death at the rodeo, he was not sure if an investigation would take place or not.
Amber Wolf of Olds was attending the rodeo as a spectator at the time of the incident and witnessed the horse falling in the rodeo infield.
"All I remember seeing is that the horse came out of the chute and it started to buck maybe like once or twice and it went to go on its hind legs and it was like in a big mud puddle and it ended up slipping and it landed on its back or its side," she said, adding the fall threw off the horse’s rider.
Wolf said it was clear something was wrong with the horse after the fall.
"The horse was shaking and its leg was shaking and it just wouldn’t get up."
Rodeo personnel brought a trailer into the infield and tried to calm the horse down and get it back on its feet, but were unsuccessful, she said.
The horse was then loaded onto the trailer and removed from the infield.
Wolf said she and the rest of the crowd were shaken by the incident.
"Everyone was just kind of shocked and were just standing up and staring at it," she said. "I thought that the horse died and I was just in shock."
Wolf also said when she spoke to a friend participating in bull riding at the rodeo, he told her the horse had broken its back.
Despite the tragedy, Bailey said the 21st annual Bowden Daze went on as planned.
He said roughly 2,000 spectators came through the gates at the Bowden Rodeo Grounds between July 25 and 27 to watch 300 competitors take part in a cavalcade of rodeo events.
The first day of the event felt more like November than July due to cold, wet and windy conditions, but Bailey said the weather didn't dampen anyone's spirits and warm sunny weather was enjoyed for the rest of the weekend.
Jacks Meston, 11, who lives in Tees, a hamlet northeast of Red Deer, took part in steer riding on the afternoon of July 26 during the Central Alberta Rodeo Association-sanctioned rodeo.
He said muddy conditions in the riding arena didn't bother him but the steer he was riding did give him a little trouble right off the bat.
"The one I had today was kind of squishing my legs," he said. "Some people will get it in their head and get scared and then they don't want to do it. You have to block that out of your head and focus on that steer."
That focus, Jacks added, comes when a rider treats his or her ride "like this is your last day on Earth."
He said a steer has stepped on him more than once when he's been thrown, once on his arm and once on his tailbone at last year's Bowden Daze event.
When asked how he summoned the courage to get back up on the steer for this competition, Jacks had a straightforward answer.
"You just can't think about."
He said he comes from a rodeo family and his 13-year-old sister, Maria, was taking part in barrel racing during the rodeo.
She finished her run with a time of just more than 19 seconds and said she had to will herself to defy challenging muddy conditions on the course.
"You gotta just not think about it and run past it."
But skill and ideal conditions are only part of the equation when it comes to barrel racing, Maria said.
"You have to have a horse that's fast and not too spooky but controllable," she said.
One of the unsung heroes of the rodeo is the bullfighter.
Lane Stuckey, a 21-year-old Stettler man who has fought bulls for four years, said he only has one thing on his mind when the gate opens and bull and rider come forth.
"A bullfighter's main job is to protect the cowboy," he said. "If somebody's going to be getting hoofed, it better be the bullfighter before the rider."
Stuckey said he rode bulls for a while "but didn't quite have what it took" and it wasn't long until he found his true calling in the rodeo arena.
"I just started fighting bulls and fell in love with it."
Fighting the bulls, he added, is an incredible feeling.
"It's a feeling like nothing else on the Earth. It gives you an adrenaline high that I don't think any drug on Earth could possibly touch it."
While he loves his gig, Stuckey said he has experienced a number of injuries over the years, including damaged teeth and broken bones.
The winners of the rodeo whose names were available before press time include:
Kim Arcuhnott in ladies cow riding (which was included in the rodeo for the first time this year).
James Spibell in bareback riding.
Kyle Noble in saddle bronc.
Shane Goulet in bull riding.
JW Hart in steer riding.
Carson Richardson in tie-down roping.
Kandi Horn in barrel racing.
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