SUNDRE – Local rodeo fans are about to get a second dose of adrenalin-fuelled thrills and spills this weekend but with the added bonus of chariot and chuckwagon races thrown into the mix as all the pieces are coming into place for the 17th edition of Bulls and Wagons.
“It’s all falling together,” said Trevor McIntyre, chair of the event’s organizing committee.
“I think it’ll be another great year.”
The first round of performances at the Sundre rodeo grounds starts Friday evening at 6 p.m. and will feature chariot races, mini chucks, mutton busting, trick riding, wild pony race, junior steer riding, with chuckwagon races wrapping things up.
Although the second performance doesn’t get started until the following evening at 5 p.m. with wild cow milking, a wild pony race and bronc riding on the docket, there for the second year in a row will be a trainers’ challenge and demonstration put on by the Wild Horses of Alberta Society that gets underway at 9 a.m. and will run well into the afternoon.
“That’s free for everybody to come and watch and learn a little more about them,” said McIntyre.
Four former free-roaming horses that for a brief period were stabled at the society’s facility, located west of Sundre, will be joined by their trainers who picked them up this past spring to show how far they’ve come in a comparatively short span of time, said Jack Nichol, who’s been involved with the society since the non-profit organization was founded 23 years ago.
“Then they will be judged and sold at that time,” said Nichol.
There will then be a few more former horses from the facility that were previously adopted out returning with their new owners also to showcase what they’ve accomplished, he said.
The intent, McIntyre said, is to spotlight not only what free roaming horses are capable of but also the work the society’s volunteers do in taking in the equines prior to taming and training them “to the point where you can be around them, pet them, touch them, pick their feet up – that kind of stuff.”
The final performances of Bulls and Wagons starts earlier on Sunday, Aug. 24 at 1 p.m. and features a similar lineup as the two days prior but with the big bull riding finale.
“We’ve been very fortunate,” said McIntyre.
“We’ve had long-term sponsors and volunteers that have been with us for 17 years,” he said.
“And many people keep coming back every year to see the wagons and they enjoy watching some of the kids events we have, like the mutton busting and the wild pony race.”
This will be the first time Bulls and Wagons is held at the freshly upgraded grounds, which now have a brand-new VIP seating area and announcers’ booth that were unveiled just in time for the Sundre Pro Rodeo earlier this summer.
“The announcers’ booth is very good for the wagons,” said McIntyre.
“It gives the announcer a good 360 view of everything that’s going on as they’re going around the track,” he said.
“Before, he kind of had a bit of a blind side of about a third of the track.”
The races are sanctioned under the Alberta Professional Chuckwagon and Chariot Association, while Northcott Rodeo returns as the roughstock contractor for the bronc and bull riding.
“The only thing new we kind of have this year is the junior steer riding came back. We used to have them a few years ago, but we’re bringing them back on Friday night,” said McIntyre.
“Hopefully in the years to come, we’ll have them a bit more as a part of the show.”
However, due to agendas and timelines, organizers were unable to lineup junior bull riding, he said.
“But hopefully in the next events to come, we will,” he said.
“It’s one way to help the kids get a little more time, practice and events underneath their belt.”
