SUNDRE – Contestants in the 17th edition of Bulls and Wagons at the Sundre rodeo grounds over the past weekend did not have to contend with muddy conditions.
Quite the opposite, in fact; with consistently sunny blue skies, Sundre's second rodeo of the summer was a somewhat dry affair, with a water truck even being deployed to keep down the dust on the race track.
Not that Trevor McIntyre, chair of the organizing committee, was complaining.
“I’ll take the sunshine over the mud,” McIntyre told the Albertan on Sunday, Aug. 24 while taking a brief break enjoying a quick burger at the Wild Horse Saloon.
“The weather’s been good, the crowd’s been good,” he said. “It’s been a great weekend to put the show on.”
Northcott Rodeo Inc., which has been involved since the beginning, once again brought out the roughstock for the bronc and bull riding events, while the Alberta Professional Chuckwagon and Chariot Association was back to run the races.
Providing plenty of additional entertainment in between the main events was some mutton busting, wild cow milking, wild pony races, mini chuckwagons, as well as some gravity-defying stunts by trick rider Veronica Archer.
And on Saturday, the Wild Horses of Alberta Society hosted a trainers' demonstration of how former free roaming horses that were rescued have fared since being adopted.
2025 Bulls and Wagons champions
Chariots: Driver David Debuc racing Darren Twerdochlib's outfit
Chuckwagons: Jack Stott
Bronc riding: Hunter Sippola
Bull riding: Gilmar Santana
Junior steer riding: Ben Peterson
Wild cow milking: Chase Soderburg & Matt Snider
Mutton busting: Layton Phillips
Wild pony racing: Bronc Busters - Gaige Ogilvie, Colt Gunderson, Trace Bouwmister
Mini chuckwagon drivers: Addy Rice, Braxton Olsen, Brinley Nordick, Bentley Nordick, Eli Rice, Jayd Bengston, Kendyl Bengston, and Makayla Lebel