Calgary Stampede

What an amazing past couple of days I have had! I just returned from the Calgary Stampede in Calgary, Alberta Canada. It was quite the drive to get there and an even longer drive to get back to my home town of Wolf Point for my next rodeo. To see the legendary Stampede was well worth the drive though!

I rested for a day or two after my fourth of July weekend and was off and running on a start of what is going to be a very busy month of July. I drove up to beautiful Wilsall to present the American flag for the Montana Reining Horse Association. What an honor it was to be involved in such a prestigious association in Montana. They were truly thankful for having me there and I got to visit with some old friends and meet new ones who were very eager to hear about what I have been up to. Leaving early Sunday morning and meeting up with my family in Shelby, close to the border, got us in Calgary just in time for my sister and I to take in our first Chuck Wagon Race experience. Who better to learn about it than from Jody who has been going to the Stampede with her husband, Gary, for about 15 years now! I was allowed one companion pass that got that person behind the scenes pretty much anywhere we wanted to go. My sister, Vanessa, was the lucky one out of the family that got to come with me. We were in awe of all the activity, new sights, and big name celebrities that were in our presence.

Monday morning was a pretty early morning for Vanessa and me. We were hosted that day which meant we were going to be driven around to different functions meeting people and seeing Calgary. Well not only was it about 40 degrees outside and sleeting but there was a slight mix up with the courtesy car that was supposed to pick us up. We ended up waiting for over an hour because someone crossed me off the list to be picked up! Everything got straightened out but we did need some extra time to warm up and a special thanks goes to the courtesy car drivers that picked up and dropped off my family and I the entire time we were there. That morning our hosts brought me and some of the Canadian royalty around to different pancake breakfasts to meet the public, we saw the history of the Calgary Stampede queens and walked around the Roundup center that had lots of good shopping!

Off to the rodeo after that! The Calgary Stampede is such a prestigious rodeo that the cowboys and cowgirls compete on invitation only. So prestigious that the one and only Dan Mortenson came out of retirement for this rodeo only and I happy to report he won the performance on Tuesday along with bull rider Beau Hill from Montana as well. It is not a PRCA or CPRA sanctioned rodeo yet but is on its way. This rodeo pays up to $1.75 million after the competition is over!! The format changed slightly this year to a tournament style rodeo where there are two groups of 10 competitors that ride 4 days in a row. After both groups ride they take the top 12 to the semi-finals round and the top 4 contestants for the final round. With our VIP passes Vanessa and I got to be right down in the middle of the action…my favorite place to be! I was introduced on stage in front of over 20,000 people that afternoon; what an experience. Later on that evening we took in the chuck wagon races again and the night show. The night show was like nothing I have ever seen before. It was 3 hours long but felt like 30 minutes. I felt like such a little kid again watching my first fireworks show. They had so many fireworks that the entire metropolis of Calgary had a plume of smoke above it. The night show had every sort of entertainment for the viewers, comedy, drama, singing, dancing, daring stunts…you name it! I was in such awe!!!



After the long and somewhat overwhelming day on Monday I needed a little time on Tuesday morning to sleep but the city of Calgary would have none of it. At 7am our hotel hosted a Tough Enough to Wear Pink benefit concert…right outside our hotel room window. Needless to say, I didn’t sleep in that morning! My family and I took in the rodeo again on Tuesday afternoon and walked around the grounds to see more of what the Stampede had to offer. I saw a dog show, a marching band competition, miniature horse show, miniature chuck wagon races, a cutting horse show, a break dancing competition, 2-time World Champion Indian hoola-hoop dancer and ate some good fried food off the mid-way! The experience in Calgary was definitely a memorable one. I was so honored to be there and represent my state of Montana across the border. With all of that in mind nothing could overshadow the excitement in appearing at my home town rodeo, the oldest rodeo in Montana, the Wolf Point Wild Horse Stampede! Take care and God Bless.