Activists lock down Chuckwagon track

[Chill Cosby]

Don't know what the big deal is.
It's pretty obvious the best part about the Rodeo is watching the little kids get wrecked trying to get on a horse anyway.

Classic.

[GGG]

Originally Posted by kunkstyle

I'm not really on one side of the fence or the other (although the pro-chuckwagon crowd makes a pretty good argument), but there's a massive difference between a human who has the choice to be put in that situation, vs a dog or rooster that doesn't.

So how do you make a choice for the animal. What basis do you use? We put kids in hockey, football, and other sports initially by convincing them to do it. Like the horse who gleefully gets his saddle on before the race they do not understand the risk. But kids have heart failures, back injuries, concussions and we still do it because its fun? Because the kids say they like it?

The act of chuck wagon racing isnt inherently cruel. Its just higher risk than being in a field. So if a driver right behind the horse is taking the same risks as the horse can we really say chucks are too dangerous.

50 horses have died and two people. Although that is a little skewed because it doesnt count broken limbs for humans like it does for horses as we dont put down humans when they break their arm.

Also per the herald 17 other horses have died at stamped due to ilness and things like penning incidents, and rodeo events.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by Chill Cosby

Don't know what the big deal is.
It's pretty obvious the best part about the Rodeo is watching the little kids get wrecked trying to get on a horse anyway.

Classic.

The best is at some rodeo's they do a " Greased pig" ( I like to call it pig tag) little kids from 8 and up. Try to catch a pig in the arena. My dad entered me all the time. You have to run through ankle deep mud and tag a pig the quickest) or calf scramble kinda like pig tag and steer roping combined. Chase down a cafe and tie him up for a few seconds then let him go. Its good for the kids as they have some tough things to overcome mentialy and physically . The calf gets the same benifiets. Its kinda just like owning any other pet.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by GGG

So how do you make a choice for the animal. What basis do you use? We put kids in hockey, football, and other sports initially by convincing them to do it. Like the horse who gleefully gets his saddle on before the race they do not understand the risk. But kids have heart failures, back injuries, concussions and we still do it because its fun? Because the kids say they like it?

The act of chuck wagon racing isnt inherently cruel. Its just higher risk than being in a field. So if a driver right behind the horse is taking the same risks as the horse can we really say chucks are too dangerous.

50 horses have died and two people. Although that is a little skewed because it doesnt count broken limbs for humans like it does for horses as we dont put down humans when they break their arm.

Also per the herald 17 other horses have died at stamped due to ilness and things like penning incidents, and rodeo events.

I think he understood that. He was responding to a post that I had not made my point clear.



I do agree that it is not purposefully cruel. With the higher risk to the animal, the risk you also raise on yourself. People have tried to remain a point "If the horse goes down they have a risk of the other horses and wagon falling on them" I do agree but so does the rider. The way the wagons at hitched up on them is lamans terms " If they go Then I am going down to." To look at it with an optimistic point of view is The only reason these horses are in "harms way" is there is some one willing to take the same risk as the horse. Which I believe is evidence how much of a connection between the rider and how well they treat their team members. If they are going to put a companion in harms way they are also going to take a risk. After all the could just let them race like dogs but they don't.

Edit: I would also like to add that some horses are more obedient. IMO they do have some what of a choice When they want to race. If A horse doesn't want to be hooked up on a particular day you can't make it nor, If you do want to trust it. If you manage to get a horse who fights you on it hook up, your going to have a hard time maintaining any control. You don't have brakes and purely rely on what that horse is thinking. Putting a horse on a team when it wants to be a lone wolf is dangouse and Irresponsible. So In short a horse does have a somewhat of a choice IF they have compassionate and smart owners . which is why you travel with extra horses for substitutes or an extra team.

Looking into it more it seems Calgary in specific on thinking it is Cruel to race is the main example used.

[vegasbound]

This was not written by me (the quotation part anyways), it was written by a fellow barrel racer who does happen to professionally rodeo. She wrote this on her Facebook page and has encouraged people to share this. I'll add my own thoughts to this but please also note its 2 in the morning and I just got back from driving 15 hours from dropping a horse off in BC and driving back in the same day, so I may ramble/not be completely coherent in my thoughts.

"It seems that for every competitor involving any rodeo event as well as chuck wagon drivers, there seems to be two protestors that are louder and more vocal. They have the eye of the media & are informing other individuals who don't have the knowledge/understanding of the events, who's side they should be on! The protestors are doubling and tripling before our eyes every day...

I feel we as competitors need to become more vocal...I feel we as competitors sit back & complain about the changes being made in our sport yet wait for someone else to step up and fix the problems.... I feel it is time that we ALL come together, to get the information out that is needed to inform those that do not have a farming/ranching/rodeo or chuck wagon background to real truth to our sport as well as lifestyle!

I am not saying that there isn't people already vocal & pro active about our events. I am just saying more of us need to become pro active. Rodeo is changing, chuck wagons races are changing because the protestors are determined to shut us down! Should we not all band together and protect what we love?

If there are people reading this that are on the fence of who is right or who is wrong, when it comes to this topic, please take the following into consideration...

Back in the day horses were work animals, used to help the old homesteaders. They helped plow the fields, pull a buggy to town, helped fall timber. After the work was done they would go to the country fair with these same horses, to compete them against their neighbours. Just to see who's horse could out run & out work a cow, to see who had the best working horse around the county. They then (for example) started breeding Joe's champion race horse to Bill's champion cow horse because they wanted to create the best all around horse!

And you know what? People didn't protest at the jobs these horses did or at the sporting at the country fairs. There was no machinery back then to help get the work done, there was no TV & no iPhone's to sit behind and have a persons head filled with others revelations of what the real world should be like. Horses were the entertainment, and they helped put food on peoples tables. They also fought wars, and they helped shape the country we call home.

Our love and need for these animals hasn't left, even as equipment took their jobs away. So people started breeding horses even more specifically for traits to become better at a single job or a single event. I speak from a perspective as an owner/breeder & trainer of American Quarter Horses, we can actually track bloodlines all the way back to the foundation of the industry & see where the lineage broke off one direction for racetrack speed & the other becoming more cow horse. We also can see where the lines have come back together to create a more all around type horse.

If we take away the activities these horses are bred for, what then is the point of raising them at all? Should we just all have 1 to whatever number of horses, lets say 30, standing in our back yard un-trained, doing nothing, getting fat and foundering, so that some kid who would rather be playing with electronics ride it once a year? Or should we just let them die off and become extinct?

As competitors/owners we understand the value of these animals & every day we learn as well as research new feeds & health care to keep our horses feeling their best. Feed & veterinarian needs are always handled first before we would think of spending money on ourselves.

*Points made: I stuck with horses I raise/work with every day, but I am not dismissing other breeds, there are horses raised to be bucking horses, just like there are horses raised to be jumpers. And these horses love their jobs, I don't think you could convince a horse like Grated Coconut to be a backyard trail pony!)"
- FYI Grated Coconut is a Calgary Stampede owned bucking horse who has won many awards for top bareback and saddle bronc horse in the US and Canada. He's retired now and I'm 100% sure he is treated like friggin royalty at the ranch. Actually, I know that for a fact. And I know this is a chuckwagon thread, but the average bucking horse works for 120 seconds a year. 120 seconds. Probably less.

My thoughts: A lot of people in this thread have done a good job of presenting the pro-chuck side so I'm not going to really add to it. As rodeo competitors, chuck drivers and honestly, anybody in the horse business, we love our animals and we love our horses. We do treat them with the best possible care. That would be why I just paid off a very large vet bill to make sure my horse is at the best condition and not sore or in pain to make a run on the barrel pattern, and I'm eating ramen noodles and off the $1 menu at McDonalds. Steer wrestlers, calf ropers and chuck drivers do the exact same. Honestly, we have a lot of freaking money tied up in these horses, I can't think of a single reason we would treat them 'inhumanely.' To give a value, Perculatin aka Latte the horse that Mary Walker rides was purchased this year for $875,000. The average value of a horse that steps into the infield to compete in rodeo is northward of $60k. Probably way northward.

Our horses are athletes and we want them at their top condition, hence what we do from the best feed available, best vet care in the country and to the shoes we put on their feet and what kind of bit we put in their mouths. I can't count how many times I've turned out at a rodeo or barrel race because I didn't feel my horse was 110% getting off the trailer and either went home or ran a backup horse. I'm pretty positive chuckwagon drivers feel the same way, if that particular horse isn't feeling/looking 110% they will run another horse. Also- there is a rule in place and I don't know the exact number of days off the top of my head because its 2 am but a wagon horse and I also believe an outrider horse can only run so many days in a row before having a day off. And again, there are vet checks before every horse steps onto the track in chucks. If anyone is worried about 'drugs' or 'steroids' or 'masking agents' in chuckwagon racing, rodeo horses or even stock- there are preventative measures such as drug testing. I know the WPRA (Women's Professional Rodeo Association, the sanctioning body of the barrel racing) has strict guidelines of what can and can't be used and as barrel racers, we must follow this if we want to professionally rodeo. They tested randomly at Calgary last year and I'm going to assume they'll do the same this year and at random rodeos over the year.

When I was in high school my best friend at the time had a very nice rope horse. She retired him at 22 because she felt he didn't owe her a dime and he could live out the rest of his life in retirement. That horse ran up and down the fence line every time she pulled out of the yard and he wasn't in the trailer. Eventually she started taking him along because he got himself so worked up (and yes, there was another horse in the same pasture as him) and took him out of retirement. I don't think I've seen a happier horse than the day she backed him in the roping box after pulling him out of retirement.

I'll finish it with this statement- I honestly wish people would realize there is more than one side of a coin. This goes for 99.9% of the 'issues' out there in real life too, not just rodeo and chuckwagon racing. There is a reason for doing what we do, why we do it. Please do not jump to conclusions or believe what you read/hear, just because you saw it on Facebook or in the media. Next time someone has questions, please do ask someone knowledgeable and in the business and you might just be surprised at the answer you get.

[combustiblefuel]

Originally Posted by vegasbound

This was not written by me (the quotation part anyways), it was written by a fellow barrel racer who does happen to professionally rodeo. She wrote this on her Facebook page and has encouraged people to share this. I'll add my own thoughts to this but please also note its 2 in the morning and I just got back from driving 15 hours from dropping a horse off in BC and driving back in the same day, so I may ramble/not be completely coherent in my thoughts.

"It seems that for every competitor involving any rodeo event as well as chuck wagon drivers, there seems to be two protestors that are louder and more vocal. They have the eye of the media & are informing other individuals who don't have the knowledge/understanding of the events, who's side they should be on! The protestors are doubling and tripling before our eyes every day...

I feel we as competitors need to become more vocal...I feel we as competitors sit back & complain about the changes being made in our sport yet wait for someone else to step up and fix the problems.... I feel it is time that we ALL come together, to get the information out that is needed to inform those that do not have a farming/ranching/rodeo or chuck wagon background to real truth to our sport as well as lifestyle!

I am not saying that there isn't people already vocal & pro active about our events. I am just saying more of us need to become pro active. Rodeo is changing, chuck wagons races are changing because the protestors are determined to shut us down! Should we not all band together and protect what we love?

If there are people reading this that are on the fence of who is right or who is wrong, when it comes to this topic, please take the following into consideration...

Back in the day horses were work animals, used to help the old homesteaders. They helped plow the fields, pull a buggy to town, helped fall timber. After the work was done they would go to the country fair with these same horses, to compete them against their neighbours. Just to see who's horse could out run & out work a cow, to see who had the best working horse around the county. They then (for example) started breeding Joe's champion race horse to Bill's champion cow horse because they wanted to create the best all around horse!

And you know what? People didn't protest at the jobs these horses did or at the sporting at the country fairs. There was no machinery back then to help get the work done, there was no TV & no iPhone's to sit behind and have a persons head filled with others revelations of what the real world should be like. Horses were the entertainment, and they helped put food on peoples tables. They also fought wars, and they helped shape the country we call home.

Our love and need for these animals hasn't left, even as equipment took their jobs away. So people started breeding horses even more specifically for traits to become better at a single job or a single event. I speak from a perspective as an owner/breeder & trainer of American Quarter Horses, we can actually track bloodlines all the way back to the foundation of the industry & see where the lineage broke off one direction for racetrack speed & the other becoming more cow horse. We also can see where the lines have come back together to create a more all around type horse.

If we take away the activities these horses are bred for, what then is the point of raising them at all? Should we just all have 1 to whatever number of horses, lets say 30, standing in our back yard un-trained, doing nothing, getting fat and foundering, so that some kid who would rather be playing with electronics ride it once a year? Or should we just let them die off and become extinct?

As competitors/owners we understand the value of these animals & every day we learn as well as research new feeds & health care to keep our horses feeling their best. Feed & veterinarian needs are always handled first before we would think of spending money on ourselves.

*Points made: I stuck with horses I raise/work with every day, but I am not dismissing other breeds, there are horses raised to be bucking horses, just like there are horses raised to be jumpers. And these horses love their jobs, I don't think you could convince a horse like Grated Coconut to be a backyard trail pony!)"
- FYI Grated Coconut is a Calgary Stampede owned bucking horse who has won many awards for top bareback and saddle bronc horse in the US and Canada. He's retired now and I'm 100% sure he is treated like friggin royalty at the ranch. Actually, I know that for a fact. And I know this is a chuckwagon thread, but the average bucking horse works for 120 seconds a year. 120 seconds. Probably less.

My thoughts: A lot of people in this thread have done a good job of presenting the pro-chuck side so I'm not going to really add to it. As rodeo competitors, chuck drivers and honestly, anybody in the horse business, we love our animals and we love our horses. We do treat them with the best possible care. That would be why I just paid off a very large vet bill to make sure my horse is at the best condition and not sore or in pain to make a run on the barrel pattern, and I'm eating ramen noodles and off the $1 menu at McDonalds. Steer wrestlers, calf ropers and chuck drivers do the exact same. Honestly, we have a lot of freaking money tied up in these horses, I can't think of a single reason we would treat them 'inhumanely.' To give a value, Perculatin aka Latte the horse that Mary Walker rides was purchased this year for $875,000. The average value of a horse that steps into the infield to compete in rodeo is northward of $60k. Probably way northward.

Our horses are athletes and we want them at their top condition, hence what we do from the best feed available, best vet care in the country and to the shoes we put on their feet and what kind of bit we put in their mouths. I can't count how many times I've turned out at a rodeo or barrel race because I didn't feel my horse was 110% getting off the trailer and either went home or ran a backup horse. I'm pretty positive chuckwagon drivers feel the same way, if that particular horse isn't feeling/looking 110% they will run another horse. Also- there is a rule in place and I don't know the exact number of days off the top of my head because its 2 am but a wagon horse and I also believe an outrider horse can only run so many days in a row before having a day off. And again, there are vet checks before every horse steps onto the track in chucks. If anyone is worried about 'drugs' or 'steroids' or 'masking agents' in chuckwagon racing, rodeo horses or even stock- there are preventative measures such as drug testing. I know the WPRA (Women's Professional Rodeo Association, the sanctioning body of the barrel racing) has strict guidelines of what can and can't be used and as barrel racers, we must follow this if we want to professionally rodeo. They tested randomly at Calgary last year and I'm going to assume they'll do the same this year and at random rodeos over the year.

When I was in high school my best friend at the time had a very nice rope horse. She retired him at 22 because she felt he didn't owe her a dime and he could live out the rest of his life in retirement. That horse ran up and down the fence line every time she pulled out of the yard and he wasn't in the trailer. Eventually she started taking him along because he got himself so worked up (and yes, there was another horse in the same pasture as him) and took him out of retirement. I don't think I've seen a happier horse than the day she backed him in the roping box after pulling him out of retirement.

I'll finish it with this statement- I honestly wish people would realize there is more than one side of a coin. This goes for 99.9% of the 'issues' out there in real life too, not just rodeo and chuckwagon racing. There is a reason for doing what we do, why we do it. Please do not jump to conclusions or believe what you read/hear, just because you saw it on Facebook or in the media. Next time someone has questions, please do ask someone knowledgeable and in the business and you might just be surprised at the answer you get.

Hammer on the head of the nail right there.somewhat reflexes points I made.That statement embodies what its all about . My mother was a barrel racer ( until she had to amputate half her foot after a horse spilled on to it after a crash. The industry of equestrian rodeo does Care quite well for their companions. Those that have never been outside of city living may not understand.It almost sounds like a Garth brooks song but when I grew up my dad And grand father racesd and mother barrel raced. I'm the summer we were a rodeo family while we waited for various crops to grow.

[Makarov]

If we take away the activities these horses are bred for, what then is the point of raising them at all? Should we just all have 1 to whatever number of horses, lets say 30, standing in our back yard un-trained, doing nothing, getting fat and foundering, so that some kid who would rather be playing with electronics ride it once a year? Or should we just let them die off and become extinct?

So the only two existential options for horse-kind are rodeo or extinction?

Also, I think that the author misses several key distinctions that are important to people who have concerns about rodeo events: (1) the difference between using animals for productive work and using animals purely for our entertainment or pleasure (similar perhaps to the difference between hunting for sport and hunting for food); and (2) the difference between the historic purpose of rodeo (to assist in breeding more productive work animals) and its modern purpose of entertainment, gambling, and creating a market for giant belt buckles.

[transplant99]

Originally Posted by vanisleflamesfan

This is not true.

However, it is fitting that most people think this since the 'history' of the Stampede is actual a 'revisionist' history. Guy Weadick, long-time 'Wild-West Show' promoter, wanted to have an event in this area that would rival other major yearly 'Wild-West' type of events at the time including events in Wyoming and the (at the time) very famous rodeo in Los Angeles of all places. Weadick wanted a celebration of a way of life that he saw as dying; that way of life being an open range style cattle ranching culture. Now the important thing to consider here is that this area of Southern Alberta never really had an open range style cattle ranching culture in the sense of what 'open range' meant at that time (before you flame my face off for suggesting this, it is again, important to understand that 'open-range' ranching meant something very different at that time from what it means today - this area NEVER had THAT type of 'Wild West'.

Weadick was projecting his uninformed vision of a 'Wild-West' onto an area that had never existed in that way in reality.

But more importantly, Weadick was doing this because he wanted to make money.

Fortunately for him, the idea of the Stampede took off in this area and helped to cement the popularity of 'rodeo' events.

What are you talking about? Fom the Stampedes own website..

Guy Weadick produced the first “Frontier Days and Cowboy Championship Contest” soon to be known as the Calgary Stampede.

There is no debate about it...the first stampede was most certainly based around the rodeo and adjoining carnival that Guy Weadick started. Yes it was to make money...what event isnt based on that and what does it have to do with anything? No idea what "open range cattle culture" has to do with it either.

[HockeyKhan]

Originally Posted by vegasbound

This was not written by me (the quotation part anyways), it was written by a fellow barrel racer who does happen to professionally rodeo. She wrote this on her Facebook page and has encouraged people to share this. I'll add my own thoughts to this but please also note its 2 in the morning and I just got back from driving 15 hours from dropping a horse off in BC and driving back in the same day, so I may ramble/not be completely coherent in my thoughts.

"It seems that for every competitor involving any rodeo event as well as chuck wagon drivers, there seems to be two protestors that are louder and more vocal. They have the eye of the media & are informing other individuals who don't have the knowledge/understanding of the events, who's side they should be on! The protestors are doubling and tripling before our eyes every day...

I feel we as competitors need to become more vocal...I feel we as competitors sit back & complain about the changes being made in our sport yet wait for someone else to step up and fix the problems.... I feel it is time that we ALL come together, to get the information out that is needed to inform those that do not have a farming/ranching/rodeo or chuck wagon background to real truth to our sport as well as lifestyle!

I am not saying that there isn't people already vocal & pro active about our events. I am just saying more of us need to become pro active. Rodeo is changing, chuck wagons races are changing because the protestors are determined to shut us down! Should we not all band together and protect what we love?

If there are people reading this that are on the fence of who is right or who is wrong, when it comes to this topic, please take the following into consideration...

Back in the day horses were work animals, used to help the old homesteaders. They helped plow the fields, pull a buggy to town, helped fall timber. After the work was done they would go to the country fair with these same horses, to compete them against their neighbours. Just to see who's horse could out run & out work a cow, to see who had the best working horse around the county. They then (for example) started breeding Joe's champion race horse to Bill's champion cow horse because they wanted to create the best all around horse!

And you know what? People didn't protest at the jobs these horses did or at the sporting at the country fairs. There was no machinery back then to help get the work done, there was no TV & no iPhone's to sit behind and have a persons head filled with others revelations of what the real world should be like. Horses were the entertainment, and they helped put food on peoples tables. They also fought wars, and they helped shape the country we call home.

Our love and need for these animals hasn't left, even as equipment took their jobs away. So people started breeding horses even more specifically for traits to become better at a single job or a single event. I speak from a perspective as an owner/breeder & trainer of American Quarter Horses, we can actually track bloodlines all the way back to the foundation of the industry & see where the lineage broke off one direction for racetrack speed & the other becoming more cow horse. We also can see where the lines have come back together to create a more all around type horse.

If we take away the activities these horses are bred for, what then is the point of raising them at all? Should we just all have 1 to whatever number of horses, lets say 30, standing in our back yard un-trained, doing nothing, getting fat and foundering, so that some kid who would rather be playing with electronics ride it once a year? Or should we just let them die off and become extinct?

As competitors/owners we understand the value of these animals & every day we learn as well as research new feeds & health care to keep our horses feeling their best. Feed & veterinarian needs are always handled first before we would think of spending money on ourselves.

*Points made: I stuck with horses I raise/work with every day, but I am not dismissing other breeds, there are horses raised to be bucking horses, just like there are horses raised to be jumpers. And these horses love their jobs, I don't think you could convince a horse like Grated Coconut to be a backyard trail pony!)"
- FYI Grated Coconut is a Calgary Stampede owned bucking horse who has won many awards for top bareback and saddle bronc horse in the US and Canada. He's retired now and I'm 100% sure he is treated like friggin royalty at the ranch. Actually, I know that for a fact. And I know this is a chuckwagon thread, but the average bucking horse works for 120 seconds a year. 120 seconds. Probably less.

My thoughts: A lot of people in this thread have done a good job of presenting the pro-chuck side so I'm not going to really add to it. As rodeo competitors, chuck drivers and honestly, anybody in the horse business, we love our animals and we love our horses. We do treat them with the best possible care. That would be why I just paid off a very large vet bill to make sure my horse is at the best condition and not sore or in pain to make a run on the barrel pattern, and I'm eating ramen noodles and off the $1 menu at McDonalds. Steer wrestlers, calf ropers and chuck drivers do the exact same. Honestly, we have a lot of freaking money tied up in these horses, I can't think of a single reason we would treat them 'inhumanely.' To give a value, Perculatin aka Latte the horse that Mary Walker rides was purchased this year for $875,000. The average value of a horse that steps into the infield to compete in rodeo is northward of $60k. Probably way northward.

Our horses are athletes and we want them at their top condition, hence what we do from the best feed available, best vet care in the country and to the shoes we put on their feet and what kind of bit we put in their mouths. I can't count how many times I've turned out at a rodeo or barrel race because I didn't feel my horse was 110% getting off the trailer and either went home or ran a backup horse. I'm pretty positive chuckwagon drivers feel the same way, if that particular horse isn't feeling/looking 110% they will run another horse. Also- there is a rule in place and I don't know the exact number of days off the top of my head because its 2 am but a wagon horse and I also believe an outrider horse can only run so many days in a row before having a day off. And again, there are vet checks before every horse steps onto the track in chucks. If anyone is worried about 'drugs' or 'steroids' or 'masking agents' in chuckwagon racing, rodeo horses or even stock- there are preventative measures such as drug testing. I know the WPRA (Women's Professional Rodeo Association, the sanctioning body of the barrel racing) has strict guidelines of what can and can't be used and as barrel racers, we must follow this if we want to professionally rodeo. They tested randomly at Calgary last year and I'm going to assume they'll do the same this year and at random rodeos over the year.

When I was in high school my best friend at the time had a very nice rope horse. She retired him at 22 because she felt he didn't owe her a dime and he could live out the rest of his life in retirement. That horse ran up and down the fence line every time she pulled out of the yard and he wasn't in the trailer. Eventually she started taking him along because he got himself so worked up (and yes, there was another horse in the same pasture as him) and took him out of retirement. I don't think I've seen a happier horse than the day she backed him in the roping box after pulling him out of retirement.

I'll finish it with this statement- I honestly wish people would realize there is more than one side of a coin. This goes for 99.9% of the 'issues' out there in real life too, not just rodeo and chuckwagon racing. There is a reason for doing what we do, why we do it. Please do not jump to conclusions or believe what you read/hear, just because you saw it on Facebook or in the media. Next time someone has questions, please do ask someone knowledgeable and in the business and you might just be surprised at the answer you get.

Quoted the long post but for reason. IMHO Best post in this thread and one of the best of the year.

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Read Only

Do you think them trespassing on the track and locking themselves to the track did a single thing to stop the chuckwagons from being stopped in the future?

It got this discussion going, which had potentially changed the minds or simply informed the members of this message board on the issues involved here.

I imagine that this same, in depth discussion, is also going on in a dozen other locations around the Internet, at least.

It might not stop them, but it is getting people more informed

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by 2ArmBands

I love how ill informed people are that take the animal rights stance regarding the Stampede. Even more so I love how they make that stance and have their voice heard only 2 weeks of the year.

As a native Calgarian I actually find it offensive when people say we need to render the Stampede and find a new identity. Please.... This is a tradition that has been long deep rooted in our city. Don't like it ... Don't go. It's an event that defines this city like it or not. I certainly hope it doesn't become a "Country concert" like some have suggested.

Doing something because you have done it for a long time really isn't a good 'excuse'.

They had slavery in the US for a long time, but clearly that wasn't a good idea...

[Read Only]

Originally Posted by Rathji

It got this discussion going, which had potentially changed the minds or simply informed the members of this message board on the issues involved here.

I imagine that this same, in depth discussion, is also going on in a dozen other locations around the Internet, at least.

It might not stop them, but it is getting people more informed

Informed about what? That the chuckwagons use horses?

And has a single person who supported chuckwagons before changed their mind on the topic?

If anything the discussion has shown to many that didn't like chuckwagons many of the positives and why they aren't nearly as bad as people like those two morons try to make it seem. I can't imagine that was their goal with their stupid stunt.

[Chingas]

I am likely too redneck at heart to fully engage in this debate with an open mind, but every time I hear/read about someone who just wants to forget about the "Cowboy " heritage and how it shouldn't define Calgary or further more Alberta it really pisses me off. This may not be the right spot for it and I'm not looking for a fight but I think it needs to be said.

My grandparents and family have done a lot to help make Calgary what it is today and almost all of it can be associated with their rural roots. They don't live in Calgary, they are in a neighboring community and it is them and thousands of others just like them that helped to build Calgary. All of the new generation that think Calgary just happened to appear as it is today thanks to input only from the inside are ignorant to all of the hardwork and development that has been done with the help of your archaic, unimportant rural neighbors. To me you come across like spoiled brats. Calgary is not that old, and it is closer to its rural beginnings than many would like to admit. I'm not asking that you fully embrace the "Cowboy culture" just show a little respect to the other half of the people that made Calgary the fantastic city that it is today!

[Rathji]

Originally Posted by Read Only

Informed about what? That the chuckwagons use horses?

And has a single person who supported chuckwagons before changed their mind on the topic?

If anything the discussion has shown to many that didn't like chuckwagons many of the positives and why they aren't nearly as bad as people like those two morons try to make it seem. I can't imagine that was their goal with their stupid stunt.

Informing people, so they can make the best choice possible, doesn't always mean they will agree with you. It also doesn't mean they will make the right choice.

You can be sure that there is discussion based on this story that has only server to help their cause, rather than hurt it

[EldrickOnIce]

Originally Posted by Rathji

You can be sure that there is discussion based on this story that has only server to help their cause, rather than hurt it

Not exactly. Any intelligent discussion serves the cause of truth and perhaps further understanding, not necessarily anyone's particular agenda.
I think it's hard to imagine they have a cause outside of personal notoriety, as Resolute suggested earlier.

[Minnie]

Originally Posted by vegasbound

When I was in high school my best friend at the time had a very nice rope horse. She retired him at 22 because she felt he didn't owe her a dime and he could live out the rest of his life in retirement. That horse ran up and down the fence line every time she pulled out of the yard and he wasn't in the trailer. Eventually she started taking him along because he got himself so worked up (and yes, there was another horse in the same pasture as him) and took him out of retirement. I don't think I've seen a happier horse than the day she backed him in the roping box after pulling him out of retirement.

Apropos of nothing else in the thread, lol.....but....my husband and his father used to rope together. Hubby bought a former race horse out of Arizona, who got a horrific fence post puncture to the abdomen - intestines were hanging out (stomach/intestines intact, just protruding). They retired him, guy in Dawson Creek bought him but his shipping was delayed, and by the time the horse arrived, he decided he didn't want him anymore. Hubby went and tried him out and holy hell, that horse. He took to roping like a duck to water - loved to run, that horse. I got to ride that horse a couple of times and to say he ran like the wind was an understatement. I don't always like to subscribe human emotion to an animal, but I think this horse was truly thrilled to be back doing anything that involved running. He was a magnificent animal.

[#-3]

Honestly I can say I have not had allot of direct interactions with horses, other than being that 14 year old city kid that rode them for 1 day a years at summer camp. But I have been the Stampede Rodeo and chucks Many times, the National Championships in Edmonton and Las Vegas, and a number other Rodeos. I've gotten a chance to talk to a few of the Cowboys, and see them interact with the animals in the Barns/Pens.

All I can say on the topic is, anyone who thinks rodeo animals are mistreated is misinformed.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by Rathji

It got this discussion going

This discussion was going to happen anyway. Either because The Vancouver Humane Society continues to believe its own backyard is perfect and would have placed another newspaper ad, or because people might walk by the same four protesters (plus their children that they force to take part) who hold up signs outside the Vic Park LRT like they have the last few years.

These two idiots literally did nothing to advance their cause. But they made themselves famous. Huzzah, I suppose.

[Puppet Guy]

I think the protestors should really step up and offer to substitute for the animals in each event. I know I'd be willing to pay to see a bunch of hippies being roped and hog-tied.

[rotten42]

I'm going to be wearing this shirt to the grounds this year walking past the protesters