Celebrations over the 100th anniversary of the Calgary Stampede were marred Thursday night when three horses died as the result of a crash during the chuckwagon races.
There was no collision, but a lead horse for the team of driver Chad Harden suddenly went down, bringing two others horses with him and sending Harden and an outrider flying through the air.
Neither man was hurt but two of the horses had to be euthanized on the track due to their injuries. A fourth horse will require surgery for its injuries but is expected to survive.
Chuckwagon racing, among other Stampede events, are one of the deadliest festivities at the Stampede.
Take a look at animal deaths that have occurred in the Stampede’s 100 year history:
3: Number of horses that died in this year’s chuckwagon races. The Stampede was in its 7th of 11 days when the three horses died.
50: Number of horses that have died in chuckwagon races since 1986.
2: Number of human fatalities at the chuckwagon races. Outrider Eugene Jackson died on July 20, 1996 from head injuries and wagon driver Bill McEwan died on July 11, 1999 of head injuries received from a wagon crash.
4: Number of horses that died in the 2011 Calgary Stampede’s chuckwagon races.
17: Number of horses that have died in non-chuckwagon incidents, such as show horses dying from heart attacks, cattle penning fatal incidents or bucking events.
6: Number of horses that died in the 2010 Calgary Stampede. After these incidents, the Stampede introduced changes aimed at making chuckwagon races safer for horses and competitors.
2005: Dubbed the darkest year for Stampede animals – nine horses tumbled into the Bow River, one equine died following a race and one draught breed horse suffered a heart attack.
10: Number of calves that have had to be euthanized because of broken legs from roping events at the Stampede since 1986.
2002: The year that five horses died in race-related incidents, while one calf died in a roping event.
0: Number of animal deaths in 2003, 2004 and 2008.
2009: The year that one steer died during steer wrestling and two horses died following race-related illnesses.
100: Number of chuckwagon horses studied by the University of Calgary.
Researchers are looking into horses’ heart rates and electrical activity to see if their findings can reduce animal deaths.
Take a look at the Vancouver Human Society’s record of animal deaths at the Stampede Rodeo and Chuckwagon dating back to 1986.
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