CALGARY – One horse has died and a Saskatchewan chuckwagon driver is injured following two separate incidents at the Calgary Stampede.
During morning training on Tuesday, a wagon horse belonging to driver Reg Johnston collapsed and died. The 12-year-old thoroughbred named Denny was previously a racehorse in the Vancouver area, before being bought by a Chuckwagon driver. Denny had last raced at the Ponoka Stampede, about one week ago.
A post-mortem was ordered to determine the cause of death, and veterinarians say it died from an aneurysm.
Meantime, driver Tim Haroldson, of Melfort, Sask., was a passenger on a wagon being driven by Jerry Bremner, when the wagon rolled while turning around a barrel. Haroldson was thrown off, and had to be taken to hospital in serious but stable condition.
“It was just a total freak accident,” said a visibly shaken Bremner. “We caught a bit of an edge…it was just an accident.”
He still plans to race tonight, in Haroldson’s honour.
“We’re prepared to go out there are compete as we always do.”
“Tim is stable and resting well…we don’t forsee any issues,” adds Darcy Simoneau, a Haroldson family spokesperson. “From the family standpoint it’s scary.
“But things happen, they happen for a reason…the prognosis is really good.”
The Calgary Stampede is now reviewing the incident, and say initial indications are that there was nothing wrong with the wagon, horses or track at the time.
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