New chuckwagon and rodeo rules make safety a priority for Stampede

CALGARY – The Calgary Stampede has officially announced changes to the Rangeland Derby and Stampede Rodeo in an effort to make them safer for participants and animals.

The new rules would see all horses be examined by veterinarians upon arrival at the Calgary Stampede before they are allowed to compete in the Rangeland Derby.

As well, during the rodeo a judge will now have the discretion of calling a re-run or a no-time if a calf or steer appears to be injured during the tie-down roping and steer wrestling events.

During Stampede 2010, a number of animals were killed during the chuckwagon and rodeo competitions. An evening of the Rangeland Derby was cancelled for the first time in Stampede history for safety reasons.

“We’re confident the Stampede is making these important rule and format changes to make the Rangeland Derby even safer for our drivers, riders and horses,” said Pat Powell, President of the WPCA.

The new rules will also include reducing the number of outriders from four to just two per wagon. This new format is in line with racing formats for the World Professional Chuckwagon Association (WPCA) and the Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association (CPCA).

“The safety of all participants in the Calgary Stampede – both animal and humans – is our number our priority and always has been,” said Paul Rosenberg, vice president of programming at the Stampede.

“These changes help insure that rodeo and chuckwagon racing at the Calgary Stampede remain as two of the most exciting sports in the world.”

However, some outriders and drivers say the change could do more harm than good.

“The horses are done. There’s probably 75 to 100 horses that will be going for slaughter,” says Jim Nevada, CPCA driver.

But the Stampede disagrees, stating there are plenty of uses for horses that will no longer be racing on the half-mile of hell, including show jumpers and the polo community.

The new rules will be in effect for this year’s Calgary Stampede, running July 8th through 17th.

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A complete list of rule and format changes:

Rangeland Derby

Outrider numbers:

– Align with both professional chuckwagon associations and reduce the number of outriders per heat from four to two.

Fitness to compete:

– All horses will be given a thorough inspection by a team of veterinarians upon arrival at Stampede Park and prior to competition.

– Drivers must submit an inventory of horses for competition and the inventory of horses will be subject to ongoing veterinarian inspections.-_ Drivers will be asked to submit a list of horses competing daily by 4 p.m. for a thorough pre-race inspection. If a horse is found not fit to compete, it will be “scratched” for that evening.

– Post-race inspections of all horses as they leave the track. Formula for rest days for wagon and outrider horses:

– Mandatory rest days for all horses – at least one rest day in four and a horse cannot run more that three consecutive days.

Enhanced Track Maintenance:

– Two additional harrowings will be completed with the option of adding water to the track surface. Harrowing would take place after heats 2, 4, 6 and 8.

– Competitors will be rotated in the heats so as to allow all drivers to compete on a freshly groomed surface in heats 1 – 8. Heat 9 will always run on a freshly groomed surface.

Calgary Stampede Rodeo

Obvious injury:

– At a judges discretion, if a calf (tie-down roping) or a steer (steer wrestling) exhibits an obvious injury during competition, the contestant will be flagged “out” and receive either a re-run or, in the judges discretion, if the injury was caused by the contestant, a “no-time”.

New guideline for Jerk-down rule:

– If a calf is jerked off all four feet and its body touches the ground prior to the roper reaching the calf, the roper will be disqualified from that go-round.

Legal catch:

– In tie-down roping, any catch, other that a clean head catch, will result in the roper being disqualified from that go-round. All other Tie-Down Roping rules will be enforced as per the 2011 CPRA rulebook.