Horse euthanized following Calgary Stampede chuckwagon race injury

A chuckwagon racing horse was euthanized Thursday night after suffering a serious injury during the Calgary Stampede.

The horse, a member of Cody Ridsdale's team, was injured during the fourth heat of the Rangeland Derby at Stampede Park.

Calgary Stampede officials say the decision to put the animal down was made by Ridsdale following a veterinary assessment.

Ridsdale has declined media requests according to Calgary Stampede officials, but CTV News is working to get in touch with his team.

The animal's death was the first horse death of this year's 10-day event.

Rules for the Stampede chuckwagon races have since been revised following a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-10 pandemic.

New rules include allowing just three chuckwagons to compete in each race instead of four and the addition of foam barriers near the outside rails to protect horses.

A partnership with University of Calgary researchers has also been struck with the Calgary Stampede to analyze track conditions and minimize the risk of injury.

Despite those changes, award-winning country music singer Jann Arden is still calling out the Stampede for its long history of animal deaths.

“As long as people keep going to the rodeos, innocent animals will be injured and killed,” said Arden in a statement to CTV News.

“This is about demand. People ultimately decide the fate of all animals with their willingness to pay.”

The death is now prompting animal law organization, Animal Justice to call for an animal cruelty investigation.

Executive director Camille Labchuk says a complaint has been filed to the Calgary Humane Society as the group also demands that the city outlaw chuckwagon racing all together.

“It's entirely predictable and the Stampede knows full well as do the racers that horses will very likely die in this event,” said Labchuk.

“So when you have that kind of risk and danger that's foreseeable, we believe that's against the law and that the stampede should be held to account just like anyone else would be in the province of Alberta.”

The Vancouver Humane Society (VHS) has also long been calling for an end to chuckwagon racing, deeming the event to be dangerous for both horses and people.

“This is yet another incident that drives home why we’re calling for the Stampede to drop the chuckwagon event,” said VHS campaign director Emily Pickett.

“These races are run at high risk with the horses and the wagons in close proximity to each other so there's a strong likelihood of chain reactions when one horse becomes injured or falls or other horses and other wagons can become impacted.”

Pickett adds that VHS has also filed a complaint regarding another incident at the Stampede rodeo in which video appears to show a man repeatedly striking a horse in the face when the animal refused to leave the bucking chute.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), another organization that has long fought against chuckwagon racing at the Calgary Stampede, also released a statement regarding the recent death.

It says the nature of the sport results in serious injuries and deaths of animals.

"Catastrophic injuries and deaths will be inevitable as long as the Calgary Stampede forces horses to pull wagons at breakneck speeds," said PETA's executive vice-president Tracy Reiman.

"Since more than 70 gentle horses have been run to death at this event so far, PETA is calling on Alberta Premier Jason Kenney to end the chuckwagon races before the death toll rises."

 

VHS has recorded more than 70 horse deaths in recent years, including six alone in the 2019 Stampede chuckwagon races.

In fact, there have only been three years over the last two decades that Stampede chuckwagon racing did not result in horse fatalities: 2003, 2004, and 2016.

Calgary Stampede CEO Joel Cowley is expected to provide additional information and address questions from the media later Friday.