聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 Well it was rodeo weekend again in the area with bull riding in Manor and the professional rodeo in Kennedy.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 So, what does that mean? It鈥檚 time to talk about thoughts surrounding rodeos. Every year it comes up as a concern鈥� people become very vocal about the treatment of animals and a discussion always follows.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 A headlining story this year from the Brampton Guardian was 鈥淣o animal deaths at Calgary Stampede this year.鈥� The last time that happened was in 2003 apparently. But to me that kind of news wasn鈥檛 noteworthy. Over the last few years yes there were a few animal injuries here and a couple of deaths of animals there, it is risky business, but business those animals live for. They鈥檙e performers and the Calgary rodeo is their stage.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Stock contractors care about their animals deeply. A couple years ago I spoke with Jim Lawrence about the rough stock he raises and you could tell by the way he spoke about his animals that he and his family care for them. They take pride in their animals and they don鈥檛 want to see them injured, they want to see them perform.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And for those that are bringing their horses to use in the timed events such as steer wrestling and tie down roping, those are likely the same animals they use day in and out on the ranch because those timed events are all skills that cowboys may use in everyday life. So, the bonds that develop between themselves and their horses are strong.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 The same thing goes for horses and the ladies in the barrel racing. They spend a ton of time together and develop a strong bond. They know each other. They know how they react at each barrel.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 I鈥檝e heard a story that an old horse that was retired was looking a little down. The individual didn鈥檛 ride them in the arena, the horse was retired, but she set out barrels and put the horse in the corral. The horse actually went and did the pattern multiple times over. The horse loved it. The horse loved performing and loved the race of the barrels鈥� and although retired and old, it remembered the pattern and perked right up after getting to do it.
聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 So, when people say that rodeos are relics of the past and shouldn鈥檛 exist anymore I would have to disagree. Those horses are bred for a purpose and they find satisfaction in doing what they were bred to do. To say that rodeos are relics is like saying those animals are no longer relevant, which sounds worse for them as a species than being part of a rodeo.
