Medicine Hat Rodeo
Darci Friesen
Nicknamed the Broncs and Honky Tonks Professional Indoor Rodeo, this Medicine Hat event will bring you closer to action than you ever believed possible. With seating as close as four feet from the fence - the only thing separating you from the bucking broncos and the careening cowboys – it may just smell, sound and feel like you’re in the midst of the mayhem. Held on the weekend of April 20th - 22nd , there will be all six of the main events each day: saddle bronc, bareback, team roping, steer wrestling, bull riding and ladies barrel racing. Following the rodeos on both Friday and Saturday evenings will be a fully licensed dance, complete with DJ.
Just shy of two months later, you will find the Stampede Grounds at Cypress Centre filled with folks sporting cowboy boots and hats once again – ready to embark on a weekend of Chuckwagon Racing. With world renowned cowboys – the best in the business, in fact – this four day weekend event, June 7th-10th, will see twelve heats of four chuckwagons each, every day. The sport, originally derived from the days of covered wagons and cattle drives, mimics real events that took place during that time. The chuckwagon was the place where the food was cooked and served to the cowboys during their long round-ups. It got to be that the chuckwagons would race each other to the next camp – having to quickly ready the horses, pack up and throw their cook stove into the back of the wagon... then go! In the modern rodeos, you will still see the process of throwing the stove (barrel) into the chuckwagon at the beginning of each race.
April 3rd will have the Chuckwagon competitors holding a tarp auction to raise money for the racing weekend. The `tarp`, is actually the material that you see covering the wagon. The tarp itself isn’t sold, but instead, the potential advertising space on each – that will be visible during the race – is.
For more information of the Medicine Hat Indoor Rodeo or Chuckwagon Race, go to www.mhstampede.com or call 403-527-1234