ChuckWagons and protesters

[Jamie]

Another sad night at the Stampede (Sat) Unfortunately they have had to put down 3 Horses due to a crash.
I know they suspended Kelly Sutherland for one night, but does that seem like enough to you? I found the replays to be inconclusive, but for those involved they would like to hang this guy.

Just wondering what everyones opinion is regarding the whole thing. Are chucks and rodeo to dangerous?

Personally I would like to tie a few of the protesters behind a wagon and let em go..

As for the Outrider who jumped in the wagon. WOW!
Good on him

Jamie

i think rodeo in general is animal abuse, and no, im not a PETA lover, i am a hunter and fisher.

[WCTHEMI]

I don't know enough about it to pass judgement on the suspension, but that outrider was a very brave guy, thats for sure.

[Duk Dog]

I haven't seen a replay at all - so can't comment on the incident. Personally I am a big fan of the rodeo and chucks. All of the stock that is owned or rode is worth its weight in gold to those that rodeo.

Not sure that armchair judging who was at fault will accomplish much but it is very sad that three horses died and a driver was injured. I personally don't see how rodeo is cruel to animals. They live a darned good life and are well cared for and get to do what they are bred for. It's far better than the alternative. Anytime we utilize the skills of animals we are putting them in some peril. I'm sure a number of hunting dogs are killed each year in the field through human error and I know that each year some mountain horses meet their fate at the hands of humans. The way I look at rodeo, there is no intention to hurt the animals, they are very well cared for and they get to do what they were bred for. How is that cruelty to animals?

im talking about calf roping and bull riding mainly and also i just voiced my opinion.

Bulls are likely the best cared for of all the rodeo stock. A good bucking bull can quite literally be worth his weight in gold. Not sure how throwing a 150 pound cowboy off your back and then trying to stomp him into the ground equates to animal abuse. Trust me when I say that stock contractors baby their bucking bulls. They get treated far better than many people treat their kids.

[Jamie]

Sorry guys, I wasn't asking specifically what they thought of Kelly being suspended. Like I said, the replays were inconsistent at best.
I was just looking for everyones thoughts on the whole sport, including the danger to the horses and the drivers and the outriders and how all this will be viewed by the general public.

My own personal opinion is that the Animals are treated like gold and at the end of the day it is a dangerous game. But the organizations are doing all they can to keep it safe.

Jamie

Originally Posted by -NDN-

im talking about calf roping and bull riding mainly and also i just voiced my opinion.

Calf roping is a little harsh..but dude...riding bulls. They are treated like the rock stars of the rodeo.

As far as the wagons...well seeing that I am a relate to Orville Stranquist...It's in my blood

Just wondering what everyones opinion is regarding the whole thing. Are chucks and rodeo to dangerous?

I dont think they are dangerous just because of a few bad Drivers or should i say driver error.When is the last time You didnt hear of a crash it's not the horse's fault.

Personally I would like to tie a few of the protesters behind a wagon and let em go..

There is alway going to be someone protesting about someone or something not much you can do with them .

[catnthehat]

Originally Posted by -NDN-

i think rodeo in general is animal abuse, and no, im not a PETA lover, i am a hunter and fisher.

I guess branding, cutting, and all the other stuff that goes along with a bovine's journey to thee meat packer's is cruel also.
not to mention making a gun cog swim all day retrieving duckss, or making a greyhound run his guts out afteer a coyote, or a beagle up to his arse chasing some stupid rabbit, or making
a walker hound run till he drops on a fox, or ......
Cat

[gunslinger]

chuckwagon racing has to be one of the most adrenaline pumping things to watch when you are on the front row watching, you look at the faces of the guys driving them wagons and there putting everythign into there job as they can,,,guys this is a every weekend pro sport...these horses are highly trained and ready for the highest level of racing,,sure there is going to be a few accidents along this very long circuit they run,,but every sport has the odd accident,,,,,puck in the face,,,baseball in the head,,,rider falling off his race horse,,,wagons getting tangled up..... these horses are cared for and loved by these drivers as its there living,,,,sad for the horses but cruel not in the least.
its a very compettive sport and i love wathcing it.

[roger]

personally i find the whole rodeo thing makes me uneasy with regard to animal use (or abuse depending how you look at it), but i figger ive got my issues with my desires to trophy hunt.
-so they kinda cross each other out.
-they can have there little big hat festival and i have my stuff. just dont expect me to jump up and down in support the rodeo and its lifestyle.
-animals are on this earth to used however we humans see fit, entertainment, comfort or supper.
-to ban or not to ban a individual in any club is up to the peirs/ regulatory body within any well run organization, obviously they deemed it nesc.
happy trails..y'all

[CNP]

"Are chucks and rodeo too dangerous?"

Danger is not for everyone, that's why we all have different comfort levels. I'm a cautious person, but I must admit I like to watch a fight to see if it will break out into a hockey game.

No doubt, lots of rodeo events expose animals and persons to higher levels of risk. Just as in hockey, knowing the risk, people choose to participate in rodeo events. So, when you ask if chucks and rodeo are too dangerous are you asking on behalf of people or animals? Most protesters couldn't give a dam about risk to people because they are fixated on the animals. If it's abuse then it should not be tolerated. I don't believe it is abuse (I haven't seen any), I accept that it has risk.......so is it too dangerous? Not from my tv screen.

[Redfrog]

I say "LET 'ER BUCK!!!!!!!!"


I think Nascar is cruel . Having to watch it I mean. "Stand on it and turn left"

Wahoo!! wake me when it's over.

If you want danger and adrenaline rush and cruelty to dumb beasts, try marriage. It's got it all.

The stock in rodeo's are treated better than any other stock I have seen. I live in the feedlot belt of S.A. You should see the Urine and feces infested pens they have to live in. And when it rains it's 5 times as bad. These are the animals you buy at the supermarket. I recently drove by a summer horse riding camp in the Oldman river. They had the worst looking horses I have ever seen. Very skinny and underfed/overworked. People pay good money to "abuse" these horses.
As stated before, the stock is well taken care of at the stampede. I would like to see 100,000 people watch a feedlot or the outfitters horses for a day and see how much bad publicity they would get.

[Duk Dog]

One of the chuck drivers (Can't remember his name) had hit the mandatory retirement age of 65 and sold off all his stuff on Saturday. $39,000 for his top horse - that sure isn't money reserved for an animal headed for the glue factory. Just proof of the value of these animals.

[Jamie]

Originally Posted by 50BMG

Calf roping is a little harsh..but dude...riding bulls. They are treated like the rock stars of the rodeo.

As far as the wagons...well seeing that I am a relate to Orville Stranquist...It's in my blood

50 I wonder if we have met? I grew up hanging out a bit with the Mellville boys.
My dad was the main guy when Keith Construction sponsered Orville back in the late 70's. That was my introduction to this great sport.

Jamie

[steveo10]

Its so cruel! 1 day i seen a herd of cattle all pinned in on a quarter section. JK.

What a joke. I do agree lets tie those treehuggin, hippie, protestors behind a wagon

[M70]

Calf roping is really taking a beating recently with the decision by the Cloverdale Rodeo to ban the event. With that the other smaller rodeos going on in and around that same weekend are going to see a major drop in cowboys attending. I hope that the Stampede doesn't bend and break to the long hair, dope smoking, hemp wearing, VW bus driving, folk song set. (I'm just joking here.... I like long hair on women.)

In my opinion, it's the calf ropers and the saddle bronce riders who are the best horsemen in the show. To the outside public, it's the bullriders that cause the most excitement but bullriding hasn't the history and tradition associated with the roping and saddlebronc.

I suppose calling calf roping "Tie Down Roping" is an attempt to appease the masses who consider roping a calf cruel but as someone else said watching a calf get branded and castrated is probably just as tough to watch for some.
Cowboys are penalized if they flip the calf right over onto it's back, the calves brought to the rodeos are healthy and the trained horses are athletes in their own right.

I'm no cowboy but long live the Stampede!

[Okotokian]

I have mixed feelings about it myself. I have enjoyed watching the rodeo and the chucks, and I appreciate the cultural place they hold in the west.

On the other hand, the animal use does bother me a bit. Horses seem to get killed in the chucks many years. It does little good to look at one incident and try to lay blame. The event just has an inherent danger for horses. As for the rodeo, only the calf roping (now called "tie down roping" to avoid calling it what it really is) bugs me. I'd see chucks being banned before rodeo, I think.... Don't think anything will happen for a long time though.

PS, I never go to the circus for the animal reason... I suspect circus animals are treated much worse than rodeo stock.

[Redfrog]

"I like long hair on women.)

"

Me too, but not on their legs or armpits.
Now that's cruel!!!


Otokian, how about boxing? do you feel bad about some guy getting his face pummelled to pudding?

how about boxing? do you feel bad about some guy getting his face pummelled to pudding?

now thats a good one redfrog or how about getting part of your ear bit off while boxing

[brownbomber]

yeah i can think of a lot more activities that are more cruel than a rodeo and chuckwagon races. sure someone might have made mistakes to cause an accident but is sport in general cruel heck no. if there is anything i don't like i have to agree with the guy who didn't like the circus. i grew up on seeing branding and calves being castrated and such and it didn't bug me too much because well i understood the purpose of it all. lots of people who don't understand the traditions of the west can't see why it's nesecarry to do some of the things people out here do. if only they understood the crappy conditions of the chickens that provide their eggs, or various other ways that corporations turn a profit at the expense of animals they might change what they are protesting. but it's a matter of convenience for most people. it's right in front of you on the news presented by the media in a chilling way and leads you to your decision and your judgement on the issue, it's not the day to day thing that you probably know but keep it at the back of your mind because you can't be outraged by something as trivial as how you obtained your food. so what i'm saying is look at what you are doing yourself before you judge something else to be cruel to animals.

[lgu5]

Originally Posted by Redfrog

I say "LET 'ER BUCK!!!!!!!!"


I think Nascar is cruel . Having to watch it I mean. "Stand on it and turn left"

Wahoo!! wake me when it's over.

If you want danger and adrenaline rush and cruelty to dumb beasts, try marriage. It's got it all.

TIMES 2!!!!

VW bus driving

Heeeeey! There's many a VW van that has carried its share of moose meat...

Man, I miss my '69 Window Van... (deep sigh) And I kept it stock too, none of that flower splotchy tie-died broken-cross cr*p (even though my friends insisted I would paint it that way... Ugh...)

Oh, and as for rodeo, let 'er rip. You'd be hard pressed to find a tougher, more gutsy breed than rodeo folk.

Stinky

[Lethalconnection]

Well the way i see it if they were to ban all the rodeo and chucks in the calgary stampede well it can no longer be called the Stampede may as well just call it Midway, and i will be damned if i will let a bunch of tree huggers put a stop to a 95 year old tradition just because they think the animals are being treated poorley. As many have said these animals are treated amazingly. I know i would be takin real good care of a 100,000 dollar bull which is what some of them go for and sometimes more then that, because they are bred and raised to have people riding them just like a a hunting dog is trained to retrieve animals.

As for calf roping, once again they are born and raised and trained for that, they dont just pick some random calf and throw it in a there they are selectively bred and choosen for it. Plus i dont even see the abuse in it. When they rope it the rope slids down the neck and puts most of the pressure on the shoulders and upper sternum, so it doesnt tighten up on the throat and doesnt choke them, then the cowboy flips them on the side and ropes the legs together, to me steer wrestling would be worse then calf roping cause the animal has a cowboy grabbing it, stopping it in its tracks, and flipping it over by its head. But those animals have such strong necks and they are all well built and never have i heard of a calf or steer getting hurt or killed in these events. IVe heard more animals dieing from racing.

So the way i see it, i think the treehuggers and PETA should concentrate there efforts more on animals that are actually being treated poorley.

[lazy ike]

Compared to other cultural events in other countries, eg. fox hunting, bull fighting, cock fighting and soccer i think the Rodeo's just fine. Hell, at Water Valley they still have the balls to call it calf roping(for thats what it is) and hopefully DogPound will be the same this week. i don't often go to the rodeo @ the Stampede becuase the crouds suck ass and to be sure they are partially responsible for the changes we're seeing today due to their ignorance about the sport.

[mikeo2]

First of all, those wagon horses are cared for and loved like one of the family. I personally have more than buddy involved in Chuckwagons and one of them just happens to be Chanse Vigen, the outrider who jumped into the wagon. If it wasn't for chuckwagons 90% of those horses would have been sent to the glue factory years ago because they are either retired from the main race track or are to wild to be riden on the race track.

Secondly, Kelly Sutherland should be suspended for more than just the one night. Ray Mitsuing, who was in the middle, was yelling at Kelly to get over because he had no room. Kelly kept coming in and finally hit Ray who then ended up hitting Gary Gorst. I was there and saw it with my own eyes and have heard everyone's side of the story. Kelly is notorious for being a super aggresive driver and taking risks just to win the race, maybe thats why he is the King. But personally I feel he should be held responsible and be suspended more than that one night. The two lead horses that were sold in the auction got $38,000 or whatever but they were not nearly the quality of the horses that died. Its sad to see a horse die like that but they were born to run and its what they truly love doing. I also saw on OLN last night that some of the good bucking bulls are sold for half a million dollars, so if you think those animals are not pampered and cared for you're crazy.

[Grizzly Adams]

I guess it's easy enought to say that rodeo constitutes animal abuse, but these animals are raised for a purpose and the owners treat them like a member of the family. They are putting their lives on the line just as much, as their horses. You want to see some abused horses? just visit one of those horse auctions held every week or so. Most of those come from backyard owners, who don't have a clue about what care such an animal requires. These are the same people who scream to high heaven when something like this happens.
Some of us have forgotten that we owe our continued existence to making use of the animals around us.
Grizz