Chad Harden of Spartan Controls races his wagon in front of Curtis Morin of Western Sports Foundation in heat one of the the chuckwagon races during the Calgary Stampede in Calgary, July 8, 2019.A chuckwagon driver has been thrown out of the Calgary Stampede and handed an indefinite ban for the first time in the event’s history after a mid-race collision led to the death of a competitor’s horse.
Mr. Harden was leading his wagon and four horses around the dirt track on Thursday night when he squeezed another driver to his left toward the inside of the track. That driver, Danny Ringuette, collided with Evan Salmond and his horses, who was trying to pass him beside the rail that marks the edge of the track.A horse died earlier in the Stampede from a heart attack and another broke its leg during a race. Unlike those deaths, the incident started by Mr.
The incident comes as there has been more attention paid to the deaths of horses, especially in thoroughbred racing. More than 30 horses died this season at the Santa Anita race track in Southern California, owned by Toronto’s Stronach family. The possible lifetime ban for Mr. Harden, of Mulhurst Bay, south of Edmonton, comes after riders have been reminded on an annual basis to place the safety of their animals above possibly risky manoeuvres on the track, said the head of the chuckwagon safety commission.