Calgary Stampede...

Monday 12 July - We're off to the rodeo. Calgary Stampede is advertised as one of the greatest outdoor shows on earth and it was truly an amazing experience. Since 1912, the Calgary Stampede has been built on world-famous events. The Chuckwagons and Rodeo are one of a kind. There are six major events in the Rodeo – Bareback, Bull Riding, Barrel Racing, Saddle Bronc, Steer Wrestling and Tie-Down Roping are the backbone of the Stampede Rodeo. Add in Novice Bareback, Novice Saddle Bronc, Junior Steer Riding and Wild Pony Racing for the youngsters and you've got the best rodeo in the world.

Tonia, Les, Chris, Tegan, Fraser and myself took the drive from Canmore to Calgary which took just over an hour and luckily found a parking space in a small local church (we felt better paying for parking and giving the money to a church) just minutes walk from the stampede grounds. We were all dressed in our cowboy hats and boots and ready for a great day. Once into the grounds we were faced with all sorts of events going on throughout the day before the actual rodeo started at 1.30pm. Initially we were faced with a huge fairground but all around the grounds were smaller shows going on, a large indoor mall, an arts hall which had some amazing paintings, lots of food stalls, an Indian village, Budweiser Clydesdales Quintessential Draft horses to name a few events. After spending a couple of hours wondering around we made our way to our seats. All morning the weather had been great, however as we took our seats the skies went dark. The opening ceremony for the rodeo was great and fast paced. As with all Canadian shows/events the Canadian anthem was played and the whole stadium stood and removed their cowboy hats. All the cowboys participating in the competitions came out to take a round of applause before getting ready for some amazing rides.

The weather had been fantastic all day however as the rodeo started the skies turned black and before we knew it thunder and lightning was crashing over our heads. At first our seats were fine however the wind direction changed and at one point the rodeo stopped. We later found out that it was the worst weather for the stampede in the last 32 years. The grounds soon became a swomp of mud which made it all a lot harder for all the cowboys, however cowboys are as hard a nails - why would someone want to ride a mad bull? With so much rain the conditions were extremely hard and dangerous with one horse breaking its back and a young bull rider falling off and the bull landing on top of him, luckily (well sort of) it was only a young small bull.

The whole rodeo was amazing and credit to all the cowboys and cowgirls who rode throughout the afternoon. The prize money for all the winners in each of their categories was very surprising - the winner of the cowgirls barrel racing won $10,000 (approx £7,500) for 17seconds ride. We all left the stampede a little colder than we had arrived but had been part of an amazing experience and thoroughly enjoyed watching the rodeo. So off we drove home to Canmore where Tegan and Fraser were put to bed and we jumped into the hot tub.