Chuckwagon racing

Chuckwagon racing is an equestrian rodeo sport in which drivers in a chuckwagon led by a team of Thoroughbred horses race around a track. The sport is most popular in the Prairie Provinces of Canada, where the World Professional Chuckwagon Association and the Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association, are the two major racing circuits. The most famous chuckwagon race in the world is held annually at the Calgary Stampede, where the total prize money for the ten-day event tops C$2.0 million. The WPCA submits 25 drivers to the Calgary, while the CPCA submits 11 drivers. The sport is controversial as horses and drivers are occasionally injured or killed, prompting animal welfare groups to call for the sport to be banned.

Chuckwagon racing is a team event, led by a driver who commands a team of horses pulling the chuckwagon, and is supported by two or four outriders, each racing individual thoroughbred horses that follow the chuckwagon. Each race typically involves three or four teams, and begins with the outriders "breaking camp", by tossing two tent poles (with four outriders only) and a barrel representing a camp stove into the back of their wagon before mounting their horses and following the wagons as they complete a figure eight around two barrels before circling a race track. The first wagon to cross the finish line typically wins, although various time penalties are handed out for infractions such as a barrel being knocked over, a tent pole or stove not loaded, wagon interference or an outrider crossing the finish line too far behind his wagon driver.

The first time chuckwagon races were held as a spectator sport was at the 1923 Calgary Stampede.Guy Weadick, who had founded the Stampede eleven years previously, invited ranchers to enter their chuckwagons and crews to compete for a total of $275 in prize money. In 2009, the total purse available to racers was $1.15 million. Additionally, drivers can earn the Guy Weadick Award, for overall sportsmanship and exemplifying the spirit of the Calgary Stampede, The Richard Cosgrave Memorial Award, named after former driver and 2 time aggregate winner Richard Cosgrave, killed in 1993, for the best aggregate time during the first 8 days of the Rangeland Derby, and the Orville Strandquist Award, named for the great cowboy Orville Strandquist, which recognizes top rookie driver (based on dollars won) during the Rangeland Derby year.

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