Horse dies at Pro Rodeo; despite fatal injury Ag Society says rodeo was a success

The president of the Bonnyville Agricultural Society said the death of a bucking horse on Friday night at the Bonnyville Pro Rodeo was unfortunate and something the society never likes to see.

During the saddle bronc competition, a horse at the end of its run slowed down but did not stop. 

The horse awkwardly hit the east barricade between its neck and head and collapsed to the ground. 

“There’s nobody that feels worse than the rest of us here that something like that has to happen from time to time. It was unfortunate that it happened here,” said Corey Styba, president of the Bonnyville Ag Society.

Shane Franklin supplies the rough stock for the rodeo and said the accident to his horse Painted Rocket was terrible.

“It’s a rare occurrence. And it’s one of the hazards that we face in the livestock industry. The chances of that happening are very slim, but when it does happen, and it’s just like people get hit down the road, the chances are very slim, but it does happen,” said Franklin.

“It’s terrible for us. That was an up and coming young star and like in any sport, an injury is an injury. And unfortunately, this time, it was a death. And we can do nothing about it, we just go on.”

Franklin added that this fatal injury at the rodeo was the first he’s seen from one of his livestock in over five years.

Styba said the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association survey showed that injuries or deaths to athletes in the rodeo is less than five hundredths of a per cent (0.05).

“They showed that the injury rate for livestock in the last that allows about 0.001 per cent of an animal being injured per showing, every time it enters that professional arena. When you compare that to football or those major contact sports, their injury rates are in five to nine per cent.

“But it’s a completely unfortunate event. It’s so low in statistics that it’s rare but it does happen,” said Styba.

Overall, Styba said the pro rodeo went well with a better showing of fans on the Saturday night who stayed for country performer Drew Gregory in the beer gardens.

“It was flawless seeing the best performers in professional rodeo out there.

“Between the Saturday we had really good numbers at the Rodeo and the country show. On Friday we were battling something.

“We always did a kid’s night on the Friday’s, so we’re going to bring that back again next year to increase the attendance,” said Styba.

The Bonnyville Ag Society is also looking at having the Rodeo Queen pageant return that weekend, and get the business challenge of painting storefront windows rolling again for next year.

June could be also be a full “ag month” in years to come, Styba teased.

The Canadian Indian Relay Racing Association has expressed interest in returning to Bonnyville, after Kehewin hosted the event as part of their Treaty Week celebration.

Stock supplier Shane Franklin talks about his cloned horses

“We’re going to buck a bunch of horses out of our clone. We were the first guys in professional rodeo in the world to clone a bucking horse. We got some clones bucking out of him tonight and tomorrow night,” said Shane Franklin.

Airwolf was the original horse that Franklin and his team cloned. He said it’s crazy to think decades ago this is a part of the business.

“On paper, it’s kind of like picking a hockey team and starting with Mario [Lemieux] and Wayne [Gretzky]. Them in your starting lineup, well this is gonna be the same thing.

“We bucked them horses and they showed excellent potential. This was their debut at the Bonnyville Pro Rodeo and they’ll be some of them who go to Sundre next week and the rodeos we do throughout the summer.”