Face of Nation : A driver has been fined $10,000 and banned from competing in this Calgary Stampede and future ones after a horse died in Thursday’s chuckwagon races. It was the third horse death in this year’s Rangeland Derby.
The fine follows an independent chuckwagon safety commission review of the incident involving driver Chad Harden, in Heat 7 of the race, where Evan Salmond’s lead horse hit the guard rail and stumbled to the ground at Stampede Park.
“A disqualification also means he will not be invited to compete in the future,” a statement from Stampede management said.
Stampede management said in a statement that Harden, of Mulhurst Bay, south of Edmonton, got his wagon in the way of another driver, causing the third wagon that belonged to Salmond, whose hometown is Hudson Bay, Sask., to hit the rail.
“The Calgary Stampede has a zero tolerance policy for preventable accidents and injuries, and the care and safety of the animals that participate in our events is our highest priority,” the organization said in a statement.
Video of the incident appears to show a chuckwagon team colliding with Salmond’s team, causing the crash.
“With the death of two horses on previous nights of racing, this has been a difficult time for us and the greater chuckwagon community,” the Stampede said in the statement. “Seeing injuries, despite the best and safest conditions possible, is hard. Knowing an injury was avoidable is much harder.”
The Stampede’s roots can be traced to 1886, when the Calgary and District Agricultural Society held its first fair.
