Latest news with #CalgaryStampede
The Star
6 hours ago
- Sport
- The Star
Canadian women are leaving their mark in ranch bronc riding
Sophia Bunney launched the first time she tried ranch bronc riding, landing 'quite a ways away from the horse.' 'I'm very stubborn and I don't like being defeated,' said the 18-year-old from Cessford, Alberta. In other words, the teenager was hooked on a sport that pits women against bucking horses for eight seconds. 'I always kind of wanted to hop on a bronc,' Bunney said. 'In Grade Three, we did 'what do you want to be when you grow up?' and I said I wanted to be a female bronc rider.' Unlike saddle bronco riding, a rodeo mainstay, ranch bronc uses a regular western saddle – not a specialised one – and riders hang on with two hands instead of one. A hand is on a rein and the other on a strap wrapped around the saddle horn. Pearl Kersey, who won the Canadian women's ranch bronc title recently in Ponoka, Alberta, is president of Women's Ranch Bronc Canada and teaches it at clinics. 'I've got teenagers, 20-year-olds, 30-year-olds and this year a woman in her 50s. I was like, 'You sure?'' Kersey said. 'She doesn't want to compete. She wants to try it before she gets too old. We have bucking machines. She doesn't necessarily need to get on a horse. They can go through all the drills and the bucking machine, and if they're comfortable enough, they can get on a horse.' It took a while for 19-year-old Blayne Bedard, who grew up cow riding in the Canadian Girls Rodeo Association, to master keeping her feet forward toward the horse's shoulders. 'If they come back, I'm like a pendulum and I just go head over teakettle,' Bedard said. 'For the longest time, that was my biggest problem with riding ranch bronc and why I kept bucking off was because my feet weren't moving and they'd come behind me and I'd get lawn-darted right away.' She's improved to the point where Bedard has competed in the last two Canadian championships. 'I like the look of it, too,' Bedard said. 'You get cool pictures.' More events are including women One of the lessons Bedard picked up at a Kersey clinic had nothing to do with riding form – and everything to do with what goes inside a boot. 'I put baby powder in my boots every time before I ride, and I wear my mum's boots that are a size too big for me, because if you get your foot stuck in a stirrup – which I've had a few times – you need your boot to be able to come off so you're not being dragged by the horse,' she said. Women's ranch bronc isn't part of the US$2.1mil (RM8.9mil) Calgary Stampede recently, but women's breakaway roping debuted at the 10-day rodeo. Breakaway and barrel racing are the two women's events on a programme that also features men's bull riding, saddle bronc, bareback, steer wrestling and tie-down roping. The Ponoka Stampede adding women's ranch bronc to its lineup in 2022 was a big step forward, Kersey said. Inclusion in the Calgary Stampede would be another milestone. 'The ultimate is the same with girls in breakaway roping, which is getting into pro rodeos because that's when you get the big money,' she said. 'We're way bigger with the added money than we were, but it takes time. ... It takes a while to get contestant numbers up.' A confidence boost Kersey, 36, qualified for the world finals last month in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where she won in 2019 and has twice finished second. Kersey intends to retire from competition after this year, but continue teaching. One of her students, Calgary's Emma Eastwood, picked it up quickly thanks to years of riding horses and a stint as an amateur jockey. She attended Kersey's clinics last fall and this spring, and won an event in just her third time competing. 'It is difficult to try and think through your ride and hang on through all that adrenaline,' said the 27-year-old massage therapist. 'Things kind of get a little blurry, and it's hard to process everything going on so quickly.' Rodeo bucking events have traditionally been the domain of men. Kersey, Eastwood and Bedard say the cowboys have been welcoming, though Bunney's experience has been mixed. Kersey said she has heard from many. 'Women have come up to me and said, 'Thank you for doing what you're doing.' They might not go into ranch broncs, but it just gave them the power in themselves to go pursue something that they wanted that they didn't think they could because they were women,' Kersey said. 'Other girls tell me, 'I saw you ride at Ponoka,' and they're like 'I want to try it.' Sometimes it's a confidence-booster thing. Sometimes they want to see if they'll like it and some are like 'Yeah, I'm doing this.'' – AP
a day ago
- Entertainment
Country singer Dallas Smith winks at Trump's annexation threats with 51-date tour
Country singer Dallas Smith isn't looking to stir the political pot, but he admits it's no coincidence that his upcoming Canadian concert tour is booked for 51 dates. In a wink to U.S. President Donald Trump's threats of making Canada the 51st state, the British Columbia-born country singer and frontman of rock band Default says he's investing in his homeland with an acoustic tour that rolls through 51 communities starting this fall. We were close to that number and then we said let's just make that happen, he said with a laugh in a recent interview. It was important for me to come, especially at this time, [with] a lot of Canadian pride. I want to get out there, really go hard, and visit all these places that I haven't been and see the country. The Dallas Smith & His Band (Unplugged) tour will focus on places he's never toured before and is mostly booked in small theatre venues of several hundred to a thousand seats. Enlarge image (new window) Dallas Smith poses on the red carpet at the Canadian Country Music Awards in Calgary, Alta., Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. Photo: The Canadian Press / Jeff McIntosh He starts in Fort St. John, B.C., on Oct. 3 and continues to less-travelled communities such as Kitimat, B.C., Enoch, M.B. and Wingham, Ont. By the time it's over, Smith will have wound through nine of the 10 provinces — skipping Newfoundland and Labrador and the territories — reaching his final stop in Belleville, Ont., on Dec. 14. Sporting a red-brimmed maple leaf baseball cap emblazoned with Canada, Smith explained the reasons behind making Canada his main focus for the rest of the year. There is a lot going on in the U.S. that goes against my upbringing and what I think is right, he said in a video chat from Nashville, where he was meeting with his management. So why not double down and spend the time in a place that I really want to enjoy and be around my people? 'Nooks and crannies' of Canada Few Canadian musicians take on the challenge of playing so many small markets. Life on the road can be mighty expensive once accounting for all the people required to carry a tour. With his band Default, Smith is more familiar with big venues, music festivals and major events, such as the Calgary Stampede, where he's roared through hits like Wasting My Time and Deny . LISTEN | Smith talks about switching to country (new window) He intends to revisit some of those older songs on this tour with stripped-back versions, while sharing stories of his upbringing, music career and newer solo tracks, including How Do You Miss Me and Drop . The concept is inspired by the MTV Unplugged sessions of the 1990s made famous by Nirvana and Alice In Chains. Smith said he's been throwing around the idea of exploring the nooks and crannies of Canada since before the COVID-19 pandemic, but the plan never took shape. More recently, alongside his management team, he mapped out a budget to make it happen, shedding the lavish perks and complex lighting rigs for something more modest — a single bus, trailer, full band and most of his regular crew. Together they'll work on a tight schedule that, at times, sees them booked for six consecutive nights in six different cities before they have a break. To make it happen, their stage setup will be minimal. We're gonna dial back and allow the beauty of these venues to kind of lead the way and be the backdrop, he added. Smith's approach might seem counter to the music industry trend of making shows bigger and more social media friendly — think towering digital screens and gimmicky celebrity appearances. But he said he's often rejected those pressures, and with this tour, he focused on making tickets affordable, within the $60 to $100 range, without impacting the live performance. I did not want to sacrifice how these songs would be played, Smith said. I love the guys in my band; they're like brothers to me. Playing these songs together, and paying them a full wage where they feel valued ... and balancing that with ticket price, it's a little tricky, but we landed in a good spot where everybody feels really happy.
CTV News
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
'An absolute thrill': Murdoch Mysteries highlights Calgary history
Yannick Bisson, who plays the lead in Murdoch Mysteries was in town Friday to shoot an episode set during the very first Calgary Stampede, in 1912. (Photo; Alesia Fieldberg, CTV Calgary)
Calgary Herald
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Calgary Herald
Kenneth Tam's Silent Spikes offers a timely look at the cowboy at Contemporary Calgary
It was no coincidence that Contemporary Calgary opted to open the exhibit to coincide with the 10-day run of the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth. Whether or not the Calgary Stampede inspires revellers to entertain deep thoughts about cowboys and masculinity is unclear, but the imagery should certainly hit home. Tam himself didn't arrive in Calgary to officially open the exhibit until after the Stampede and did not have much knowledge about it. The multidisciplinary artist has chronicled the plight of Chinese migrant labourers in other projects. Tender is the Hand that Holds the Stone of Memory was a 2023 exhibit of sculptures and video installation based on the plight of thousands of Chinese labourers who built the Southern Pacific Railroad through Texas's Seminole Canyon, while Silent Spikes was initially commissioned by Queens Museum in 2021. Article content Article content Tam said he does not know much about the similar history of Chinese migrant workers in Alberta, but it is something that has been explored locally through museum and art exhibits as well. Both Canada and the U.S. drafted discriminatory Chinese Exclusion Acts in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to restrict Chinese immigration. In both countries, the stories of the Chinese labourers who built the railroad have been largely undocumented. Article content Silent Spikes not only addresses this absence in the historic record but also the lack of pop-culture representation of Asian-Americans in the Western narrative and genre. Article content 'A question for myself was 'Who gets to portray this character of the cowboy, specifically through the Western film,' Tam says. 'It's fairly specific as to who gets to embody this character. While it has evolved, it's still a pretty white idea of who this character is. ' Article content Still, Tam says the exhibit is meant to be layered and the various ideas — the cowboy narrative and archetype, the history of migrant workers — do 'not necessarily resolve themselves neatly.' Article content 'My goal through this project and really through all my work is for people to leave with more questions than answers,' he says. 'There is no natural way in which these things are meant to answer each other. There are supposed to be tensions or moments where things don't neatly fit into one another.' Article content
Toronto Sun
7 days ago
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
Conservatives still lead in party fundraising as Liberals close in
Published Aug 06, 2025 • 1 minute read Federal Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre waves to the crowds during the Calgary Stampede parade on Friday, July 4, 2025. Photo by Gavin Young / Postmedia Network OTTAWA — The Conservatives are still bringing in more through donations than any other federal political party, but their fundraising has dropped since the spring election. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The Tories raised just over $9.1 million in the quarter that ended in June, through donations from more than 82,000 people. That outpaced the Liberals, who brought in $7.7 million from more than 116,000 donors. It's a steep drop for the Conservatives from their pre-election fundraising push, which raised $28 million in the first quarter of this year. The NDP's numbers have been steady this year, with more than 38,000 people giving the party $1.9 million in the last quarter. The New Democrats lost official party status in the April election and political strategists have warned they're in a challenging financial position, with loans to repay and far less money coming in from Elections Canada. Television Basketball Toronto & GTA Columnists Music
