Cowboy Up Competition

The Cowboy Up Competition was a new event at the Stampede this year and well worth the time watching it. The event was a obstacle course for the horse and rider and they were judged on how the horse handled each challenge. Here we see the rider has dismounted, dropped the reins and had to crawl under the pile of hay bales come back around and mount her horse again. The judges were watching to see if the horse moved. There were three small jumps, two water challenges, they had to drag a small cart, walk over a wooden bridge with a right angle in it and a see-saw or teeter-toter at the end of the bridge. Also they had to carry a scroll that the rider had to reach up from or stand on the saddle to put the scroll into a very high mail box. There was a frame work tunnel with bear skins on it and bright streamers at the end of the tunnel and also an area that they had to walk through covered with dead fall from trees.
A view out over the fair grounds at the Stampede.