Lynx Mountain Retired

inthecorral-1612-10
Zeke Thurston’s winning ride on Lynx Mountain. Photo by Robin Blankenship.

This past August near Beach, N.D., Zeke Thurston climbed into the chutes at the Home on the Range Champions Ride Saddle Bronc Match and settled onto Calgary Stampede’s Lynx Mountain for her last ride.

“She reared out of there, she was just up and down and had a few moves up in the air,” said Thurston. “She’s just the epitome of a bucking horse.”

“She’s 15 now, and has done as much as she’s needed to do,” said Stampede Ranch Manager Tyler Kraft, reflecting on her career. “She went to the CFR, Vegas, Texas. To go out on top winning Home on the Range, I felt like it was a nice place to call it quits.”

Lynx Mountain carried Thurston to the win in North Dakota, and earned herself a bronze in the process as the top Saddle Bronc Horse of the event.

Over the span of her career, the 1,200-lb. mare has made nine trips to Edmonton for the CFR and seven to Vegas. In 2009, she was declared the Canadian Saddle Bronc Champion.

Lynx Mountain will be enjoying ranch life full-time now as part of the Stampede’s Born to Buck breeding program.