Canadian Western Agribition, held November 19–24 in Regina, prides itself on bringing something new each year, offering events for everyone to enjoy — no matter whether you live in a condo in the city, or on a ranch somewhere in the high lonesome. Along with Agribition’s raison d’être of showing beef breeds (they feature 12) and of course, draft horses, each year they host a wealth of new events as well.
One of the newer events is their pro rodeo. As predicted, the professional rodeo is growing in popularity, and this year they held a unique Party on the Dirt, a cabaret in the rodeo arena.
Agribition also featured another cow dog futurity. This has the potential to be a premier dog event, as handler and dog maneuver cattle through a set course to determine the 2018 Futurity Champion. This futurity is unusual as it features older, three-year-old dogs, rather than young dogs. Still on dogs; the International Stock Dog Trials whittled the competitors down to the Top Five, and saw Steven Rosvold of Ethelbert, Man., and his dog, Bell, herd the sheep through the course and emerge as the winner, with 18 points and a smoking time of 2:35.
The Agribition Select Horse Sale held November 23 saw 12 well-bred horses go through the ring, with an average sale price of $8,829.16. The high seller was JT Racing Hickory, consigned by Cain Quam of Kendal, Sask. The gelding was purchased by Shawn Muhr of Odessa, Sask., for $17,000.
And I just have to add this: after all the years this sport has been featured, folks are still shocked at the full-on crashing, human-bone-breaking force of Full-Contact Jousting that requires horsemanship, strength and incredible courage. I suspect the newbies in the enthusiastic audience thought it would somehow be fake. The six-Knight tournament was hugely popular, and believe me, this was real jousting!
Mark your calendars: the next Agribition runs November 25–30, 2019.