“Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyways.” – John Wayne

This past Thursday as I closed my laptop after a satisfying day of work, I heard the compelling sound of neighing horses coming from The Cochrane Lions Rodeo Park, conveniently located just below my apartment building. As many of you know who follow my exploits on the road around stunning Southern Alberta, I am quite fond of our equine brethren. Whenever I get a chance to climb out of my Jeep and talk to the horses, receive a gentle nuzzle or give a welcome head scratch, my day is made!

Well, I was lucky to experience my first ever rodeo here in Alberta, and it came to me! The Third Annual Foothills Bucking Horse Futurity showcases young horses between 4 and 5 years old just starting out on the bucking horse circuit. The spirited young horse above gave his rider quite a spin Thursday night! It was great to spend an evening with my fellow Cochranites celebrating the local heritage of horse and rider, and the courage it takes to consistently “saddle up.”

If you would like to see more snaps from The Foothills Bucking Horse Futurity, please visit my website here. As always, thanks for joining me on my Alberta adventures! It’s looking like another gorgeous, hot and sunny day here in the heartland so that spells an adventure! I think I will take the roof off the Jeep and travel down the Cowboy Trail to visit the historic Bar U Ranch. Perhaps this will be next week’s story? Stay tuned…