Three local pony racers had the opportunity to compete alongside some of the best at this year’s Calgary Stampede.
Ethan Evans, Carter Hallwachs, and Griffin Purdy make-up Team MPI Oilfield, who participated at the Calgary Stampede in the youth wild pony racing event.
“It was a really fun experience,” Hallwachs recalled.
Wild pony racing is when a pony starts in a chute, and a team of three have to get the rider onto the pony as quickly as possible.
As the mugger, Purdy is the closest to the pony when it’s released from the chute and tries to slow it down by grabbing its head. Evans is the anchor, and holds onto the end of the rope as he tries to slow the horse down while the rider, Hallwachs, attempts get onto the pony’s back to stop the clock.
The team proved themselves during their first summer together, and were invited to the Stampede based on their results from last year.
“Our quickest time was 6.2 seconds,” said Evans.
Once he got too old to compete in mutton busting, Purdy became interested in wild pony racing after attending the St. Albert Rodeo. Since the event requires a team, he turned to his hockey buddies Hallwachs and Evans because of their talents in the sport.
“Ethan can hold a pony well, and Carter is really active and can jump on the pony,” he explained.
He’s enjoyed competing alongside his friends, and all three hope to continue racing in rodeos for as long as they can as a team.
Evans said the group had a lot of fun at the stampede, and enjoyed watching the other events.
During their off-time, they were able to meet other competitors and even managed to get some autographs.
Hallwachs said, “We got the numbers on the back of our vests signed by a couple of bull riders that we met.”
They were excited to be behind the scenes, and have total access during their time at the stampede.
The boys placed during their competition in Calgary, and got to meet some of the best cowboys and cowgirls in the world.
“For them, it was kind of like being a rockstar,” explained Griffin’s dad, James.
Along with the Calgary Stampede, the boys have competed at the Rainmaker Rodeo in St. Albert, the Wainwright Stampede, and the Cloverlodge Rodeo in Viking.
Over the weekend, they were in Edmonton taking part in the K-Days Rodeo. The first weekend of August, the team will be at the Smoky Lake Stampede. They end the summer at Kikino Silver Birch Rodeo on Aug. 16.
Team MPI Oilfield hopes to finish their year off at the Canadian Finals Rodeo in Red Deer at the end of October.
