Chuckwagon Racing

According to the late Dick Cosgrave, the sport of Chuckwagon Racing occurred somewhat by accident.

Following a Bar-B-Q event, which was a gathering to celebrate a local Calgarian politician's birthday (Pat Burns), the owners of the two chuckwagons carrying the cooking gear and supplies spontaneously decided to have a race, just for kicks.

They wanted to see who could pack up and depart the fastest.

People sitting in the Grandstand area were very impressed with the exciting, fast-paced impromptu competition. Shortly thereafter, this kind of competition would lead to the races, officially called "The Rangeland Derby."

This is the 'scoop,' if Dick Cosgrave is to be believed...

Why would you believe a story from Dick Cosgrave?

Well - it would be a good idea to take heed because Dick Cosgrave ended up enjoying one of the most lucrative, successful chuckwagon careers ever.

In his time, he was a Rangeland Derby champion at least 10 times!

Here's a CBC link with more information, including the short story of the origin of chuckwagon racing centred in Calgary, Alberta:

http://archives.cbc.ca/society/celebrations/clips/750-4569/

The CBC broadcast is priceless, so turn your speakers up!

Dick Cosgrave became the Arena Director surrounding the Calgary Stampede Chuckwagon events, once these were finally and properly organized, but as said in the broadcast, the races began as "stricly an accident."

Chuckwagon races involve 2 separate stages, the first element being the act of 'Breaking Camp,' and the second element being the actual 'race.'

The races have changed a lot throughout the years, but the 'infield' concept of breaking camp still remains.

In the early years, Breaking Camp involved a bit more equipment than current races utilize, and contestants literally 'broke up' their camp-gear (stoves, tent, tentpoles, etc), tossed it in the wagon, then and scrambled headlong into element 2 - the race!

Today, Breaking Camp consists of standardized equipment that is much safer for horses and riders to work with. A 'weight' box called a 'stove' (instead of a real cookstove piece) is used, along with tent flaps and tentpoles. These are the items that riders have to toss into the back of the chuckwagon once the claxon announces the start of the race.

In the early days, a pistol was fired to start the race, but today, a loud 'horn' called a claxon is used and the sound is very unique! If you've never heard a claxon horn before, you might find one if you have the chance to be around some very old automobiles. Perhaps you've heard the unique horn sound from a very old movie where someone blows the car horn. In any case, even if you have never heard a claxon, chuckwagon racing horses surely know the sound!

When chuckwagon horses hear a claxon, they bolt forward and start a circle eight pattern, then are ready to hit the racetrack and...

Start Racing For HOME!

Once the horses, drivers and riders are out of the infield area, here's where the exciting part begins - the part with all the SPEEEEEEED!

Hopefully, all horses, drivers and riders have had a 'clean' exit out of the 'barrels'/infield.

If so, wagons should hit the track with a reasonable momentum that will increase around the first 'curve.' From there, horses, people, and equipment are all travelling at HIGH SPEED and it's quite an exciting event to watch.

Basically, the concept is that the horses are Racing For Home - the 'finish line,' and amazingly enough, it's not always the first chuckwagon across the finish line that actually is declared winner of the race!

Although to new viewers, Chuckwagon Racing might seem like just a mad, but exciting scramble of horses, riders, drivers and equipment, there are some RULES involved in the chaos!

Here's the basic set up for a Chuckwagon Race:

Participants are:

* 4 Wagon Drivers in 4 wagons, 1 driver per wagon

* 4 horses to draw (pull) each wagon

and

* 4 outriders on 4 horses to accompany each wagon.

(yes, that's 8 high-strung, ready to run horses per wagon 'Team' and 5 people per team to command the horses, deal with equipment and wagons)

The centre spot of the 'arena' grounds is called the 'infield' and this is where other rodeo events take place when Chuckwagon Racing is not taking place. The infield is simply the best place to 'fit' 32 horses and 20 people who all take part as contestants in each wagon 'heat'/race!

* 4 sets of barrels, in pairs, are set up for each wagon team to line up with. The barrels are set at an appropriate distance apart so that each 'team' can travel in a 'figure eight' pattern around the barrels before dashing headlong onto the opening area of the actual racetrack.

Basically A TON OF ACTIVITY happens in the infield even before the high speed part of the race begins!

The barrels are set up with a bit of a twist:

The #1 placement barrels are set with 2 barrels spaced fairly far apart, and at a certain angle corresponding with the racetrack. #2 barrel placement has barrels less far apart, and a different angle yet, and so forth. The fourth position barrels are spaced closest together, so the 'team' at the #4 barrel position must make much tighter turns around barrels to complete the figure eight pattern before launching onto the track to begin the running part of the race.

The reason this is so:

Barrel position #4 is basically closest to the opening of the track and in line with the track in a certain way. The barrel set up is altered for each position in order to give a 'fair shot' at who arrives on the racing part of the track FIRST!

Typically, the team on barrel set #1 can concentrate a little less on tight turning and more on 'speed' rounding the barrels, but the team on barrel set #4 has to be highly flexible and dexterous, wary of turning on too much speed while rounding the barrels or else the team will just knock the barrels over.

Barrel sets #2 and #3 aren't without their own unique need of strategy, either, and teams rounding these barrel positions have to be careful of what is happening on both the innermost edge and outermost edge of the track, once they exit the barrel area and enter the running area of the track. Teams from positions #2 and #3 face the most probable chance of being FORCED into a bad running position around the track if the team is not careful - frankly, #2 and #3 have no real 'inner' or 'outer' edge to play with if their entry onto the track isn't so good.

If the barrels were not set up this way, certain barrel positions would always have an advantage (#2 and #3), and this would not be very good for competition.

There are different tactics to use for each barrel position, to take into account how far apart barrels are spaced and at what angle the barrels are in relation to the track. Navigation of figure eight patterns is at least half of the focus of Chuckwagon Racing - before teams can even begin the running part of the Chuckwagon race! Chuckwagon Racing is not entirely about SPEED!