Just over a week after the deaths of three horses during the Calgary Stampede reignited calls to ban the sport, two horses died as a result of the races in Bonnyville.
According to Kelly Carson, operations manager for the World Professional Chuckwagon Association (WPCA), local driver Doug Irvine put down a horse Friday night after it suffered "irreparable damage" during a race. Fellow driver Colt Cosgrave lost a horse during the final races on Sunday afternoon after his horse suffered a heart attack and died on the track immediately after his race, said Carson.
Doug Irvine said his horse suffered an aneurysm and the loss of his horse is like losing a family member.
"They're family members and it's just like we lost a family member the other day," he said. "I know my wife was in tears and I wasn't much better. I wasn't very interested in wagon racing the next day. When you lose a family member, you have to carry on with your life, so that's how we felt. I wasn't really interested in wagon racing on Sunday but I know that life has to go on.
"As much as I didn't want to be there I still had to go out there the next day and still run.
"If you know a thoroughbred, they're born to run and they love to run, even that horse. I was trying to stop him and he just still wanted to run, even after when we let him in the trailer, he still wanted to run."
"We're doing an investigation as we do with all horses that either die on the track or are injured on the track and have to be put down," Carson said, explaining all horses were examined before the Calgary Stampede, including the two that died in Bonnyville, and the resulting medical records and EKGs will be inspected for any conditions that could have been predetermined and led to either horses' injury in Bonnyville.
"We are certainly saddened by the loss of any horses on the track. It's certainly something that we hope never happens but unfortunately it does."
Bruce Watson, vice president of the WPCA, said, "It's too bad because generally, there's no control over it and the guys have lost a good horse. That's the worst part."
Dr. Greg Benoit, veterinarian at the Bonnyville Veterinary Clinic and attending veterinarian at the races this weekend, could not comment on the specific horses that died this weekend, citing client confidentiality.
"They happen for all different types of reasons," he said. "Heart attacks, aneurysms, injury. They try and do everything they can to prevent those incidents and I think what happened this weekend, both cases were unpreventable...They weren't things that could have been prevented or predicted.
"As many precautions as can be taken are taken in the chuckwagon industry. I think it is much better than it was in years gone by. Any sport where athletes are asked to perform at a peak or an extreme level, there are going to be unfortunate incidents but they try to minimize them."
Carson said the idea chuckwagon races are dangerous to horses is unfounded and the sport is more dangerous to the drivers.
"There are so many sports that involve horses," he said. "Unfortunately, we lose some, but we lose football players in football games. When we play sports, people get injured and animals get injured too. It's sad but it's a fact of life."
Even though there are injuries and fatalities in chuckwagon racing, Benoit said it is a better life for the horses involved than their other options.
"A lot of those horses are retired race horses and if they didn't have this as an option, they would likely be euthanized or used as meat much earlier in life, so it's a pretty good retirement gig for a lot of these animals," he said.
Carson defended the sport as well, saying, "We believe in what we do and we think we provide a haven for animals that would have been put down years ago just for reasons like they have no use. We have a use for them and it provides a life for them that is second-to-none."
Tina Michaud, chair of the Bonnyville Chuckwagon Association, said she could not comment on the deaths of these particular horses but did comment on calls to have the sport banned.
"I would love, love, love to invite those people who know nothing about how these horses are treated to come and spend a weekend with us. Come and spend a weekend with us and look at how these horses are treated better than most kids I know. That is an absolute fact."
Irvine said those opposed to chuckwagons don't see how much the drivers care for their horses.
"They probably don't realize the sorrow we go through when we lose someone like that," he said. "I just hope it doesn't get misconstrued...they're like our family. It's like losing your brother almost. You see them every day. They're the first thing I see every morning...You go out there and they talk to you when you come because they see
you open the barn door and they're as excited to see you in the morning as you are them.
"As far as that aneurism thing...it's something that happens and nobody knows when it's going to happen...It's part of life I guess, I don't like it but that's just the way it goes."
