Chuckwagon Horse Report
An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM Tuesday's Horse
June 2020

While the deaths of horses at the Calgary Stampede are reported what we do not know are how many and how often horses are killed in chuckwagon races in the U.S. because they do not keep those kind of records.

2019 Arkansas Chuckwagon Race...

The Calgary Stampede is not the only venue conducting chuckwagon races but it is the one that garners the most attention and publicity because of the number of horses it kills and has killed over the years.

Chuckwagon races are also run south of the Canadian border in the USA such as in Clinton, Arkansas over the Labor Day weekend, where it has been conducted since its inaugural year in 1986.

While the deaths of horses at the Calgary Stampede are reported what we do not know are how many and how often horses are killed in chuckwagon races in the U.S. because they do not keep those kind of records, so we were told by whose few who were willing to speak to us about it. Many felt compelled to point out they are not obligated to tell us even if they did keep them.

What we were told quite amazingly about the National Championship Chuckwagon Races in Clinton, Arkansas is they have never had a single equine casualty.

Let’s stick with these folks since they are the largest and only documented event we can find.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/BENJAMIN KRAIN Chuckwagon driver Allen Fuller with the team County Line Bunch from Perry leaps from his wagon Friday as it tips on a sharp turn during the 30th Annual National Championship Chuckwagon Race in Clinton, Arkansas

Please Note

It is important to point out that rodeos, or any other event or sport using horses, do not have to kill them to make that event or sport cruel, abusive and immoral.

Additionally, the spectre of slaughter always haunts horses who are injured, who turn out to be not quite good enough in “their master’s opinion”, or lacks the mental acuity to compete successfully in the types of events or sports they were acquired for.

There is no retirement plan for rodeo horses.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/BENJAMIN KRAIN Chuckwagon driver watches as horses are crushed as his wagon turns over in the 30th Annual National Championship Chuckwagon Race in Clinton, Arkansas

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