Once released from a rodeo chute, a cowboy must stay on a bucking bronc for eight seconds. For the rider it’s an eternity. But the leaping and spinning 1,500-pound bull can toss the cowboy over his head in half that time.
Rodeo competition is risky – sore muscles and broken bones. But there are about 200 fire, EMS and police personnel who share a common interest competing in the Edmonton First Responders Rodeo (EFRR) at St. Albert’s Kinsmen Korral on Saturday, July 13.
The rodeo consists of 16 professional events ranging from saddle bronc, team roping, wild horse racing and chute dogging to ladies’ barrel racing, junior calf scramble, mutton busting and cowboy poker.
Despite potential dangers, each competitor is betting men will outlast animals.
“It’s a challenge. It’s about the unknown. You don’t know what will happen. For most people it’s the adrenalin rush,” said Shane Williams, a board member whose team earned the silver buckle as 2023 Wild Cow Milking champions.
At its core, the rodeo financially supports two organizations: Zebra Child & Youth Advocacy Centre for abused children, and Legacy Place Society that assists law enforcement, firefighters, EMS personnel, 911 dispatchers and military families. In 2023 the rodeo raised $25,000 for the two groups.
“Back in 2017 when we were deciding on groups to support, there were quite a few board members from Edmonton Police. They recognized the amazing work Zebra Centre does. When first responders saw what was done to help children, it was a no-brainer. We wanted to support them in any way we can,” said Brain Griffith, rodeo president. He retired from the military in 2018 after serving 29 years as a helicopter pilot and served nine years with Edmonton Police Force.
Griffin is the 2019 silver buckle bronco busting champ, however this year he’s volunteering behind the chutes making sure contestants are safe. He has been riding and training horses since a friend gave him a three-year old horse in the 1990s. While holding down high-stress jobs, Griffith discovered horses were generally very therapeutic.
“It was an amazing release. There was no better therapy than getting on the back of a horse,” said the owner of Griffith Ranch, a horse therapy healing environment for veterans and first responders.
Williams, a heavy-duty mechanic with Edmonton Fire Department, sees the daily stress first responders undergo.
“It gives them something to do that they enjoy. Most competitors have never been around animals. The competition gives them something to think about other than work. They don’t have to think about what they’re doing, and they can be respected for what they are,” said Williams.
On that same note Griffith added, “This event is a unique way to engage and see first responders in a different way. Not everyone has the possibility of meeting first responders in a positive personal experience. This is a way to see them in a different light.”
EFRR partners with Northcott Rodeo Inc., a special events production company that supplies portable arena set-ups. Based out of Caroline, Alberta it supplies the rodeo with stock, judges, pickup men, entertainment, rodeo clowns and popular announcer Dom St. Amand.
Gates open at 11 a.m. at 47 Riel Drive. The Kids’ Corral runs from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The rodeo starts at 1 p.m. with buckle presentations at 7 p.m. A barn dance follows at 8 p.m. Rodeo tickets are $20. Kids 10 and under are free. Barn dance tickets are $20.
