FILE PHOTO JAMES TUBB
The Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede Summer rodeo gets underway tonight at 5 p.m. at the Stampede grounds. The rodeo continues Friday and wraps up Saturday with the money rides.
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The Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede’s marquee event kicks off today at the Grandstand.
The Summer Pro Rodeo opens tonight at 5 p.m. with the first of three days of rodeo action.
Each night of the rodeo has its own atmosphere and crowd that provides rodeo fanatics an all-encompassing experience while watching the best cowboys and cowgirls showcase their skills.
Tonight honours the military before the dirt starts to fly, Friday is all about performing under the lights and Saturday is for the heartbreak and glory and where the competitors look to make their cash.
Friday’s rodeo gets started at 8 p.m. and Saturday afternoon’s showing kicks off at 1:30 p.m. Tickets for the rodeo are still available on the Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede’s website, tickets.mhstampede.com. A pass for all three performances is available for $84 while passes for each individual rodeo goes for $33.
With North America’s top talent on full display, there are numerous local cowboys and cowgirls who will took to dance on the dirt and shine in front of family and friends.
Due to the amount of participants, Thursday morning is slack performances which feature multiple local talents getting started at 8:30 a.m.
Tyler Popescul of Medicine Hat is competing in the slack tie-down roping event. Lynette Broadway from Brooks and Kareen Warren from Medicine Hat will run the figure eight in the ladies barrel racing slack performance.
Taylor Wudrich of Bow Island and Clint Schreiner of Medicine Hat will work together in the slack team roping.
Friday’s main event local talent will feature Maple Creek’s Blake Link and Wyatt Maines from Elkwater who will battle for eight seconds in the bareback riding competition. Donna Beierbach and Kate Beierbach, both from Maple Creek, will ride in Friday’s ladies barrel racing.
Justin McCarroll from Camrose will ride alongside Cypress County’s Jared Pancoast will be in the team roping event on Friday.
Saturday’s rodeo will feature the pride of Maple Creek, Jared Parsonage, in bull riding. Parsonage enters the weekend off his win at the Calgary Stampede on July 16, putting him in third place of the PBR Canada’s rankings.
Clark Hughson from Medicine Hat and Scot Meeks from Lethbridge will compete in Saturday’s tie-down roping. Maple Creek’s Kerry Maynes is running in the ladies barrel racing and Sayge Turcato from Taber is competing in the ladies breakaway roping.
