 |
| Chad Harden | |
|---|---|
 Chad Harden with his outriders winning the 2009 Calgary Stampede Rangeland Derby | |
| Born | August 21, 1970 |
| Achievements | Calgary Stampede Rangeland Derby (2009) Edmonton's Chuckwagon Derby (2009) Contents |
| Statistics current as of August 23, 2016. | |
Chad Harden (born August 21, 1970) is a Canadian professional chuckwagon racer. He has won the three richest shows in chuckwagon racing: the Calgary Stampede Rangeland Derby, Edmonton's Chuckwagon Derby, and the Ponoka Stampede. [1]
Harden grew up southwest of Edmonton, Alberta in the farming community of Thorsby, Alberta. He started his chuckwagon racing career driving pony chuckwagons, and began driving thoroughbred wagons in 2000 on the World Professional Chuckwagon Association (WPCA) circuit and won WPCA Top Rookie Driver honors. He qualified for his first Calgary Stampede Rangeland Derby as a driver in 2001 and won the Orville Strandquist Award for top rookie driver.
His first show championship win came in 2002 at one of chuckwagon racing's biggest events - the Ponoka Stampede. In 2006 he received the World Professional Chuckwagon Association's highest annual honor - the WPCA Chuckwagon Person of the Year. 2009 would be Harden's most successful year when he captured chuckwagon racing's two richest events when he won the Calgary Stampede Rangeland Derby [2] and Edmonton's Chuckwagon Derby, becoming just the third driver to boast wins in both of Alberta's biggest cities in a single year. Chad was the first chuckwagon driver to win association and Calgary Stampede top rookie honors in a single year, the first driver to win the top rookie driver at the Calgary Stampede and go on to win the GMC Rangeland Derby Championship. He added the Bonnyville Chuckwagon Championship to his resume a year later in 2010. [3]
In addition to his success on the racetrack, two of Harden's horses have been honored with WPCA Equine Outfit of Excellence awards.
On July 12, 2019, Chad Harden was involved in an incident at the Calgary Stampede chuckwagon races, along with racers Danny Ringuette and Evan Salmond, which resulted in the death of one of Salmond's horses. [4] Harden received a preliminary fine of Can$ 10,000 and a 30-second penalty. Upon further deliberation, the safety commission handling the investigation declared that Harden was at fault but that there was no deliberate intent to cause the incident. As a result of the investigation, Harden was disqualified from the 2019 Calgary Stampede races, leaving his barrel unoccupied on subsequent race nights. Fellow chuckwagon driver Corey Glenn stated that he saw the "corner get crowded and the wagons drift in" which caused "just a chain reaction of misfortunate[ sic ] positioning" and did not believe it warranted a Stampede ban. [5] Due to his disqualification, Harden will not be invited to return for future races at the Calgary Stampede; [6] however, he is permitted to apply for reinstatement as early as September 1, 2019. [7]
Harden is a scout for the Calgary Hitmen of the Western Hockey League and was once the scout for the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League. He is a third generation chuckwagon driver, whose grandfather Leroy Harden and father Robert Harden drove wagons for many years.
The Calgary Stampede is an annual rodeo, exhibition, and festival held every July in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The ten-day event, which bills itself as "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth", attracts over one million visitors per year and features one of the world's largest rodeos, a parade, midway, stage shows, concerts, agricultural competitions, chuckwagon racing, and First Nations exhibitions. In 2008, the Calgary Stampede was inducted into the ProRodeo Hall of Fame.
The culture of Alberta refers to the art, customs, and traditions of the people of Alberta. Alberta entered into Confederation in 1905, placing her in a tie with Saskatchewan as the country's second youngest province. Despite her short history, the province possesses a rich culture. The vastness of the land and variation of geography – which includes mountains, foothills, grassland, parkland, forest, and rockland – have served as important sources of creative inspiration across all art forms. Alberta's primary industries of farming, ranching, and petroleum also play a major part in the province's culture and identity.
A chuckwagon is a type of field kitchen covered wagon historically used for the storage and transportation of food and cooking equipment on the prairies of the United States and Canada. Such wagons formed part of a wagon train of settlers or fed traveling workers such as cowboys or loggers.
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The World Professional Chuckwagon Association (WPCA) is an association made up of professional cowboys and business people with an interest in preserving western heritage and providing family entertainment. The WPCA promotes and presents chuckwagon racing as a professional sport throughout North America and the world. The WPCA is a close-knit community that mentors its new drivers in safety and professionalism to preserve the integrity of the WPCA and chuckwagon racing in general.
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Chuckwagon racing is an equestrian rodeo sport in which drivers in a chuckwagon led by a team of Thoroughbred horses race around a track. The sport is most popular in the Prairie Provinces of Canada, where the World Professional Chuckwagon Association and the Canadian Professional Chuckwagon Association are the two major racing circuits. The most famous chuckwagon race in the world is held annually at the Calgary Stampede, where the total prize money for the ten-day event tops C$2 million. The WPCA submits 25 drivers to the Calgary, while the CPCA submits 11 drivers. The sport is controversial, as horses and drivers have been injured or died, prompting animal welfare groups to call for it to be banned.
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Rick Fraser is a Canadian professional chuckwagon racer. He is a two-time World Champion Chuckwagon Driver, a six-time Calgary Stampede Rangeland Derby Champion Outrider, and has won 20 show titles in 21 years of competing on the WPCA Pro Tour.
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Troy Dorchester is a Canadian professional chuckwagon racer. He is the only chuckwagon driver to have won chuckwagon racing's "Triple Crown" consisting of the Calgary Stampede Rangeland Derby, the Calgary Stampede Aggregate Title and the Ponoka Stampede in a single year. He accomplished the feat in 2012.
Jerry Bremner is a Canadian professional chuckwagon racer. He is a three-time World Champion Chuckwagon Driver and was the 1986 World Champion Outrider.
Kelly Sutherland, nicknamed "The King", is a professional rodeo competitor in chuckwagon racing. He is a 12-time world champion of the World Professional Chuckwagon Association and 12-time winner at the Calgary Stampede.
Nicholas Arbuckle is a professional Canadian football quarterback for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He has also been a member of the Calgary Stampeders, Ottawa Redblacks, Toronto Argonauts, and Edmonton Elks.
Isabella Miller was a Canadian rodeo cowgirl, rancher and horse trainer. She was the Canadian barrel racing Champion in 1960 and 1969 and was a 5-time winner of the Canadian All-Around women's title. She was inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2005.
Rayel Robinson is a Canadian horse trainer and barrel racing champion. She won the Canadian Barrel Racing Championship in her sport in back-to-back wins in 1990 and 1991, and repeated in 1999 and 2005. She was reigning champion of the Ponoka Stampede in 2005, 2006, and 2007. She trained Tia, the horse who was awarded the Most Heart designation of the Canadian Finals Rodeo in 1991 and 1992 and in a single year had five horses that she trained qualify for the Canadian Finals Rodeo. She was inducted into the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame in 2017.
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