The North American Pony Chuckwagon Championships are officially underway at Westerner Days.
On Wednesday evening in front of an excited crowd at Westerner Park, the province’s best pony chuckwagon and chariot racers put on a show on day one.
However, it didn’t go without a few scary incidents in the first couple of heats during the pony chuckwagon races. Fred Eagles collided with a fellow competitor when coming around the barrels and had to be transported by paramedics.
Once the race continued, in the second heat one of Jim O’Connor’s horses got tangled up when turning a corner and was laying on its side. Luckily, the horse was able to walk back to the barn.
Androssan’s Rob Nordick entered competition number one in the Alberta Professional Chuckwagon and Chariot Association standings among the racers in pony chuckwagon.
On Wednesday he pushed to continue his recent success on the track in the fourth heat. Overall, he thought it was a successful race.
“We had a good run,” he said.
“Maybe a little bit slower than we generally do but there’s always room for improvement… Points, they mean everything and we were saving our horses for here.”
Nordick has been racing since 2007 and at first, he raced chariots when he was younger for three years before moving to pony chuckwagons.
He also raced at Westerner Days in Red Deer for the last six years and explained they really enjoy visiting the community. It’s also become a bit of a family affair.
“My children run a mini wagon so they really have fun… First and foremost the family still enjoys it very much. The kids love coming here because it’s different than the other races. But I also love being competitive,” he added.
The competition will continue at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday before the finals on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The results were not made available by the time of publishing on Wednesday.
