SADDLE UP, GIDDY-UP!
Taci Bettis from Round Top, Texas, rounds one of the barrels during Calgary Stampede rodeo action on Monday during a favourite event — barrel racing. For more on the day’s rodeo action, see pages B8 and B9, and for Stampede news see pages
Helping his parents run a worldclass horse-cutting business in Oklahoma, it’s no wonder that 11-year-old Jackson Ammerman has already helped the family win tens of thousands of dollars in prize money at this year’s Stampede.
Jackson celebrated his second belt buckle at the Nutrien Western Event Centre this weekend after riding into the champion spot of the 14 Class Team Cattle Penning event along with his father Joel Lesh, taking over $29,000 for the win.
And that was only two days after winning the Open Class for Team Cattle Penning with his dad and mom, Colette Lesh, making him the youngest competitor ever to win two buckles at the Calgary Stampede.
“It’s really fun being able to learn from my mom and dad, and win these events with them,” said Jackson, enjoying his well-earned day off Monday taking in some rodeo events.
Jackson’s brother and sister have also posted impressive results so far, with MacKenzie Ammerman, 15, riding in the 14 Class with her dad and finishing fourth, while 10-year-old Preston Ammerman, riding in the 10 Class with his mom, finished third.
“We love competing together, and travelling together. We get to see so many amazing places,” said MacKenzie.
But Jackson and his siblings are only three of many youngsters making an impression at this year’s agricultural competitions.
Josh Sandness, 14, from Kansas, is the youngest rider ever to be invited to compete in the Cowboy Up event at the Stampede.
Sandness has been competing away from home since May in preparation for the prestigious event.
Four-year-old James Gabrielson is the fourth generation of his Chestermere-based family to compete in Miniature Horses
And Gabrielle Fouty, 14, and Danielle Gamache, 16, who won several events last year in Team Cattle Penning, are also expected to make an impressive showing this year.
Colette, who helps run the Lesh family’s horse-cutting business, Lazy J Arena, at the family’s 40-hectare ranch just south of Stillwater, says agricultural competitive and show events have a bright future considering how well the kids are doing.
“The youth are everything in equine sport. If you don’t have youth coming up, then what do you have?”
Colette explained that agriculture involved kids from the start, so it’s only natural that many of them thrive competitively.
Over the weekend, Jackson and his dad posted incredibly fast times — 29.16 seconds and 31.67 seconds — on a night that saw most teams post times in the 40 to 60-second range. Out of two full rounds, only three teams managed to get cattle penned in under 30 seconds.
But Colette says the family, including Jackson, have seen their fair share of poor results, slow times and agonizing errors.
“We’ve had a lot of frustrations in the past, believe me. Where we almost win, and then somebody makes a bad decision, and it’s all over.”
But adversity is the greatest teacher, Colette adds, allowing the family to learn from their errors, and focus that much harder the next time.
Jackson’s teammate, Cody Ward, is yet another kid who is doing all right. Ward has ridden with Lesh and Jackson before, although he lives in Fort Upton, Colo.
Ward turned 16 the day before Stampede started.
And while he has made it to penning finals in all three of his former trips to the Stampede, this time he posted the win.
“On our last run, we knew we needed to be under 32, so when I looked up at the clock on the pen and I saw a 31, I was pretty pumped,” Ward said.
But while Joel Lesh has posted impressive results in Calgary before, he said Cody and Jackson were a huge part of this weekend’s win.
“The boys were on top of it. I was telling them to check the herd and not to overrun them going to the pen.”
In Team Cattle Penning, teams of three riders have one minute to separate three cattle wearing a designated number from a herd of 30 to direct them into a pen at the opposite end of the arena.