Mother-daughter team from Texas tag-team competition to success

Riding with a heavy heart and a broken ankle, Angela Ganter earned herself a hefty payday on Thursday.

Aboard her horse Shooter, Ganter traversed the cloverleaf course in the Calgary Stampede infield in a quick time of 17.37 seconds to set the standard in the barrel-racing competition.

For her efforts, she won $5,500 to boost her earnings through three days of action in Pool B to $7,000, putting her in fourth spot overall.

“It was exciting,” said Ganter, who credited her daughter Jackie for taking an early-morning ride aboard Shooter to get him ready for his performance. “He hit a barrel yesterday, so this morning at practice, she got on my horse and worked him for me and I'll give her 100 per cent of the credit as to why I won the round.”

The mother-daughter tandem from Abilene, Texas, have been there for each other this week following the tragic death of Angela's horse Bugs on Monday in Strathmore.

“I kind of had the wind taken out of my sails this week,” Angela said. “I lost my horse and broke my ankle. It's just been a tough week, so today couldn't have been a better victory.”

When Bugs suffered a seizure, he fell on top of Angela, breaking her ankle.

“Sports medicine has been absolutely phenomenal here,” Angela said. “Long story short, it had hurt pretty bad and it was swollen, so yesterday they made me go get it X-rayed. They're the nicest bunch of people.

“So it came back that it was broken. They worked on it to get it better to where I can ride. Obviously, they did their job because it worked today.”

Jackie, who finished fifth on Thursday in a time of 17.64 seconds on her horse Tycoon, called her mom inspirational.

“Honestly, it's the most incredible thing I've ever seen,” she said. “I don't think there's another human being on the planet's that's as strong as my mom. Actually Monday night when everything happened, I begged her, I said, `I think we just need to go home. I don't think either of us can take it.'

“And she said, `No, we're going to stay and we're going to run for Bugs.'

“I think when the going gets tough, she just gets tougher. She's had so much thrown at her and she just always finds a way to persevere. It's just incredible.”

Angela only returned to riding horses a few years ago after battling breast cancer.

“I had Stage 4 breast cancer in 2010 and fought it until 2018 and was lucky enough to prevail,” she said. “I've raised Jackie by myself since she was eight, so it wasn't an option to die. I had to figure out a way to live.”

While Angela is competing at the Stampede for the first time, this is Jackie's third trip to Calgary. Her best showing was when she finished third behind Mary Burger and Mary Walker in 2016.

Jackie decided to call Walker for some advice on Wednesday after both she and her mom knocked over barrels and finished out of the money.

“I talked to her for 45 minutes,” said Jackie, noting that Walker advised both her and her mom to change their angles when approaching the first barrel. “We talked about it for a long time and it was a big change for both of us. Mom won the round and I got a cheque today, so it definitely made a huge difference.”

Angela couldn't be more proud of being able to compete with her daughter at such a prestigious rodeo.

“Mother and daughter together, I'm not sure if that's ever happened before,” she said. “We were pretty honoured to be invited to come this year to be a part of it.”

Thursday's double payday for the Ganters is even more special because Angela's mom and dad, Dan and Jo Smith, were able to watch it on TV at a local restaurant and bar in Abilene.

“They put it on all their TVS and a whole group of people, my grandparents included, were there watching, so it was really special,” Jackie said. “Actually, my granny texted me a picture of all of them right before we were going to run and I said, `Wow, I hope we don't fall off.'”

Shelby Spielman, of Dalhart, Texas, stopped the clock in 17.39 on Thursday to finish in second to win $4,500, which boosted her earnings to $14,500 to lead the aggregate standings.

Lindsay Kruse, of Fromberg, Mont., is second with $8,500 in winnings followed by Stacey Ruzicka, of Viking, Alta., in third at $8,000.