Stamps’ horse checks into Chateau Lacombe
A horse was allowed to enter an Edmonton hotel Thursday afternoon, continuing a decades-old Calgary Grey Cup tradition and defying conventional wisdom about where horses are supposed to go.
Tuffy, the moniker given to the 11-year-old mare ridden through the doors of Edmonton’s Chateau Lacombe Hotel, conducted herself well despite the unusual surroundings.
Horses, which were introduced to the Americas in the 16th century by Spanish explorers, are typically not permitted inside hotels. Fans of the Canadian Football League’s Calgary Stampeders have been upending this convention since 1948, when Calgarians attending the 36th Grey Cup in Toronto sought to bring a horse into that city’s Royal York Hotel.
“Since that time, the legend and the festivities and the sharing of Western hospitality has continued,” said Sandy Dubyk, spokesperson for the Calgary Grey Cup Committee.
The Stampeders play the Ottawa Redblacks in the 106th Grey Cup in Edmonton Sunday.
On Thursday afternoon, the horse was transported inside a horse trailer to the Chateau Lacombe, which was apprised in advance of the plan.
Slowly, a throng gathered around the trailer, hoping to see the horse enter the hotel.
Just before 4:45, the horse was led out of the trailer. She hails from a farm south of Bowden, and is typically employed in barrel racing and as a “pickup” horse, collecting rodeo competitors thrown from their animals.
Dubyk said she was well-prepared for the day, with a neutral diet so as not to upset her stomach.
Some confusion persists around the horse’s name. All horses ridden into hotels in honour of the Grey Cup are given the name Tuffy, Dubyk said.
Asked if that is the horse’s actual name, he demurred.
“For our event, she’s Tuffy,” he said.
Phil Landon, past chair of the Calgary committee, climbed aboard for the first ride. An honour guard assembled consisting of four soldiers belonging to Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians), clad in First World War-era uniforms in recognition of the Armistice. In front of them was a pipe band, made up of members of the Calgary and Winnipeg Police Services, wearing tartans and cowboy hats.
Thus assembled, the horse was ridden in through a side entrance leading to the hotel’s ballroom, her rider ducking low to clear the doors.
Newspaper and television reporters, as well as guests of the hotel, formed a semicircle in front of her to document the occasion.
After entering the ballroom, she was led outside once more. A different rider climbed aboard, and guided her back through the hotel’s main entrance, where she was ridden up to the front desk, as if to inquire about lodgings.
Those gathered were delighted by the unusual spectacle.
Asked why Calgarians delight in leading horses into hotels, Dubyk said “it was something a little mischievous to do, and I think if you look at people with good Western spirit, there’s always a twinkle in their eye.”