History

Rodeo is a century old in Canada. It has always relied upon the energy, imagination, and labor of women who helped to build the sport by passing knowledge and skills person-to-person, year in, year out. Understanding that history helps us explain why rodeo people stick with the sport and the personal and community identities defined by it. It helps us to place the stories we hear today from rodeo women into a larger regional and Canadian timeline. Rodeo work has always been exhausting, expensive, and sometimes heart-breaking, so we shouldn’t take its longevity for granted but should ask: why so?