A total of four chuckwagon racing horses died during the 2015 edition of the Rangeland Derby at the Calgary Stampede.
The first horse was euthanized after he sustained a broken right hind cannon bone on July 4th, when Layne Bremner’s wagon collided with another. The second death occurred two days later, on July 6th, when Shane Nolin’s wagon made contact with the lead horse of BJ Carey’s team, and he had to be put down. Driver error was to blame for both of these incidents. Bremner was fined $2,500 by the Chuckwagon Safety Commission, and Nolin and Carey were found to be mutually at fault. Nolin was fined $5,000 and Carey was given a $5,000 deduction from the compensation he was to receive for his lost horse.
Then, on July 11th, another one of Bremner’s outrider horses had to be euthanized when he broke down during a race due to a suspensory ligament rupture in the left front leg. Finally, an outrider horse belonging to Dave Galloway was euthanized after sustaining a similar suspensory ligament rupture, on July 12th. Both horses had been inspected by veterinarians prior to their races and were found fit to compete.
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