The best of the best young rope horses will compete in Brandon next weekend in a unique event started by local families.
The Manitoba Rope Horse Futurity (MRHF) is coming up in Brandon’s Westoba Credit Union Agricultural Centre of Excellence (ACE arena).
The event was started by Shane Brown and Justin Bridgeman. Now, a Deloraine couple, Dallas and Sonya McGee have joined their board of directors.
Brown explains, “Prior to ours, there was only one other [rope horse] futurity in Canada.”
Started in Edmonton, the Canadian National Team Roping Futurity is held in conjunction with Farmfair International.
Now in its sixth year the Brandon event, MRHF is one of three such events in Canada where registered four and five-year-old heel/head roping horses compete for cash prizes.
“Coming up Oct. 14, trained young horses are going to compete in this roping event and show what they can do,” says Brown.
The horses are bred to want to work in the roping arena but a lot of preparation goes into this competition.
“You are judged from the second you walk into the arena,” says Brown. “You want the horse to be on its best behavior. They are under a lot of scrutiny at that event.”
Out of about 40 horses in the running you will see local competitors from Virden, Lenore and Oak Lake, going against horses from Alberta, Saskatchewan and the northern USA for cash prizes that start at about $2,000.
Brown says strong sponsorship from Virden and area businesses has made this event possible.
