Rural municipal councillor Reg Madsen left the high flood waters behind in Manitoba to make the 15 hour trip to Alberta to show off his Clydesdales.
The trip to the Calgary Stampede was worth it when Reg and Carol Madsen of Hamiota won best in show with a six-year-old mare named WV Greendykes Charismatic Finale.
The gentle mare also won grand champion at the heavy horse show in Olds, Alta., the previous week.
The Madsens are retired farmers who raise and show Clydesdales full time. This was their first best of show at the Stampede. All six entrants placed no lower than third.
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Madsen also won a similar best of show award at Canadian Western Agribition.
The Clydes, with their big feathery feet and good natures, were always a favourite of Madsen’s. They were gentle and trustworthy around his children when they were young, and now his grandchildren can exhibit them in junior shows with ease.
“It’s the kind you like to breed,” he said.
He showed Clydesdales as a young man and wanted more when he started farming.
“I didn’t have enough money to buy Clydes, so I … bought some Belgians. We showed Belgians for probably 15 years. I said to my wife, ‘before I quit this crazy business, I am going back to the ones I love.’ ”
He keeps 12 to 15 horses on his place near Brandon and starts working with them in February to prepare for the long show season that winds up at the Toronto Royal Winter Fair in November.
Last year he entered the World Clydesdale show in Madison, Wisconsin, and won reserve grand champion gelding and junior champion stallion.
“We did way beyond our imagination,” he said.
His uncle, daughter and son-in-law watch the farm while he and Carol are on the road. They have learned to be self sufficient because help is hard to find.
“In this business, you have got to do everything. It is so hard to find anybody to do it,” he said.
This year a young woman from Indiana helped them, and on show day they were up till 3 a.m. preparing the horses.
Madsen Clydesdales will appear at local shows and the Manitoba Clydesdale Classic later this summer, where about 130 horses will compete. However, the Stampede is a prestigious show to win. It is a large, international event with plenty of exposure.
“It’s a part of advertising. If I stayed at home, nobody would know this mare existed,” he said.
“The better shows you go to make you a better horse person.”
He bought his winning mare as a two-year-old in a dispersal sale in Michigan.
“We were fortunate to pick up a mare like that. They are hard to find.”
Madsen bred only one mare last year because of poor horse market conditions.
Shows such as the Calgary Stampede are big on prestige, but the cash rewards are few.
“There is no money in this, I can tell you.”
Last year was considered a good show year: he won $1,500 but had expenses of close to $7,500.
They do it because of the fun of being on the road and the people they have met around the world who love the gentle giants as much as they do.
“My wife always says, ‘everywhere you go, there’s always a horse at the end of the trip,’ ” he said.
Calgary Stampede 2011 Heavy horse supreme champions:
Belgian supreme champion: Legacy Stables, Carstairs, Alta., Creekside Unique, filly
Clydesdale supreme champion: Madsen’s Clydesdales, Hamiota, Man., WV Greendykes Charismatic Finale, mare
Percheron supreme champion: Eaglesfield Percherons, Didsbury, Alta., Eaglesfield Brigadier, stallion
Shire supreme champion: Riverside Clydesdales, Fawcett, Alta., gelding
Best of show: Madsen’s Clydesdales
