The first rodeo I attended, at the tender age of 16, was a small-town event where I competed in ladies barrel racing. I may have been the worst barrel racer the Pas Rodeo ever saw. That was awhile back. In recent years, Western Canada’s major rodeos—Alberta’s world-famous Calgary Stampede, the Canadian Cowboys’ Association’s (CCA) Finals Rodeo held every year at Regina, SK’s Canadian Western Agribition or the Manitoba Stampede in Morris, MB—have become increasingly popular, and the number of western Canadian small-town rodeos is growing.

The CCA started with just 15 rodeos back in 1963, and today lends its stamp of approval to 60. Rodeo Canada, the Canadian Professional Rodeo Association, runs 58 rodeos, with 11 pro rodeos in its Canadian Rodeo Tour.

They’re all whoop-it-up, horsemanship cowboy-style, with cash purses for winners in saddle bronc, bull riding, tie-down roping, bareback, steer wrestling and the dreaded ladies barrel racing.

The events—in towns such as Grande Prairie, Innisfail and Ponoka in Alberta; British Columbia’s Williams Lake and Armstrong; Maple Creek, Swift Current and McCord in Saskatchewan; and Morris, MB—usually have fun on the side, too: miniature midways or time-honoured bake-offs, pickle and preserve contests. Rural folk still “put up” food in glass Mason jars. So do I, and I do a far better job on sweet mustard pickles than I ever did barrel racing. You can even visit the barns. Just don’t walk behind a horse. They kick. Hard.