Editing Calgary Stampede (section)

===Rodeo===
{{further|List of Calgary Stampede Rodeo Champions}}
[[File:Barrel-Racing-Szmurlo.jpg|200px|thumb|A cowgirl races around a barrel|alt=A woman on horseback makes a sharp turn around a white barrel.]]

The rodeo is the heart of the Calgary Stampede.<ref name="Dixon78">{{harvnb|Dixon|Read|2005|p=78}}</ref> It is one of the largest,<ref name="Baker">{{citation |last=Baker |first=Linda |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/21/business/21calgary.html |title=A boom in office towers in Calgary |work=The New York Times |date=2009-01-20 |access-date=2010-05-16 |archive-date=2017-10-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171004040447/http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/21/business/21calgary.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and the most famous event of its kind in the world.<ref name="Foran205">{{harvnb|Foran|2008|p=205}}</ref> With a prize of $100,000 to the winner of each major discipline and $1,000,000 total on championship day alone, it also offers the richest payout.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/story.html?id=ce1fbe0d-d4ff-4f0d-b3ff-cec5311a633b |title=$1 million Sunday lives up to its billing at Stampede |publisher=CanWest Media |date=2008-07-14 |access-date=2010-05-21 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121110112909/http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/story.html?id=ce1fbe0d-d4ff-4f0d-b3ff-cec5311a633b |archive-date=2012-11-10 }}</ref> Cowboys consider performing in front of over 20,000 fans daily to be the highlight of the rodeo season.<ref name="Dixon78" />

There are six major disciplines&nbsp;– [[bull riding]], [[barrel racing]], [[steer wrestling]], [[calf roping|tie down roping]], [[saddle bronc and bareback riding]]&nbsp;– and four novice events&nbsp;– junior [[steer riding]], novice bareback, novice saddle bronc and wild pony racing.<ref>{{citation |url=http://cs.calgarystampede.com/events/rodeo/ |title=Rodeo |publisher=Calgary Stampede |access-date=2010-05-21 |archive-date=2011-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707043614/http://cs.calgarystampede.com/events/rodeo |url-status=live }}</ref> Each event is organized as its own tournament, and the cowboys and girls are divided into two pools. The first pool competes each night for the first four nights, and the second each night for four nights following. The top four in each pool advance to the Sunday final, and the remainder compete on Saturday for a wild card spot in the final. The competitor with the best time or score on Sunday wins the $100,000 grand prize.<ref>{{citation|title=2009 Calgary Stampede Media Guide |publisher=Calgary Stampede |url=http://news.calgarystampede.com/Theme/Calgary/files/doc_downloads/2009_media-guide_final_small.pdf |page=75 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120201024623/http://news.calgarystampede.com/Theme/Calgary/files/doc_downloads/2009_media-guide_final_small.pdf |archive-date=2012-02-01 }}</ref>

Most livestock for the rodeo events come from the {{convert|22,000|acre|km2|adj=on}} Stampede Ranch located near the town of [[Hanna, Alberta|Hanna]].<ref name="Dixon67">{{harvnb|Dixon|Read|2005|p=67}}</ref> The ranch was created in 1961 as a means of improving the quality of bucking horses and bulls and to guarantee supply.<ref>{{citation |url=http://cs.calgarystampede.com/events/rodeo/ranch/ |title=Stampede Ranch |publisher=Calgary Stampede |access-date=2011-06-04 |archive-date=2011-06-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110611050041/http://cs.calgarystampede.com/events/rodeo/ranch/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The first of its kind in North America,<ref name="Dixon67" /> the Stampede Ranch operates a breeding program that produces some of the top rodeo stock in the world and supplies rodeos throughout southern Alberta, and as far south as [[Las Vegas Valley|Las Vegas]].<ref>{{citation |last=Hanson |first=Cheri |title=At home on the range |work=Calgary Herald |date=2002-07-04 |page=SE10}}</ref>