Roughly $715 was raised on behalf of the BC Children’s Hospital by the Fourth Annual Cariboo Turn-n-Burn event at the Outriders grounds on July 21. Most of it came by auctioning men on horseback in feminine dress.
“I wanted the money to stay in the province and I feel supporting the BC Children’s Hospital was the best way to advertise the event to get sponsors on board as well as men willing to compete,” said Courtney Mailhot, the races’ producer.
Mailhot created the event five years ago (it was cancelled last year due to the wildfires) as a family fun event and to encourage the next generation of barrel racers to get involved with the sport after she saw a dip in the number of young competitors.
She said there are usually 60 to 130 competitors each year of all ages, but this year the event had a substantially lower amount. Mailhot estimated it to be down by 50 per cent.
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“It was a busy rodeo weekend and I know some people are still affected by last year’s evacuations so there were many factors to why my numbers were down,” she said.
There was a rodeo in the Interlakes area which included the RCMP Musical Ride, which drew a lot of people from the South Cariboo. There were also rodeos in Fort St. John and Quesnel.
The number of men who registered and competed in the Calcutta was about average, Mailhot said, adding she didn’t have to convince them to enter as they all seemed fairly eager.
“The Men’s Calcutta was created for fun entertainment for us women and by making it a charity race. I also made it for a good cause and to encourage the men to get out there and support the BC Children’s Hospital,” said Mailhot.
The top three of the Calcutta Race were Joel Borsteinas on Breeze, Jim McColl on Fozzy, and Rob Dube on CJ.
