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Photo by Curtis Galbraith
Chuckwagons

WCA President optimistic there will be a 2020 season

Apr 22, 2020 | 3:35 AM

Uncertainty still surrounds the start of the chuckwagon racing season.

The first three events on the Western Chuckwagon Association season, Grande Prairie, Rycroft, and Whitecourt have all been cancelled. The first scheduled event is now Rio Grande, which is set to start on Canada Day.

Driver and WCA President Derek Aebly says drivers support to decisions to cancel.

“There are so many issues in our world right now with people being out of work, people being sick. Wagon racing kind of takes a back burner to everything that’s going on in the world.”

Aebly says drivers will still be training horses. That will likely start at the beginning of May.

“It has been a very cold and wet spring, so everything is late. But guys have new horses that they want to break. It’s one of those things where if the season does start up, you know, everybody wants to be ready and it will take you six to eight weeks to get horses in shape.”

He says there is still optimism there will be a season this year as no one knows what is in store in the next couple of months.

Aebly adds has known for the last 20 years what his schedule would be for spring, adding having it changed by the pandemic is a “weird feeling.”