Victory always make the drive home that much more enjoyable.
“It makes the drive less long, that’s for sure,” said Sandy Price.
She was referring to her team’s victory in the team penning competition at the Calgary Stampede earlier this month (July 3 and 4).
They were competing in the Seven Class.
Team penning consists of three riders who attempt to separate three identically numbered cattle from a herd of 30, drive them the length of the arena and then attempt to corral them into a small pen. It must also be done in 60 seconds or less. It is done four times.
Price teamed up with her 15-year-old daughter Larissa, as well as Laura Bird to take top spot, finishing with a total time of 157.200. Second place was well behind at 177.570.
“It was quite the feat,” Price said. Only five teams out of the 183 managed to pen all dozen cattle.
“These cattle, they brought them right off the range in southern Alberta and they hadn’t seen people before so they were very tough.”
Price grew up on a farm in Olds, Alta. and the family moved to Walnut Grove about five years ago.
And this was actually her second straight year winning the competition, also taking top spot in 2012, albeit with a different team. Last year, she was with Taylor Sinclair and Debbie Molnar, and they were tops in the Ten Class.
Sinclair also won in 2011, competing with her mother Cathy Sinclair and grandfather George de Jonge.
The one constant in all three years was Langley’s Fast Times Farm, which Sinclair owns..
This is where the Price’s have kept their horses and trained since moving to Walnut Grove.
“If we didn’t have a place to compete and practice, we wouldn’t ever be at that level,” Price said.
The most recent victory earned the trio a cheque for $26,000 — the oversized version hangs in the barn at Fast Times Farms alongside the ones from 2011 and 2012 — and a championship belt buckle.
And both mother and daughter were thrilled to share such an experience together.
“There is nothing better,” Sandy Price said. “It is just so cool to win with your daughter.”
“That was the best part,” added Larissa Price.