Young Nova Scotia woman makes history at the Calgary Stampede

Colchester County's Grace Reynolds recently made her mark at the Calgary Stampede, and she joins Brianne Foley to chat about it.

A young Maritime woman made history this year at the Calgary Stampede.

Grace Reynolds became the first female competitor from Nova Scotia to participate in the Stampede’s team cattle penning championships.

The team event challenges participants to get three correctly numbered cows out of a herd and into a pen in 60 seconds.

Reynolds says while she made history, it’s not necessarily rare for women to compete in the sport.

“There’s quite a few women that compete around here and there’s quite a few women at the cattle penning championships at the Calgary Stampede, but I was the first from Nova Scotia to go,” she told CTV Atlantic’s Brianne Foley.

Reynolds added she’s no stranger to riding horses. She’s been doing so since before she could walk.

“I’ve competed in the English jumper world from the time I was five until I was 20. I qualified for the Royal Fair in Toronto, but due to COVID it was cancelled,” she said.

“It was at that time I decided to switch to go into a different direction and I started cattle penning three years ago out of a farm in Northport, so under Judy Thomas at Creek View Farms, and have just started and went from there... and I’ve loved it ever since.”

Reynolds has been on multiple teams, but had two qualify for the Stampede. Among her teammates was her beloved horse, Dutton. It took him five days to make the trek out west for the event.

“He’s super talented, he tries his heart out every single time that we go into the ring, we just have a bond that we share that is unbreakable. He’s not just my horse, he’s my teammate, my best friend and part of me,” she said.

Reynolds and her team entered the championships ranked second overall after holding the fastest qualifying run and ultimately finished 14th out of 243 teams.

“I don’t have many words, I was just so proud, there is not much I can say. I just set my sights on qualifying to compete at this Stampede and not only did I qualify, but I qualified twice, and going in in second place, it just feels so surreal,” she said.

“I’m honestly still riding the high of this unforgettable experience, so what’s to come next I’m not sure, but definitely stay tuned because there’s going to be something.”

Reynolds documented her experience at the Calgary Stampede online and videos can be found on her YouTube channel.

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