After a successful event hosted last year by Malcolm and Jenny MacLean at the Pincher Creek Rodeo Grounds in southern Alberta, the second annual Ultimate Stockmanship Challenge was held in mid-July at the Silver Slate indoor arena near Stavely.
The event involved a three-day stockmanship school to introduce people to the low-stress livestock handling methods developed by Bud Williams, followed by a cattle-handling competition with on-foot and horseback categories.
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Malcolm MacLean says he put the first Stockmanship Challenge together because he could not find another event that represented the skills of a true stockperson.
“A good stockman has the ability to get the job done without adding undue stress to stock. A good stockman understands cattle behaviour and doesn’t need to use intimidation to get the job done. These stockmen use proper positioning, and have the ability to read cattle.”
The Stockmanship Challenge is judged on efficiency of completing tasks and the stress level of the cattle.
“The events are tailored to be a reflection of real-life feedlot, ranch, or pasture work — working with groups of cattle by yourself,” says MacLean. “This is why in our competitions we have just a single person (with or without a horse) working with a group of cattle instead of teams of people working with a group of cattle, or a single person working with a single animal.”
The horseback competition winner for 2023 was John Smith of Nanton, Alta., while the on-foot winner was Mickayla Farrell from Foam Lake, Sask. Smith, owner of Plateau Cattle Company, was runner-up in the horseback division in 2022. Farrell, who was born and raised on the family grain and cattle operation, obtained a degree in animal science from Lakeland College in Vermilion, Alta., and currently works for Highland Feeders at Vegreville, Alta.
Judges for the 2023 event included Paul Kernaleguen, Dawn Hnatow and Whit Hibbard. Kernaleguen is one of the founders of Kattle Squared Services, based in Birch Hills, Sask. Along with designing systems and consulting on cattle handling, the company has hosted stockmanship clinics in the past.
Dawn Hnatow, who grew up in Marwayne, Alta., and learned cattle handling techniques from Bud Williams, now manages a cattle ranch in Bowie, Texas, She also travels around the country giving clinics and demonstrations on cattle-handling techniques. Hibbard is a fourth-generation Montana rancher who spent about 38 years handling cattle conventionally before making the paradigm shift to low-stress livestock handling (LSLH) as taught by Bud Williams.
“This year’s Stockmanship Challenge was more fun to judge than last year because there were a lot of repeat contestants,” says Kernaleguen. “They knew more about what was expected, and had more confidence. We were able to see the next level of skills and hone in on the little things people did that might be slightly better than a competitor. It was harder to judge, which means people are learning! If we can keep attracting people who are taking this seriously, I think it will continue to get better and better.”
