While Stampede visitors take in the rodeo action this week, University of Calgary veterinary medicine researchers will be hard at work advancing animal care.
The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (UCVM) study at Stampede Park examines how heat affects bulls and horses during rodeo.
"This research is a continuation of the work we did last year," says Dr. Ed Pajor, PhD, professor of animal behaviour and welfare. "We assessed animal welfare in the holding areas before events looking at nutrition, environment, behaviour and other factors. We found a lot of positives, but one area that stood out as a concern was how animals were coping with the heat."
Responding to this, the Stampede invited UCVM to conduct further investigation this year.
Measuring shade's cooling effect
This year, Pajor's team is monitoring bulls and horses in four shaded pens, comparing them with those kept in unshaded areas. This involves tracking environmental conditions air and surface temperature, humidity and microclimate variations using tools like infrared thermography.
They are also observing stress-related behaviours, such as changes in respiration rate or excessive sweating.
"Temperatures at Stampede Park can get high," says Pajor. "In cattle, you can see some drooling and different intensities of open-mouth breathing. With horses, you'll see increased respiration rate and sweating. The indicators vary slightly between species."
Heat management is more complex that it appears, Pajor says. That's why the team's goal is not just to determine whether shade helps, but to measure its effectiveness and assess whether additional methods, such as fans or misters, are worth implementing.
"As summers get warmer, this will be a constant issue. This study is a first step," he says. "It's about giving the Stampede science-based data they can use to make informed decisions for animal care."
A model for other rodeos
Pajor's publications are among the world's first to focus on rodeo animal welfare and early findings have led to tangible improvements at Stampede Park. As a result of his research, public access to certain areas has been restricted to reduce animal anxiety, and post-event watering stations have been installed to aid recovery.
"The Stampede has been very responsive to our results," says Pajor. "The hope is that this trickles down to other organizations to make sure we treat animals humanely and understand what they're going through. This opens a whole new area of welfare research."
An evolving research partnership
The heat stress study forms part of UCVM's growing research presence at the Stampede, which also includes projects led by other faculty members. Dr. Renaud Léguillette, DVM, PhD, is examining biomarkers like troponin in chuckwagon horses to detect signs of heart damage, while Dr. Thilo Pfau, PhD, is assessing track conditions and stride dynamics to reduce lameness risk in these animals.
UCVM also maintains a public education booth in the Nutrien Western Event Centre on Stampede Park, with students helping researchers collect data on site and faculty supporting animal care throughout the event.
"There's a great deal of interaction and collaboration between University of Calgary and the Calgary Stampede. Allowing us to come down and do research on welfare of rodeo animals is a unique opportunity," says Pajor.
