Local family well known all over North America
Shannon LeClair
Times Reporter
The Stewart family is well known in the county, the rodeo industry and in minor hockey. The five kids: Sisko, Kaitlynn, Taylor, Lachlan and Korrie – are also a part of one of the longest running return shows at the Calgary Stampede, and are an annual favourite at Heritage Days in Strathmore.
“I don’t know how we do it,” said dad, Gordon Stewart.
“When the kids do have a day off, they are very bored,” said mom Nina.
All five of the kids were also born in Strathmore, which isn’t typical since Strathmore Hospital only delivers if mom can’t make it to Calgary.
Two years ago, all four of the girls played on the same bantam hockey team for Siksika, which is the only time four siblings have ever played on the same team in minor hockey.
Now Kaitlynn and Sisko play midget hockey in Vulcan. Lachlan plays on a novice team out of Strathmore and Korrie is on the peewee female team, while Taylor plays bantam.
“We have 10 hockey practices a week, as well as six to 10 games on the weekends,” said Gordon.
“We average 2,000 kilometres a week in travel to practice and games. As far as we know, we are the only family with five kids in minor hockey.”
Previously all five kids had played hockey out of Gleichen. The hamlet no longer has minor hockey teams. All four of the girls also figure skated until this year, with only Korrie and Taylor still in it.
Gordon is President of the Gleichen and District Agricultural Society and headed renovations of the Gleichen Recreation Centre, which cost approximately $600,000. The renovations included exterior siding, the curling rink, new arena boards and a new concrete floor in the skating area. With all of the time, effort and funds invested into the facility, Gordon said he would like to see minor hockey return to the community.
Hockey and community initiatives are not the only things that set this family apart. They are well known in the rodeo industry and also operate one of the most diversified and experienced facilities for rodeo and horsemanship. The Stewarts run a year round horse operation with up to 50 head of horse, including ranch and draft horses.
“We live probably a very old style of life. It’s an old horse family, we live and breathe the horse business and in all aspects of it,” said Gordon. “We’re always working horses here and I don’t know when we do it.”
Six and a half years ago was when the family started their wild west show, ‘The Hearts of the West.’ Lachlan started riding when he was three-years-old and is also part of the show. He trick ropes and rides and they have a Brahma bull they are breaking for him to ride. They haul 10 horses and a Brahma bull to their shows all over North America.
Gordon said the old time wild west stuff hasn’t been done for decades and they have sort of pioneered the way to bringing it back. A friend of Kaitlynn’s had been practicing trick riding, and her friend’s mom had suggested to Nina they do it. At the time the kids had been in hockey and were going to end up going in different directions. Nina said they wanted to find something to keep them close as a family.
“It’s a natural fit for us because we are a horse family. We just got some pointers from a buddy of ours and started doing our own training here,” said Gordon.
The Stewarts have spent generations in the rodeo, chuckwagons and horse world and Gordon said the kids are keeping up with the tradition. They start, finish and train all sorts of horses and people from all over, for everything from barrel racing to chuckwagon racing. The Stewarts have an indoor and outdoor arena where they do clinics and training year round.
“We’re really proud of them because they are good at what they do,” said Gordon about his kids.
“Like in hockey they are good hockey players and they are great at the rodeo end of things.”
The Stewart kids are all professional rodeo members, making them the youngest and the only five siblings to all be pro rodeo card holders. Korrie went pro at the age of six and Lachlan got his card at four.
Nina is ground support, and Gordon said she is the one that keeps it glued together. Nina also takes care of the costumes the kids wear and makes sure they look good when they hit the arena.
The kids are also professional trick ropers, whip crackers, Roman riders and stunt riders.
“They do a professional show and they are professional rodeo (members) and they earn money at it and that’s kind of part of what keeps the wheels greased for them going to school,” said Gordon.
The girls come up with a lot of their own tricks just fooling around, then test them to make sure they are safe and which horse they will work with.
“Every show I vibrate. When that gate opens for them to come out as their show, I vibrate at the end of the rope. When the show is done I say thank you God because no one got hurt,” said Nina.
“Almost everything they do has risk,” added Gordon.
Taylor broke her neck during a Cody Schneider Bull Busting performance in Calgary when she was seven. Kaitlynn lost a kidney in Sedgewick while horse racing and almost lost her life horse breaking at home. Sisko broke her leg in two places while performing at the Calgary Stampede. Korrie got a concussion when she was six while performing in Oklahoma. Gordon broke his neck, sternum, ribs and shoulder in Bashaw at wagon races. Gordon quit participating in wagon races after that.
The kids are up at 5:30 a.m. during the school year, mom and dad do the chores during the week and in the evening the kids do their chores. Nina said they expect the kids to maintain good marks in school to be able to do the trick riding.
“Education is really important, so what they do with trick riding they’ve got an account for education,” said Nina. Kaitlynn will be attending Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton in the fall. There were a lot of scholarships available to her, and she will be going on one she got through school. She plans to be a child and youth care worker.
“At Grant MacEwan I’d like to try out for the women’s hockey team there,” said Kaitlynn.
She doesn’t want to move to the city, but said once she is done she can move back to the country. She said it’s going to be different not having her sisters and brother around.
“Sometimes it gets frustrating when you have no time for homework,” said Kaitlynn, of her busy life.
“In the summer we don’t have time for our school friends, we only see our rodeo friends.”
Nina said when they are on the road they bring lots of movies and will do movie nights, but you won’t often see their family sitting down to watch TV. Before the show it’s all about the show, but once it’s done they get to go off and have fun.
“The past three years now we’ve done a two week tour in B.C. at the end of September and it’s neat to be away for that long and B.C.’s a lot of fun to be at,” said Nina.
“For some people it may be the last thing they want to do, but for us it’s kind of the dream,” said Gordon.
Just when you wouldn’t think they could be any busier, the family will also be heading to Vancouver this summer to perform at the Pacific National Exhibition, PNE. The PNE is Vancouver’s annual carnival.
“I guess because we’re dedicated to each of those things we do, if you say well you only skate in the winter and horses year round, well that’s not bad,” said Gordon.
“If you put it in the perspective, if you say it in a short sentence, that’s not much.”
The Stewarts are on the road touring from May through to October. They are definitely one tough, happy and busy family.