Up Close and Personal With Stampede Horses

Horses are an integral part of every Calgary Stampede, as well as being crowd favourites. While we can't take in the rodeo or the chucks this year, we can still saddle up with equine expert Dr. Renaud Léguillette and 2020 Stampede Parade Marshal Filipe Masetti Leite. They'll talk about the research and scientific expertise that goes into caring for horses at the Stampede, share personal stories about what these amazing animals can do, and answer as many of your questions as they can. So gather up the young'uns, grab your boots and hats, and let's ride! 

About the speakers   

Dr. Renaud Léguillette, DVM, PhD, is a professor of equine internal medicine in UCalgary's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and holds the Calgary Chair in Equine Sports Medicine. His research focuses on inflammatory lung diseases, including heaves and IAD (Inflammatory Airway Disease), as well as equine sports medicine with a focus on cardio-respiratory physiology. He has performed many clinical trials and field studies on the treatment of heaves and IAD, as well as on exercise physiology of show jumpers and chuckwagon horses. 

Filipe Masetti Leite is the 2020 Calgary Stampede Parade Marshal. In 2012, at the Calgary Stampede’s Centennial celebration, Masetti Leite swung into the saddle and began chasing an extraordinary dream: a 12-country, 25,000-kilometre journey on horseback across North and South America. From his adopted country of Canada, Masetti Leite rode to his native Brazil, then on to Ushuaia, Argentina — the very tip of South America. Last year he once again set off on horseback from Alaska with the goal of returning to Calgary to complete his trip in time for the Stampede. 

About the moderator

Community leader and Calgary journalist Deborah Yedlin was elected the 14th chancellor of the University of Calgary, effective July 1, 2018. Yedlin has been observing, commenting and writing about business and politics for more than two decades, as a journalist for the Financial Post, Globe and Mail and Calgary Herald newspapers. In addition to her writing, she has been a regular commentator for CBC Radio and Television, and CTV since 1996.