By Tania Millen, BSc, MJ

When Canada becomes a winter wonderland shrouded with snow, many riders hang up their boots or disappear into indoor arenas. For teamsters in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Quebec, winter means hitching their horses to wagons, cutters, and bobsleighs to drive the trails at fundraising rallies. 

“Cutter rallies are a winter tradition that run on word of mouth,” writes Patty Carley, a director of the Alberta Carriage Driving Association (ACDA) Chinook Chapter. “They’re mostly organized and advertised by individual horse clubs.”

Cutters are the open horse-drawn sleighs of yesteryear, and cutter rallies are held in rural communities from January to March. They resemble summer poker rides or Ski-Doo and ATV rallies where participants buy a hand of cards, pick up additional cards at checkpoints along the trail, and the rider with the best poker hand is the winner.

But drivers in Quebec pursue a different kind of fun. They hitch their horses to sleighs and race through an obstacle course one at a time. The driver with the fastest time wins the derby. 

Driving doubles in the Derby Sainte-Clotilde (above/below).

“Derbies are a bit like the cross-country part of combined driving mixed with the dressage part,” says Louis Desrochers whose father Mathieu helps organize Derby Warwick, in Warwick, Quebec every February.

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Both rallies and derbies pay homage to a longstanding Canadian winter tradition of “dashing through the snow in a one-horse open sleigh,” plus draw communities together during an isolating time of year.

Sleighing Through History

Prior to Canadian confederation in 1867, horses were paramount to those eking out a living in what is now Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes. They pulled sleds for francophone habitants who were clearing land, delivering winter firewood, or taking products to market. Horse-drawn sleighs provided taxi service between communities and allowed middle-class Canadians to travel more easily in winter. Upper-class men with fancy horses and lavish sleighs courted the ladies with their teams. 

The word “sleigh” refers to any type of sled that is pulled by horses. Cutters have a pair of runners that are rigidly fixed to the body of the sleigh. They have many different designs and uses — from classic one-horse sleighs to multi-horse-drawn sleds with platforms for carrying heavy loads. Bobsleighs have two sets of runners and one or both pairs of runners turn with the horse(s).

Early 1800s one-horse sleighs — “carioles” to the French Canadians; cutters to the English — were low-slung and had a place in the front for the driver to stand. Passengers huddled together beneath bear and buffalo robes on a bench seat in the back. Over time, sleighs became more ornate and the height of the runners increased, making them quite unstable.

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A cariole (circa 1850) on display at the Shelburne Museum in Vermont. Photo: Wiki/Sadads

The nineteenth and early twentieth centuries represent Canada’s golden age of horse-drawn vehicles. Most villages in Quebec had a carriage maker. Paintings by Canada’s Cornelius Krieghoff show horse-drawn sleighs of many different configurations used throughout eastern Canada. In the early 1900s, Eaton’s of Canada sold a cutter and wooden shafts for $53.50, which included the cost of shipping it to the buyer’s nearest train station. Today there are craftsmen across Canada who build and revitalize horse-drawn vehicles.

Cutter Rallies

Cutter rallies are a throwback to yesteryear that continue the tradition of gathering families and communities together in the dead of winter. They provide opportunities to have a bit of fun and catch up on news when the days are short and outside entertainment is limited.

“From a horseman’s perspective, cutter rallies are fun to go to and great opportunities to get your horses exposed to large crowds,” says Ted Wheat, a driver in his early sixties who lives southeast of Vermilion, Alberta. 

Teamsters and horses navigate the derby course at Warwick, set up on a snow-covered baseball diamond. Competing as singles or doubles, horses representing many different breeds negotiate two obstacles and 12 gates on course to the delight of hundreds of spectators. Photo: Derby Warwick Facebook

These fundraising events are organized by local equine or agricultural groups in rural communities across northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. Some are held one year but not the next, and most are advertised by word of mouth. However, the Lloydminster Cutter Rally, held on the border between Alberta and Saskatchewan, has become a large, annual event.

“The Lloydminster rally is a fundraiser for cancer, and I’m always impressed and amazed by the community support,” says Wheat.

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The event began over 20 years ago, after the East-West Chapter of the ACDA lost a well-liked member of their club to cancer.

“It’s like a horseback poker rally except we use dice,” says Mike Sidoryk, the former manager of the Lloydminster Agricultural Exhibition Association that hosts the event and who now co-chairs the event committee.

The Lloydminster Cutter Rally is like a horseback poker rally but using dice. Participants roll five dice, one at each of five checkpoints, and whoever has the highest score wins. Photo: Jim Metherell

At poker rallies, participants collect playing cards and the highest poker hand wins. At the Lloydminster rally, participants roll five dice — one at each of five checkpoints. Then whoever has the highest score wins.

“Every year, they have the main prize — a cutter — on display and I go by and drool over it,” says Wheat, “and in 2023, my wife won it!”

If the winner doesn’t want a cutter, they can choose $2,000 cash instead, or $2,500 worth of harness made by a local harness maker.

“I have a cutter that I purchased out of a fellow’s pasture five years ago,” says Wheat. “It was old, so I rebuilt and painted it.” Now, Wheat and his wife are thrilled to have a new cutter to drive at the 20th Annual event on February 24, 2024.

The Lloydminster Cutter Rally has been a fundraiser for cancer for 20 years, with more than $170,000 donated for cancer care in the Lloydminster area. Photos: Jim Metherell

“I always had this itch to drive,” Wheat explains. “It means you can do more things with your horses in winter. I’m still riding and working cattle with my horses but it’s getting harder on my body.”

Cutter rallies attract a full gamut of drivers. Some teamsters are over aged 70.

“They remember driving horses when they were young — for real — not for fun,” says Wheat. “When I grew up, there were tractors, so driving is a novelty.”

There are also chuckwagon drivers, people with minis, draft teams, and some dyed-in-the-wool cowboys who don’t drive but ride their saddle horses.

A small but mighty mini in the Derby Sainte-Clotilde.

“Lots of women that might not be cowboys or even saddle riders [will] drive a single horse,” says Wheat.

But it’s the fundraising that draws many.

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“A lot of people participate in the supper and silent auction but never go on the sleigh ride,” says Wheat.

“All the funds remain in the community and are donated to the Lloydminster Region Health Foundation specifically to support the chemotherapy ward,” says Sidoryk.

After 19 events, over $170,000 has been donated for cancer care in the Lloydminster area.

“We’ve purchased chemotherapy chairs, vein finders, blanket warmers, and supported renovations to the chemotherapy ward to make it more comfortable for the patients,” says Sidoryk. “We’ve developed a bursary for nurses to get professional development education to support the oncology department, and we’re working towards developing a scholarship for students to go into nursing with plans to focus on oncology. Our goal is to leave a legacy for cancer treatment in our region.”

 The Lloydminster Cutter Rally may be the largest event of its kind in Canada, but smaller rallies raise funds for their own communities and provide winter entertainment, too. Meanwhile, Quebec drivers hone their competitive skills.

The Lloydminster Cutter Rally is an annual event and the largest of its kind in Canada. The 20th annual rally will be held on February 24, 2024. Photo: Jim Metherell

Winter Derbies

“Everyone likes horses and we wanted to create a winter activity in Warwick for people to come and watch,” says Mattieu Desrochers in French, while his son Louis translates. Mathieu and Louis both compete their horses in derbies while Louis’s brother Albert is a navigator.

Louis Desrochers driving with Albert Desrochers navigating in the Derby Sainte-Clotilde, Quebec.

“Some drivers are really competitive, but others do it for fun,” says Desrochers.

The derby course in Warwick is set up on a snow-covered baseball diamond. It has two obstacles plus 12 “gates” or slots that are identified by red and white cones which the horses race through.

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“Lots of different types of horses can do the derby,” says Louis. “My father drives a Dutch-cross and I drive Halflingers. Others drive Oldenburgs, Quarter Horses, Paints, and trotting breeds. All the breeds have good qualities. Some horses are consistent and always go the same speed. Others are really quick, which is to their advantage.”

There are usually about 35 entries split between singles (one horse) and pairs (two horse) classes. When there are a lot of entries, classes are divided into divisions by difficulty. About 15 volunteers organize the event and up to 600 spectators have attended.

“The number of spectators we get depends on the temperature,” says Louis.

Derby Warwick has been held annually for ten years and in 2023 was live on Facebook for the first time. The next event will be on February 17, 2024.

An annual event for the past ten years, Derby Warwick was live on Facebook for the first time in 2023 and everyone involved is looking forward to the 2024 derby to be held on February 17. Photo: Derby Warwick Facebook

“Winning is about honour,” says Louis. “But when we have sponsor funding, the winners get coolers for their horses and a photograph that’s printed at the event.”

There are only four or five derbies organized by groups in Quebec every year and the 2023 Derby Warwick winners came from a town about eight hours away.

If you want to be part of Canada’s winter sleighing history, check out a cutter rally or derby. They’re a great way to enjoy horses during Canada’s long, cold winters, and spectators and participants are always welcome.

Resources

• Alberta Carriage Driving Association
• Derby Warwick
• Lloydminster Cutter Rally for Cancer
• Prairie Carriage Driving Club
• Société d’Attelage du Bas Canada - The Driving Society of Lower Canada Inc.

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Main Photo: Driver Louis Desrochers and his team of Haflingers competing in the Derby Sainte-Clotilde, Quebec. Credit: Julie Pelletier