Local horseman, David Cowley of Exshaw’s Rafter Six Ranch Resort, recorded his 15th annual trip up the Calgary Tower July 6 accompanied by his trusty four-legged sidekick, his horse Tucker.
“There’s nothing better than the expression of people who don’t expect to see a horse coming off the elevator,” said Cowley with a laugh.
Surprised looks aside, Cowley said he makes the trek up the 191-meter tower to demonstrate the bond that can exist between a horseman and his horse. For Tucker, a four-year-old Palomino, Saturday marked his first trip up the tourist attraction.
Lucky for him, he has Cowley, who estimated this to be his 35th trip to the observation deck with a horse.
Tucker is the sixth horse Cowley has taken up the tower, a feat that he said took about a year’s worth of training. He said consistency is the key to the training — the horse has to respect and trust Cowley as a leader.
“There’s no rehearsal for this, you just have to know if you’re ready,” remarked Cowley, who is involved with most of the operations at Rafter Six, his family’s ranch. “The horses have to know that they are safe and that they have to do it.
“I have to trust them as much as they have to trust me.”
Tucker and Cowley will be heading up to the top of the tower again July 11, at 11 a.m. Once there, the pair will visit with spectators for about a half hour before heading back down to street level.
Cowley said he first had the idea to make the trek up the tower during 1999’s Calgary Stampede, after gaining recognition for heading horseback into local hotels and nightclubs. So far, the horse trainer and stuntman said he’s never had a horse unable to make the elevator ride.
Despite his young age, Tucker has been under the watchful eye of Cowley since he was about two months old. The 33-year-old horseman said the colt was a troublemaker.
“Tucker had a lot of attitude but I saw something in him that I really liked,” he said. “He was curious and playful — a smart guy.”
Tucker’s training progressed quickly, said Cowley, but it won’t be limited to traveling to sky-high heights. The cowboy has plans to try his hand at the Calgary Stampede’s Cowboy Up Challenge — a speedy obstacle-course-style event. He said he’s got an eye on one of those Stampede belt buckles.
