Sixty-year rodeo legend Harry Vold, 87, will return to his roots this summer, joining his family, long-time friends, countless rodeo associates, and fans for the gala 75th anniversary celebration of the Ponoka Stampede from June 27 to July 3.
The legendary stock contractor, bronc rider, and auctioneer was born in 1924 and raised on the family ranch of parents Nansen and Kirsten Vold in the Asker district 15 miles east of Ponoka. Harry is thrilled and proud to be the honorary parade marshall on June 29. Along with his family, Harry is looking forward to a great reunion in this old hometown where it all started.
Harry Vold and his brothers, Clifford, Norman, and Ralph, attended school as well as worked and played hard on their father’s vast 3,000-acre spread. While attending to 200 head of cattle and 100 horses in those youthful years, they would quickly develop a keen eye for good stock. Nansen Vold was one of the district’s first official auctioneers, and as a young lad, Harry yearned to follow in his father’s footsteps, once skipping a day at Asker School and riding his horse over to an auction at Hawkeye to watch the action from the loft of a barn. He became a self-taught auctioneer, chanting with his father at countless sales, sold his first horse for $50, and then went on to hone his skills and make lots of friends at sales throughout Western Canada and the United States for many years.
Along the way, Harry also dreamed of creating a local rodeo, and with the help of his brothers fashioned a 120-foot by 250-foot arena out of poles in their own backyard. All of the boys were kind of daredevils and loved to ride the wildest stock, and together they would host district stampedes and picnics where many a wannabe cowboy would be encouraged to develop their skills to the cheers of the thrilled district crowds.
Times were tough and money was scarce in those days, vividly recalled by the fact that Nansen lost one of his ranches to the Great Depression, but everyone always worked together, and made the best of what they had. Cliff Vold was hired for $1 a day to help with a cattle round up and had to provide five horses for the task, then later found some time to win the $6 prize as the saddle bronc champ of the first 1936 Ponoka Stampede.
Always seen as a big and friendly man with a great love for rodeo and extreme action in his veins, Harry joined the Claggett travelling Wild West Show in 1947, did a little bareback and saddle bronc riding on the side, and continued to sell cattle at the Edmonton and Calgary Stock Yards. The keen Vold family tradition of ranching, auctioneering, as well as raising, buying, and selling all breeds of fine horses and cattle continued to flourish, including putting together packages of stock for rodeo stock contractors, and each deal being settled by a gentleman’s handshake.
In 1952, Harry agreed to ship 20 head of horses into Montana for Leo J. Cremer, but they were turned around at the border due to hoof-and- mouth disease in Mexico, and the whole load ended up back in Ponoka. He then agreed to let the Ponoka Stampede Association use them at no cost at their July long weekend event, during which others were very impressed by the quality and performance, and by 1954 the Harry Vold Rodeo Company were working rodeo events throughout Canada and the United States. In 1957 Harry and his brother Ralph would also go into partnership with Bill and Shorty Jones to purchase the Ponoka Auction Market.
As the sons of Nansen and Kirsten Vold honed their skills and pursued their dreams in many directions, they also married and raised their families in our community and districts, and along the way have been blessed with 15 energetic children and 33 grandchildren.
It wasn’t long before Harry and his wife, Karen, a former trick-rider, were welcoming their children into the fold, and through all these busy years on the road, Karen has always been his biggest inspiration and support. Harry would faithfully serve as the arena director of the Ponoka Stampede for many years, and in 1959 helped to organize the first of many Little Britches Rodeos in Canada.
In the family tradition their youngest son, Wayne, started his rodeo career early, working with the rodeo stock and as a highly regarded pick-up man and entertainer, later excelling as a Canadian champion bronc rider, and is now in charge of the long-standing Vold Rodeo Company based in Alberta. Youngest son, Doug, won his first Little Britches Saddle Bronc Championship in High River, busted onto the pro circuit and earned nine appearances at the Canadian Finals Rodeo, and now is involved in buying, trading, and selling top-notch horses.
Other members of the family, who all became involved in the sport of rodeo through the enthusiasm and support of the their parents, are daughters Dona, Kirsten, Darce, and Nancy, who died in 2008.
In 1965, after many successful and exciting years of rodeo stock contracting and promotion in Canada, Harry and his family ventured into the United States to test the same lucrative market. Now 46 years later, after a lot of hard work and many sharp turns along the dusty road, his family still operates the Triple V Rodeo Company, and brings their worldclass stock to more than 20 top American rodeos each season. They have the distinction of working all 51 performances of the fabulous National Finals Rodeo.
While Harry and Karen’s youngest daughter, Kirsten, has assumed the day-to-day operation of the Vold Rodeo Company, they still continue to proudly raise first-class rodeo stock at their magnificent 33,000 acre ranch at Pueblo, Colo.
Harry Vold has always considered his horses and bulls among the best athletes in the rugged business, and his trophy room is full of the many awards and honours that he and his legendary bulls and broncs have received over the past 60 glorious years.
Along the way he has gained the long-standing respect and friendship of rodeo contestants, officials, and fans, as well as the generations of infield acts that he has promoted and encouraged to present their unique and colourful skills in front of the packed grandstands.