About 50 people attended the screening for the mini-documentary about Ponoka-area barrel racer Dee Butterfield.
The special event was held at the Canadian Professional Rodeo Hall of Fame at the Calnash Ag Event Centre on April 18.
The evening was "amazing," and the film was "incredible," said the hall of fame association in a social media post after the screening.
The 25-minute film, made by the Medicine Hat Cowboy Poetry Foundation through an Alberta Heritage Grant, is to be released soon.
The documentary is part of the foundation's upcoming series on women in rodeo.
Dee Butterfield was inducted into the CPR Hall of Fame in 2015.
Raised in the rodeo community on a working cattle ranch a little west of Williams Lake, B.C. at a place called Big Creek, Butterfield was riding horses almost as soon as she could walk.
By age 12, she was barrel racing and had become a serious competitor by 14.
By 1991, Butterfield had made major contributions to the boards at CFR.
In 1994, she made her final appearance at the CFR, having qualified 11 times on five different equine superstars.
In 1975, Dee was awarded the ‘Canadian Pro Rodeo Woman of the Year’ during the International Women’s Year celebration. In 2006, she was awarded the Bill Kehler Award at the Ponoka Stampede.
She's made Ponoka County her home for 40-plus years, starting a barrel-racing breeding program with husband Craig Butterfield.
She continues to compete and teach barrel racing clinics around the world, passing down her rodeo knowledge to the next generation.
Her son, pro rodeo athlete Chance Butterfield, will be the master of ceremonies for the screening on April 18.
The film's producer Cheryl Dust was in attendance that evening as well.
Dust is a photographer and videographer, "with a country slant."
Well acquainted with livestock, she specializes in recording cowboy and farm events such as brandings, horse shows and cowboy festivals.
"In retirement she picked up a video camera and started recording cowboy poetry and entertainment, rural life, cows, horses and all things country," states her website, cheryldust.com.
The music for the documentary was composed by Don Kletke.
This is the second time Dee has been featured in film. In 2006, she was profiled in Season Two, episode 13 of Cowboy Country, as a rodeo competitor and horse breeder, alongside country music artist Brett Kissel and hall of fame bucking horse Airwolf.
Read more about Dee at canadianprorodeohalloffame.org.
