When Robin Burwash rode outlaw barebacks for a living, it was always showtime.

The flamboyant Burwash was always sure to give the crowd their money’s worth, throwing caution to the wind with his spectacular spurring style and tipping his hat to his fans.

Well, the four-time Canadian bareback champion and two-time Stampede champion from Okotoks is champing at the bit these days because it’s showtime again and he’s the producer and director.

This time, Burwash is back in the spotlight as the ‘CEO’ of the Calgary Stampede rodeo.

David Lazarowych photos, Business Edge
Four-time Canadian bareback champ Robin Burwash is taking over the reins of the Calgary Stampede rodeo from longtime infield chief Winston Bruce.

And you can bet your boots that the charismatic cowboy, one of the sport’s greatest ambassadors, will add some punch and flair to the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth July 4-13.

But, when you ask Burwash about his new job as successor to longtime Stampede rodeo manager Winston Bruce, his face turns sombre for a moment as if he were about to bust out of the Stampede chute and ride for $50,000.

Finally, he pinches himself.

“Some days, I still feel like I’m dreaming,” says the kid who grew up on a Calgary-area farm idolizing the Stampede heroes.

To Burwash, it’s not just the Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth. It’s also the greatest outdoor job on Earth. 1. At what stage in your life did rodeo get into your blood?

“Actually, it all started on a stick horse in the kitchen cupboards in Beddington (then a rural community north of Calgary, near Balzac) when I was a little gaffer. The cupboards were the chute, I’d back in there and I was the announcer, rider, judge and everything. I come from a family of 10 kids and my two oldest brothers rodeoed. My parents (Don and Vi) also were big rodeo fans. Then, I really got interested in rodeo in high school in Airdrie when I started hanging around some other guys that were interested in rodeo.”

2. Who was your rodeo mentor?



“There was a guy named Lester Gurnett, who was a Canadian finals saddle bronc rider, who a group of us kids at school got to know. We would skip out of class, go to a western shop that he worked at in Airdrie and he would tell us these rodeo stories. Then, Lester started taking us to high school rodeos. He was a good mentor.”

3. When did you decide to pursue a career in rodeo?

“I actually went down to Montana State University to take an education course to become a schoolteacher. I went out to their rodeo team as a walk-on and wound up winning the bareback riding. That’s when they gave me a full-ride scholarship, which was phenomenal for a little Canadian country boy, and things took off from there.”

4. What character trait had the most to do with your success as a bareback rider?

“I loved the sport and I’m a bit of a perfectionist. I never rode good enough for me. Every time I got off, there was always something I knew I could improve on for the next time. I loved getting on a bucking horse. My adrenalin still gets pumping when I see a great bucking horse. It puts goosebumps up on the back of my neck. There’s a great beauty in a great bucking horse.”

5. What’s the most important life lesson rodeo has taught you?

“If you want something, focus on it and you can have it. There’s basically very little glory and very little money in it, although the money is getting better. I’m not saying there wasn’t some glory, but it wasn’t to the extent of other professional sports. I can say there were lots of guys who had more natural talent than I did, but they didn’t want it as bad as I did.”

6. What was your most memorable eight seconds on a bareback?

“It was probably winning the gold medal at the Calgary Olympic rodeo (1988). My father died the night before the Olympic rodeo started. I was at a rodeo in Houston, got on a plane and went to the hospital, but my dad had died just as I’d reached the hospital doors. He was always a big supporter of me, as was my mom, and my parents were both big fans of rodeo. He told me: ‘Ride in Houston.’ I guess that’s what you learn from your parents, because they have so much respect for people who try hard and are good people, like cowboys were. I was more focused in the Olympic rodeo than I probably ever was.”

7. What’s your most vivid memory from the Olympics?

“I remember going out on the stage for my gold medal and seeing 80,000 people cheering for me at Olympic Plaza. I was the only one going out there to get a medal and I couldn’t believe the response. That one was for my dad.”

8. How was the Calgary Stampede different for you from other rodeos on the pro circuit?

“The Stampede was always a big part of my family’s life. It was a part of our social life and the way our family lived. It was something to see Dick Cosgrave (a former Stampede rodeo manager in the 1950s and 1960s) come out on the stage on his palomino. He had so much flair to him. And I remember (rodeo announcer) Warren Cooper’s great voice. There’s something very, very special about the Calgary Stampede. They do everything right. So it was so big getting to ride in the Stampede for the first time (in a high school event). They’re so proud of it that it makes everybody who rides here feel it’s not just like any other rodeo. And now as rodeo manager I want to make sure that carries on, that the cowboys who show up have a great opportunity to win something. Unfortunately, steers and horses and bulls have good and bad days and you can’t control that.”

9. How did you deal with the pressure of one eight-second ride for $50,000 at the Stampede?

“I was driven by pressure. I always felt that I rode better under pressure. That adrenalin kick gave you a little bit more speed and made your reaction so tuned. That was the best part of riding, being at a great rodeo, knowing you had a spectacular bucking horse, knowing there’s great money on the line. What could be better? A great crowd at a great rodeo with money.”

10. Why did you retire when you were still performing so well?

“I quit in 1994 (at 36) because I wanted to quit while I was still competitive. Too many of my heroes rodeoed too long, and kids that couldn’t have packed their riggin’ bag (riding equipment) to a rodeo were beating them. I guess there’s a little vanity there. I didn’t want to be in that situation.”

11. How did you deal with retirement from bareback riding?

“First of all, I didn’t know what I was going to do. I thought an opportunity would come up. It didn’t. I couldn’t beg, borrow or steal a job. I wasn’t qualified for a job at McDonald's, by other people’s estimations. They said: ‘What are you qualified to do?’ I said: ‘I ride bucking horses.’ They don’t realize the timetables you have to keep to get to the rodeos and the bookwork you have to do. Anyways, it was kind of a shock to me. There was a withdrawal period where I didn’t go to rodeos for a while. Finally, after four months of driving everyone crazy, a friend called me and asked me if I wanted to work in movies.”

“I went out to the set and worked as an extra on the set of Lonesome Dove (TV series). The movies paid so good, but I wasn’t close enough to the action. I was just an extra rider as such. Then, I got an opportunity to start a business.”

12. Why did you go into the horse gear business?

“Timing is everything. We were fortunate enough that the only other manufacturer of halters and tack made out of nylon webbing in Canada had quit. So we started Burwash Brand Horse Gear. Now we have a factory down in Pincher Creek and we’re in stores across Canada and in 23 states. My wife (Sue) runs the business and she has taken it to the next level because I’m not in the way. Some ideas we did with the business were great and some weren’t, but we tried to learn from our mistakes. It was the same idea as what I did in rodeo. You strive to be the best at what you do.

13. What was it like working alongside legendary rodeo manager Winston Bruce on the Stampede last year as his associate?

“It was great. Winston is very methodical. He was very open about everything he was doing and why he was doing it. You come in eager to make your mark, but after seeing the reason why some things were done the way they were, I was saying that it might be the last thing I change if I change it at all.”

14. What’s it like following in Bruce’s bootsteps?

“This is a dream and there isn’t another one like it in the world. So am I scared? Well, yeah! I don’t want to fail, but it’s also tough coming in to an established working operation and try to keep it going forward. The good thing is that everyone has been very open, welcoming and supportive of me and they’ve kind of let me run with it.”

15. How do you think you’ll feel in your debut performance as Stampede rodeo manager?

“I don’t know. I think there’s going to be a pretty overwhelming wave come across me. Every now and then, I just think to myself: ‘Do you believe you’re gettin’ to do this now as the little kid who used to bound out of the cupboards fantasizing this stuff?’ It’s so big. The great thing is that there are just so many good people who have done this for years and there’s a good template in place.”

“But, then again, maybe I just don’t know how much trouble I’m in. We also have great people at the ranch (at Hanna) who do a great job of keeping the animals at their finest, so I know we’ll put on a great show. Still, I’d be naive to think that there weren’t going to be some hiccups.”

16. How will you put your stamp on the Stampede rodeo department and the way the rodeo is presented?

“I want to go forward with better technology. We need better computer programs for our rodeo program. I wouldn’t have known that if I didn’t have a fairly good computer system for our company (Burwash Brand Horse Gear) and then coming here and finding out this system is pretty archaic. As far as the rodeo performance goes, yeah, there’s going to be some changes. I guess you’ll have to come and see.”

17. Can you give us a sneak preview on what we should expect?

“Initially, I thought I probably wouldn’t change a lot to start with, but every time I turn around, I’ve made quite a few changes. It isn’t that I came in with this mission to change the whole thing. We’ve got some really neat promotions this year. We’ve put a bounty on one of our bulls named Outlaw, who is six years old and never been ridden in 55 tries in pro rodeo since we’ve owned him. He’ll be out three times. If a cowboy makes a qualified eight-second ride on him, someone out of the crowd will win $10,000. We’ll be doing a lot to showcase our top cowboys and our top animals so they can become stars. We have a spectacular breeding program (at the Stampede ranch) and phenomenal athletes. We’ll be doing a lot so that the fans can get to know the cowboys. We’re selling entertainment, so we’d better be entertaining. Yeah, it’s going to be jazzed up.”

18. Beyond rodeo, what do you see in your life’s crystal ball?

“Having a happy family and driven kids is important. Sue and I are very fortunate because our kids are very focused and they work hard.”

19. Will you let your kids grow up to be rodeo cowboys?

“Well, our youngest one, Jake, is five years old and he’ll be in the Stampede as the kid in the can (barrel) for the sheep riding. Jake’s all-cowboy already. He wakes up every morning says: ‘Hey, dad, should we dress up like cowboys today?’ I say: ‘Like we did yesterday? Yeah, why not?’ But I don’t care if my kids want to be wrestlers, that’s fine – as long as they’re doing what they love.”

20. What does being a cowboy mean to you?

“It’s just like when I was on the rodeo circuit. It’s not just my job. It’s my lifestyle. It’s your social life, it’s your living, it’s everything. That’s just the way it is. It’s all I want to do. If I was working at McDonald’s flipping hamburgers, then my spare time would be spent trying to be a cowboy. I’m lucky because I get to spend 24 hours a day every day doing exactly what I would be doing for nothing.”

IN PROFILE: Robin Burwash
* Born/raised/age: Calgary, Airdrie, 44.
* Residence: Okotoks.
* Title: Rodeo manager, ranch manager, Calgary Stampede.
* Career: Burwash was one of the world’s top bareback riders during a 16-year pro career in which he won four Canadian titles, an Olympic gold medal (1988) and two Calgary Stampede titles (1989 and 1986 as a co-champion). He qualified 10 times for the prestigious National Finals Rodeo (world finals) and was the world
runner-up twice. Burwash retired in 1994 and founded Burwash Brand Horse Gear, a company he still owns, and is in his rookie year as Stampede rodeo manager.
* Accolades: Burwash won the prestigious Canadian Cowboy of the Year award in 1988.
* Passion: The cowboy lifestyle.

THE COMPANY: Calgary Stampede
* Profile: The Calgary Stampede is a volunteer-supported, not-for-profit community organization.
* 2003 Stampede: July 4-13.
* Slogan: The Legend Continues.
* Tickets: 403-297-9822, 1-800-661-1767.
* Prices: Gate admission $6-$11; rodeo $22.47-$46.01 (incl. GST); chuckwagon/grandstand $27.82-$63.13 (incl. GST).
* Website: www.calgarystampede.com
* Contact Info: 403-261-0101, 1-800-661-1260; Box 1060, Station M, Calgary, T2P 2K8.