Dany Tremblay Wins Inaugural Calgary Stampede Invitational Open Reining

Dany Tremblay secured the Calgary Stampede’s inaugural Open Invitational Reining victory Tuesday, July 7, riding Sunnyside Stables’ 10-year-old stallion Legitness to a score of 150 inside Stampede Park’s Nutrien Western Event Centre.

The win was made even sweeter since it was in Tremblay’s home country, Canada. Originally from Quebec, the $1 million NRHA rider now resides in Marietta, Oklahoma. He made the trip North of the border with other invitees Shawn Flarida, Jason Vanlandingham, Jordan Larson and Kole Price. The final Open competitor, Shawna Sapergia of Longview, Alberta, qualified by winning an open class held earlier this year to punch her ticket.

The format was part of the appeal: each competitor drew a horse from a list of five generously donated horses and had two rides to get with their mount before showing. Once Tremblay drew Legitness (SG Frozen Enterprise x Whizzenn For Chex x Topsail Whiz), he relied on videos and Sapergia’s advice, since she had previously shown the stallion.

Following the open invitational competition, there was a Canadian open and youth competition. Haley Franc and Electric Force won the Canadian open with a 146 while Natalie Draper and Shooting Off Sparks finished No. 1 in the youth.

“Even if she was a competitor, she gave me great advice,” Tremblay said. “How he was going to be in the pen, what he was going to do, the bad stuff, the good stuff, all that. She helped me know my horse.”

That advice paid off. Tremblay guided Legitness through NRHA pattern 10, pushing the limits on the turns and circles before finishing the pattern with three stops.

“I didn’t know how much I could trust him, but Shawna said, ‘He’s not a cheater in the middle, he’s not going to try to change on you,'” Tremblay said. “I trusted him and I trusted Shawna, and it was an awesome run.”

A Moment That Felt Bigger

Beyond the run itself, Tremblay said the whole trip felt like a homecoming. He watched Tuesday’s rodeo performance, chuckwagon races and the Indian relay.

“Calgary Stampede is the biggest rodeo in the world,” Tremblay said. “And this [competition] was something I wanted to do, and it was great, great, great.”

Prior to the competition, Vanlandingham got ahold of the microphone to ask members in the audience if they had seen reining before. It turns out that about half the onlookers hadn’t, so before the start of the competition the basic maneuvers you see in a reining pattern were explained to the crowd. According to Tremblay, the atmosphere was friendly and geared towards bringing more people into the sport of reining.

“If only one person in there buys a horse and wants to be a reiner, it’s a win,” Tremblay said. “It felt great to be welcomed, especially going into my own country, and everybody cheering for me. It was a lot of fun.”

Tremblay credited event organizer David Bénard, of Alberta production company The Xibition, for building the showcase from the ground up. He was also quick to point to the people who made his run possible in the first place: Legitness’s owners, Jeff and Rhonda Nielsen of Sunnyside Stables in Canada.

“We couldn’t do that event without the support of the owners of all the horses that let us ride their horses and go show,” Tremblay said. “Not everybody would let us do that. Without those owners, this wouldn’t be possible. They are the winners — the owners. Us open riders were there for fun, to do what we know best: ride and show horses.”

2026 Calgary Stampede Invitational Open Reining results