The Long Game

“Defeat Debbie Renger (Guelly) and the title is yours.” Edmonton Journal, November 8, 1999

The Early Days 

She may have sought southern skies to pursue her rodeo dreams, but the North will always proudly claim the legend of Deb Guelly.

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Deb grew up in the remote, tight-knit community of Hudson’s Hope, BC. Her dad was a teamster and work brought him there to build the W.A.C Bennett Dam. Her parents were involved in chariot racing, gymkhana and rodeo. Growing up her dad was a big part of the local saddle club and heavily involved in the HH rodeo. The province wasn’t yet split for High School Rodeo, and travelling south was costly so the family stuck to local events. There weren’t many clinics in the area, but there were exceptional horsemen raising strong bloodlines of running Quarter Horses - and that’s where Deb set her sights.

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“I still do it to this day. I find people whose horsemanship I want to mirror, and I watch them ride in the warm-up pens and from the sidelines. I watched, and I asked a lot of questions - and that’s how I built my own program.”

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After W.A.C Bennett, Deb’s dad owned and ran a general store (feed, lumber, hardware) in Hudson’s Hope, and her early days consisted of waking up before the sun to ride, going to school, and then working in the store. When she was 12, she worked as a trail guide during the summers. After high school, she was on track to attend college as a veterinary technician when she and a friend decided to attend the CFR for a fun weekend.

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Deb was immediately enthralled by Northlands. As they watched the action unfold, she turned to her friend and said:

“I’m going to be back here - but I’m going to be riding in it.”

And the rest is history. 

Flashy & Buck 

After Deb declared she would become a professional barrel racer she headed to Alberta to hit the rodeo trail with Flashy (Mr. Horton x Leos Lark), a mare she purchased from Peggy and Chuck Stojan. Peggy had taken Flashy to rodeos for a full season and she had a really nice pattern on her. At the same time or maybe a little before Flashy’s full brother, Leos Ole Buck caught her dad’s eye at the racetrack. Chuck owned the 3 year old stallion and he was impressive in training but when it came to race day he would dink around and not clock. Her dad caught Chuck “in a sellable mood” at the racetrack one day and Dave Manning agreed to take him for training with one caveat - he wanted him gelded. 

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Buck was actually meant for Deb’s younger sister but after Deb picked him up from Dave he never left her trailer. 

“I credit Dave Manning with everything for Buck.”

By 1991, Deb was running both Flashy and the four-year-old Buck. Buck was already winning at the futurities, and by the end of that year Deb entered him at Regina - and he placed 5th at his first ever professional rodeo. Between the sibling duo, Deb filled her card that season, officially launching the career that would cement her place among the greats.

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Year after year, the team qualified for the Canadian Finals Rodeo and in 1995 they won the Canadian Title and her and Buck punched their ticket to her first WNFR. 

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The Bloodlines Matter: 

Some bloodlines just really speak to some trainers and some trainers can ride anything. Deb Guelly is one of those jockeys that could make a stick horse look good - but man did she love a certain type of horse. 

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Mr. Horton and Docs Paradise were two stallions that imprinted her career for decades. She ran half a dozen of Flashy and Buck’s siblings and they were all winners in their own way. 

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“I think sometimes people forget about the others. I had his full sister Larky, as my NFR backup horse. There was LB - he didn’t do well with the miles but the one year rodeoing he made $7000 in 10 days. 7 or 8 of Buck’s full siblings won with multiple people - I ran many and Jacqueline (Stojan/Reay) won a lot with them as well - Larky and her had a ton of success. Her brother Jerry had a nice bulldogging horse that was another full sibling.” 

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At the 1998 CFR 3 of the top 4 horses were Mr. Horton offspring or grandoffspring. 

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“The Stojan’s know what they’re doing, their program is awesome.” Deb says of the Sexsmith, AB breeding operation. 

Mr. Horton was only 14.3hh but he stamped large, powerful horses. Most importantly they were built to last - and that would be a trait Deb found in both her Mr. Horton and Docs Paradise winners. Buck would help Deb qualify for the WNFR twice, CFR 10 consecutive times and win multiple Canadian titles. 

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She chuckles “I think we injected his hocks, and he had Banemine the last year I ran him.” 

Introducing Reiner: 

“I remember praying to win Regina. It was Buck’s first rodeo and it would be his last. He didn’t owe me anything.” They won it by a hundredth of a second and Buck retired leaving big shoes to be filled by Docs Leo Lee (Docs Paradise x Chickle Lee) or Reiner. 

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“He was born to be a rodeo horse.” 

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She had had her eyes on Reiner for years. Before he was a legendary barrel horse he dominated the cow horse pen. Vance Krause won the working cow horse on him as a 3 year old and Deb had tried to buy him as a 4 year old from Yvonne Krause. Yvonne wanted to keep him for his barrel futurity and derby years and the pair had good success before she was ready to part with him. Deb entered one jackpot in Colorado on him and went straight to the winter rodeos down south. She had always loved Docs Paradise horses and Reiner was exactly what she pictured he would be. She kept up her streak of Canadian Finals Rodeo Qualifications, another Canadian title and 3 more WNFR qualifications. 

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Scooters And Crutches: 

A good program always comes full circle and when Deb qualified for her 6th National Finals Rodeo (2015) she was aboard two horses that season - Royal Star Commander and Docs Flashy Scooter, out of Flashy (Mr Horton) by Docs Paradise.

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She has had many standout winners in her career Sabella, Shorty and Frucon to name a few and they all have one thing in common - they are just as tough as her. 

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Deb was on track to qualify for the NFR one year when she was brutally injured at Pullyup, WA. in early September. The alley for that rodeo was through a narrow gate to the roping box, her horse took off for the pattern before her leg had cleared the post - shooting her back and shattering her femur. She was out for the last few weeks of the regular season rodeos but still competed at the Canadian Finals in November with a fractured femur.

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“I put Dex and DMSO on it and it numbs the pain for 4 hours.” She laughs. 

Cowgirl tough. 

Grateful For It All:

Deb Guelly qualified for the Canadian Finals Rodeo 22 times, made 6 trips to the WNFR, won 6 Canadian titles and has a career that has spanned over 3 decades. Her success began long before the bright lights and big stages. It was built on a foundation as solid as the Rocky Mountains - in early mornings, hard work, good horsemanship and relationships built on shared belief. 

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Belief in her horses, in the training, in the bloodlines, and in herself - and the belief her many supporters had in her along the way.

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She is thankful for the highs and the lows, for the incredible equine partners from Buck to Reiner and every horse in between and for the people who helped shape the journey - the Stojan family and the Mr. Horton bloodlines, the Krause family and Docs Paradise, Dave Manning and Bob and Cheryl Gardener- whose support kept her on the road for years. 

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Every piece of her career traces back to what was built at home.

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Decades later, she’s still competing, still putting stock in good horses and good people and still chasing one more run under the lights of the Thomas & Mack.