Every night at the Rangeland Derby presented by Play Alberta, veteran chuckwagon driver Obrey Motowylo, 54, from Hoadley, Alta., proudly has his sons, Hayden and Ethan, working as his outriders. The family trio is living their dream together at the Calgary Stampede.
Special family bond on the track
“Well, it’s extra special,” Obrey said. “Any time you can compete at the Stampede against the best, it’s pretty cool, but myself competing alongside with my kids in the race with me, it’s even more special. I mean, not many parents get that privilege I get, and we get to do it every night.”
Ever since his boys started outriding – Ethan in 2016 and Hayden three years later – Obrey recruited them to ride with him. The consistency of having his sons as outriders has been a key advantage.
“A lot of drivers, they bounce around (using) different outriders and I don’t,” said Obrey, who finished fifth in the aggregate standings of the 2025 Rangeland Derby and fourth in total earnings ($41,100). “I have the fortune of having two of the top outriders in the game and it’s never an issue.”
Roles and achievements
While Ethan is in charge of holding the leaders, Hayden’s job is to throw the stove into the wagon box once the horn sounds. Their precision is critical to the race.
“I never have to look over my shoulder. If you watch me every race, I don’t look back when I’m coming down the home stretch thinking that my boys are there. If my boys aren’t there, the horse (they’re riding) usually did something. It’s very seldom they ever screw up. They’re spot on every time,” Obrey added.
The family’s success is underscored by their championship pedigree. “We’re the only family where all three of us are World Champions at it, too,” beamed Obrey, who won the season-long World Professional Chuckwagon Association title as a driver in 2021.
Hayden, 22, made history that same year when he became the youngest World Champion outrider at the age of 17. Ethan, 25, subsequently captured a pair of World outriding titles in 2023 and 2024.
Stampede dreams and challenges
“It’s just special riding here,” said Hayden, who would love nothing more than to eventually add a Rangeland Derby title to his collection. “It’s such a big show and a lot of eyes on it. There’s so much at stake. It’s a full family unit and makes it just a little bit much more special.”
Ethan echoed the sentiment: “There’s probably not a lot of people out there that get to do what they love and compete with their family every day. I’m very fortunate and grateful I get to do that here, especially at the Calgary Stampede.”
At this year’s show, Motowylo was sitting third in the standings through two nights of action before falling to 11th after hitting a barrel in the infield on Sunday. Despite the setback, the family remains focused on consistency to climb back into contention for Sunday’s championship dash, which features the top three drivers after nine nights of racing.
“Well, it’s like everybody, you’ve got to be consistent,” said Motowylo. “You’ve got to be clean. Then you’ve got to be fast. Sometimes it’s hard to balance all three of those.”
