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A Living Legend: Calgary Stampede’s Ken 'Goose' Rehill

Originally posted on Rodeo on SI | By Lexi Gieck | Last updated May 9, 2025 7:00 PM ET

You might not recognize the name Ken Rehill. Say it in a crowd; most wouldn’t know who that is. But if you say “Goose,” everyone knows exactly who you’re talking about.

Ken “Goose” Rehill may be officially known as the Main Flankman and Livestock Coordinator for the Calgary Stampede, but his impact goes far beyond any title. To the animals, he’s their biggest fan– the one that feeds them, travels with them, and watches them buck with immense pride in his eyes. Behind the chutes, he’s a guy with a warm smile that makes you feel like you’ve been friends forever.

His story took a small turn during a third-grade Christmas concert, when a classmate gave him a nickname that would stay with him for life.

“The way it worked out in the play, I had a pack of golden goose, and there was a guy in our class that had a nickname for everyone, and he nicknamed me ‘Goose’,” he explained. “And that’s been me ever since.”

While Goose began his career farming for many years, he eventually transitioned to trucking— a pivotal decision that would shape his journey to where he is today.

At the time, the company Goose was hauling cattle for was enlisted by the Calgary Stampede to transport their bucking stock, as they didn’t have a truck of their own. A few years later, when Winston Bruce took over operations at the Calgary Stampede, he approached the company Goose worked for and asked them to handle all their livestock.

The first guy Bruce spoke to at the company said he was too busy to take on another contract— but he offered a helpful solution: “I’ll go talk to Goose, maybe he’ll take on the contract and I’ll let him use the truck.” And just like that, the rest was history. While they had done a bit of hauling for Calgary a few years before this, Goose hit the road full time, logging many miles, including his first trip to the National Finals Rodeo in 1992.

Shortly after their trip to Vegas, Bruce had an idea. He asked Goose to start flanking.

“I said ‘I can try it’. After a few months, he told me I was doing an excellent job, and I was their flankman from then on,” Goose explained.

In 2003, Calgary decided they needed their own truck, and Goose wasn’t thrilled at first.

“When I heard that, I wasn’t very happy because I enjoyed working with the stock,” Goose shared. “Two days later, I got a phone call saying, ‘We need to see you in the office.’ They told me ‘We got the truck now, so all we need is you, and you’re the one that knows where we’re going and what we’re doing.”

With his nearly 25 years as a full-time Calgary Stampede Ranch employee, Goose has worked in countless arenas, watched dozens of World Champions be crowned, and built lasting friendships. He’s flanked some of the most iconic buckers while balancing life back home in Hanna, Alberta, where he raises his stock and hopes the weather holds long enough while he’s home for a short time in the summer to hay his own ground.

“My family has been very supportive of me being on the road, and have been from the beginning,” Goose shared.

His passion for bucking stock has only grown over the years. The horses know him, trust him, and—without a doubt—love him. In turn, he treats them like his four-legged children. The bond he shares with them is unmistakable; you can hear how much it means to him the way he talks about them.

“It is really special,” Goose beamed. “On the road, I feed them by hand with bags of grain. I walk to them, and they’re right beside me; they know me. When I wander around to grain them, I can see their personalities, and then when it’s time to work, I see a different side of them there, too. They are very, very special.”

Goose is a living legend. Not the kind you just read about, but the kind you’ll always remember. The type of person who leaves their mark on a person for years to come, and in so many ways, he’s the heartbeat of the Calgary Stampede.

This article first appeared on Rodeo on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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