Counterclockwise:
Part of the Sauter herd grazes in western Oklahoma. Photo by Carol Mowdy Bond.
Doug Sauter stands with a Clydesdale horse in western Oklahoma. Photo by Carol Mowdy Bond.
Doug Sauter rides one of his Leopard Appaloosas in a parade. Photo courtesy of Brenda and Doug Sauter.
Brenda Dorrance Sauter (far left) and Doug Sauter (far right) ride with friends at an event.
Photo courtesy of Brenda and Doug Sauter.
by Carol Mowdy Bond
When it was all said and done, the July 2025 Calgary Stampede drew about 1.5 million people. The 112-year-old “Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth” is one of Canada’s largest festivals and includes the “world’s largest outdoor rodeo,” the famous chuckwagon races and everything else imaginable.
Celebrating Western heritage and culture in Calgary, Alberta, the 10-day jamboree includes a parade, and Oklahoma’s Brenda and Doug Sauter were in the lineup representing Express Employment Professionals of Calgary.
“The parade is downtown amongst the skyscrapers,” says Doug, who has traveled the parade route for 2 ½ decades. “It is a 10-mile parade route, and there were 700 horses, 100-plus entries and 330,000 people on the route. We had four of our Leopard Appaloosas this year.”
July 1 is Canada’s birthday, known as Canada Day, and the Airdrie, Alberta, parade is one of the day’s landmark events. The Sauters were part of the parade along with more than 80 entries, while a crowd of 30,000 watched.
The Sauters saddle up in plenty of other places, many closer to home. “We were at Stockyards City’s annual Cowboy Christmas Parade and St. Patrick’s Day Parade with our horses,” Doug says.
“I like the big group that joins our eight horses in Oklahoma parades. It’s great to gather all our friends together,” says Brenda. “We go to the Guthrie ‘89er Days Parade, the Mustang Western Days Parade, plus other events.”
“This year, we made several appearances as ambassadors and greeters at places like the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, smaller events and anything else, and we end during Michael Martin Murphey’s Cowboy Christmas,” Doug says.
The Sauters are sold-out ambassadors for the horse industry, and fans often spot them wearing authentic buckskin Western wear with fringe and all the extras. “We have a hands-on program,” says Doug. “A child can sit on one of our horses and go on a short ride if it’s possible.”
“Our horses know when kids, and also adults who don’t know about horses, are around them,” says Brenda. “They are extra gentle and well trained.”
These days, they share their western Oklahoma spread with Leopard Appaloosas, Quarter Horses, a Leopard Appaloosa mule, four miniature horses, a donkey and a miniature mule.
Brenda bottle-fed their longhorn, Lilly, when her mother abandoned her. “We’ve created a beautiful 600-pound longhorn that thinks she weighs 50 pounds,” says Doug. “She has the reign of this place and thinks she is a dog.”
“She wants to be on the deck as part of the family,” Brenda says.
The Sauters’ love of horses and all things Western comes from a lifetime of agricultural and horse-savvy. When the two met a few years back, they discovered they unknowingly grew up about 25 miles from each other in Saskatchewan, Canada.
Brenda’s great-grandfather, Joseph Dorrance, established the family ranch near Wawota, Saskatchewan, in 1889. He loved cattle but especially horses. The family settled in the wooded area to have lumber for building and a wood stove. They also added a barn, built in 1923, that still stands today. He was one of the founders of the Moose Mountain Rodeo in 1932.
“My grandfather, Stanley Dorrance, was an excellent horseman,” she says. “My father was born into a large family and raised on the farm. My family raised horned Hereford cattle and grain farmed such as wheat, oats and canola. My dad registered his first horned Hereford at 10 years old. They won many awards showing cattle at major shows.”
Brenda started riding at about 6 years old on the family’s Shetland pony, Freckles. Horses and cows were an integral part of her life and chores — from rounding up cattle to pleasure riding and participating in local clubs.
Her third cousins, Tom and Bill Dorrance of Salinas, California, were the family’s megastar horse guys. Bill was a rancher famed for his book “True Horsemanship Through Feel.” Tom, often called the “horse’s lawyer,” was a prolific author and horse whisperer who wrote the horsemanship classic “True Unity.”
Doug grew up on a sprawling cattle and grain farm with horses near Fairlight, Saskatchewan. After a five-year hockey-playing career, he was offered his first coaching position at age 20 and coached hockey for 41 years. For the last 15 years, he was head coach of the Oklahoma City Blazers. He represented Canada three times in world tournaments and led the Blazers to two championships in the Central Hockey League. Retiring in 2010, he was inducted into the Central Hockey League Hall of Fame in 2013. He has been a part of Express Clydesdales and worked personally for Bob Funk of Express Employment Professionals and Express Ranches.
Married in 2022, Doug Sauter and Brenda Dorrance Sauter enjoy the horse industry and the cowboy way. Doug describes their role simply: “We enjoy being goodwill ambassadors for the horse industry.”
