Most chuckwagon drivers always look to add some new horses over the Winter that they think will help them out come Summer.

Not so for Okotoks Mark Sutherland this year, as he put off buying horses for one simple reason.

"The reason is, is dad (Kelly Sutherland) retiring, he's going to have a sale around the Ponoka Stampede time. And his theory is that's when guys are looking for horses, going into Calgary and certainly trying to finish off the Ponoka Stampede."

Sutherland says he's hoping buying his dad's horses will give him the boost he needs at a critical time during the chuckwagon season.

"I'm hoping it's going to make me more competetive and more consistent than I have been over the last couple of years. I had a pretty good run over five or six years starting in 2009. And I've had competetive years since, it's just that I didn't have the depth that I needed."

It'll be a guarantee that's an auction that will create some real interest.

The chuck driver's are back on the block this week with the Grande Prairie Stompede tarp sale set for Friday, April 6, in the Swan City.