Fuel prices weigh on winter fair participants

Some competitors at the Royal Manitoba Winter Fair say they had second thoughts about coming to this year’s event due to soaring fuel prices.

“It definitely does make me question if it’s worth going, with the way gas prices are right now,” said Kennedy Manns, who drove about 80 kilometres from Austin with her cattle from Manns Herefords.

“Even just to come from Austin to here, it’s like, ‘Is the cost going to be worth it?’” Manns said.

Fuel prices at a gas station next to the Keystone Centre on Tuesday were listed at 167.9 cents per litre for regular gasoline and 196.9 cents per litre for diesel.

That compares to a Manitoba average of about 121 cents per litre for regular gasoline on Feb. 25, according to price-tracking website GasBuddy.com.

Manns said Monday’s snowfall didn’t help, as the drive took longer because of the weather.

“So it’s draining your gas tank faster — and driving a truck that runs off diesel, it’s even worse, because diesel prices are atrocious right now.”

Manns was set to compete in the showmanship show later in the week, along with the jackpot.

Fuel prices shot up last month following the United States and Israel attacking Iran on Feb. 28 and killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iran retaliated by launching missiles and drones at neighbouring countries and largely shutting down tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route responsible for about a fifth of the world’s oil.

Tara Reimer with Cloud 9 Ranch outside Steinbach said the team she brought to the winter fair this year would have been a lot larger if fuel costs weren’t so high.

“If the prices were lower, I’d have a lot more students showing,” Reimer said.

“In fact, the one student that is here, this will be her only show all year. So she has actually given up an entire season in exchange to just come to the show. So the fuel prices absolutely make a big difference.”

The price of fuel has led her to host her own events.

“We used to take 10, 12 horses to a fair. Now we’re not even going,” Reimer said. “Now we’re staying home, and I’m making my own shows on my own yard so that we don’t have to pay for all these fuel prices.”

She said she used to do multiple shows in Manitoba, Saskatchewan and the United States all in one weekend when fuel prices were reasonable.

“It wasn’t something you worried too much about. You jumped in the trailer with a few other guys, some other cowboys, and you made it work,” Reimer said. “Nowadays, priorities change. Now, the priority is groceries.”

It’s still important to come to the winter fair though, she said, so that her students have something to look forward to and a goal to chase.

“I almost still have to show up, like winter fair, just being here is wicked expensive,” she said, highlighting gas, hotel stays and other costs. She noted, though, that the entry fee for the winter fair isn’t particularly high.

For nurse Zoe Gerein, coming to the fair for horse jumping was going to happen regardless of the rising cost of fuel, but it has had an impact on her at home.

“(I) definitely have to put the extra hours in and work a ton of overtime just to kind of subsidize the cost of living,” said Gerein, who is from the Regina area.

“Being in what’s known to be an expensive sport is one thing, and then it seems to be that the cost of everything is rising. And then when we’re taking a hard hit with fuel, it really adds up, especially when you’re driving a distance,” she told the Sun as she prepared to compete her run with her horse, Lily.

Gerein said there aren’t a lot of shows for her to compete at in Saskatchewan, and the high cost has “cut your season in half, essentially.”

Despite that, she said coming to the winter fair is “absolutely” worth it, and the start of her week had gone well so far.

For horse jumper Nehal Jora from St. Andrews, while prices will rise, the horses he raises are also going to be sold at a better price.

“We want to make our brand proud, so we have to do everything that we can, and gas prices and other prices would go up, and so will our horses’ prices once they are ready for sale,” Jora said minutes after competing.

He and his husband both competed back-to-back in horse jumping at the fair Tuesday morning, along with dozens of other participants across multiple different events.

Meanwhile, Manns is set to compete for her final time in the junior category — for people 21 and under — and felt a duty to come even if it’s a little pricier.

“I just feel like it’s good for me to go because all these younger juniors are seeing me out there, and they’re getting influenced to start showing the breed as well,” Manns said, adding that she also likes what she’s able to do during competition.

She typically attends several other shows around Manitoba and in Saskatchewan during the season and will monitor fuel prices to form her plans.

“It’ll just depend on gas prices. If they’re going to continue to climb … I’m going to continue to stay home,” Manns said. “But if they decide to go lower again, then I’m going to feel a little bit more encouraged to go to these shows.”

She started going to competitions at the age of five, and this has only recently become a problem. The last time gas prices were at an elevated level was during the COVID-19 pandemic, when shows weren’t taking place.

A voicemail left for a fair organizer asking how many participants are attending the event this year compared to previous years wasn’t returned by press time Tuesday.

The fair is slated to run until Saturday.

» alambert@brandonsun.com