Midnight The Horse
Rodeo Athlete- Special Legends Class of 2025
Midnight was born on the Cottonwood Ranch west of Fort MacLeod, carrying Jim McNab’s brand—a door key on his left shoulder. A cross between a Thoroughbred and a Percheron/Morgan, he matured into a powerful horse, standing 15 hands high and weighing 1,300 pounds.
At three years old, McNab broke Midnight to saddle, and he served as a cow horse on long cattle drives. Despite his gentle nature, Midnight was unpredictable, and McNab eventually entered him in local rodeos. In 1924, he was crowned champion bucking horse at Fort MacLeod, and just two weeks later, named the best bucking bronc in Canada at the Calgary Stampede. Soon after, rodeo promoter Peter Welsh purchased Midnight “for an astounding amount of money,” though McNab always regretted selling the horse he had grown to love.
Midnight’s rodeo career took him across North America, from Calgary and Cheyenne to New York’s Madison Square Garden. His reputation as “unrideable” made him a star attraction, drawing huge crowds. Midnight delighted in the contest, bucking with power and circling the arena before heading for the exit gate. Many cowboys avoided him, while others saw him as the ultimate test of skill. Champion rider Pete Knight tried five times over his career, coming close on his later attempts but never conquering the bronc. Riders often said that even surviving a short ride on Midnight felt like being hit by a tank, leaving them sore for weeks.
Contrary to myth, Midnight was ridden in his career. The first documented successful ride was by Pete Bruisedhead of the Blood Reserve at Standoff, Alberta, who made a clean ride at Fort MacLeod in July 1924.
By the late 1920s, Midnight was sold to McCarthy and Elliot of Wyoming and Colorado. After appearing at the biggest rodeos across the continent, he retired in 1933. He briefly returned in 1934 for a special rodeo expedition in England before finishing his career in Colorado. Midnight died at the Denver Rodeo and was buried on the McCarthy-Elliott Ranch, though his remains were later moved to the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City in 1995.
Midnight’s legacy endures in Alberta, where he first gained fame. Fort MacLeod’s Midnight Stadium, officially opened by his first owner Jim McNab in 1967, bears his name. In 1981, he became the first animal inducted into the Canadian Rodeo Hall of Fame.
His epitaph, funded by cowboys who rode—and were defeated by—him, captures the spirit of the legendary bronc:
Underneath this sod lies a great bucking hoss,
There never lived a cowboy he couldn’t toss,
His name was Midnight, his coat was black as coal,
If there’s a hoss heaven, please God rest his soul.
