A lot of chuckwagon drivers are still holding out hope they'll be able to hit the track at some point this season.

However, High River's Jason Glass isn't one of them.

He says the Province's announcement of no mass gatherings until the end of August will pretty much end the season before it even starts.

"It will. It's pretty unrealistic to think that we can race in September, October. You know, hopefully at least by then people can go back to work, go back to school and at least have some sort of a normal life to go back to."

He says he and other drivers spent a lot of time trying to come up with a "Plan B" to save the season.

"I've been thinking about a million different scenarios and possibilities of training horses and where we're going to run eventually, maybe, over the last several weeks and maybe even longer. Safety got to come first. We say it all the time, how much we take care of and care for our horses, and now it's humans."

Glass says his other concern is for his fellow drivers, some of which may not be able to hang on until next year.

But he says even if some decide to call it a day and sell off their horses, that won't be easy either.

"You know, I don't know. It's a really tough one to wrap your head around. Even if you wanted to call it quits and think about selling. That market is just tough. To sell anything right now is not very easy, let alone 40 head of thoroughbred horses."

so far only the Grande Prairie Stompede and High River's Guy Weadick days, along with the Calgary Stampede have been cancelled.

The rest are still scheduled to go, while others are looking to re-schedule for later in the season.

Written by Russell Skeet