Northernhorse.com Blog

Do Not Enter This Draw. It is all over.

The prize for our new draw is for 2 weekend passes to the new Equine Rites of Passage Event. It is going to be held on June 20 – 21 in Olds, Alberta. These tickets are valued at $50/each.   Some really interesting information about horses and equine healing at this event.  Once again all you have to do is click on the comment button below, give us a name and email so we can contact you and give us your healing tid-bit.  That is the question for this draw:  Send us a 1 or 2 line bit of information on equine healing. Your tid-bit will be published in the weekend guide and you will receive 2 free weekend passes. Good luck. Draw date June 1, 2009.

If you would like to learn more about natural healing for your horse along with barefoot trimming, saddle fitting, dental information, Colt starting, chiropractic information and much more you should attend this event. Check out the website for information about the different clinicians who will be there.

There is lots more information about this event at www.equineritesofpassage.net.

It was a resounding success for the 1st Annual Peace River Area Quarter Horse Association Stallion Service Auction and Select Horse Sale, held at the Lakota Centre Da wson Creek, B.C.

Friday nite April 10th started off with an informal preview & cheese social.  Thanks to Gay and Linda Lewis, cattle was supplied and those wishing to could demonstrate their horse’s team roping or cutting abilities.  This was well attended and a wonderful opportunity for prospective buyers to view the horses and talk to the owners.  Continue Reading »

Apparently while some of us were at the Mane Event trying to learn more about training and caring for horses, someone felt they couldn’t deal with some of these beautiful creatures walking on his earth and shot them.  A pregnant mare, her yearling and a young stallion. The mare was just about to give birth. He didn’t bother to kill them but left some if not all of them wounded.

I  don’t understand how anyone can be so angry with them.  So filled with hatred. They aren’t aggressive animals. When we hike out west we don’t fear being attacked by wildies. It’s not the stuff of nightmares but rather the stuff of many a child’s dreams. A beautiful wild horse slipping over a ridge is the stuff of fantasies. Not anger or fear or the need to protect oneself.

If you would like more information about this please visit the Wild Horse Site WHOAS. There are also some photos on their site.

Although watching the clinicians is taking up a large part of my time, I am noticing some very interesting booths and some good deals. This morning I came across a Gift Coupon worth $50 at any Champion Auction Sale this year. I know a whole lot of you are at the Mane Event and not online but if you happen to read this before the end of the Mane Event Show Sunday afternoon, head over to the Champion Auction Booth #3212 (right by the round pen) and tell them Dave & Lynn from Northernhorse.com sent you.

The Clinicians are great as usual. If the turnout is any indication, there is more interest in horses than ever. Now to get back out there and find some more good deals and try to absorb some more great information.

Red Deer, AB – The Mane Event horse expo and trade fair returned to Westerner Park Friday for its annual weekend of clinics, presentations and demonstrations by top international equine clinicians. Attendees can also visit 230 exhibitors who are offering their equine products and services at the 115,000 sq. ft. trade show. 

The Mane Event, well known for its focus on offering education to a wide range of interests in the equine community, has again brought in top international clinicians. National Finals Rodeo veteran Gary Leffew of California is on the schedule to conduct bull riding clinics and presentations, a first for the Mane Event.  Also in the line-up is Mette Rosencrantz (dressage),  Canadian show jumping competitor and former Olympian Jay Hayes, Dana Hokana (Western pleasure and horsemanship), Arizona horseman Al Dunning (reining, cutting and horsemanship), Hardy Zantke (driving), Gigi Bailey (hunter under saddle) and Bobby Richards (gaited horses).  Clinician Robyn Hood and gifted horseman, teacher and presenter Jonathan Field, a regular at the Mane Event, are also on the schedule. Continue Reading »

When 21 polo ponies died last weekend within a short period of each other just hours before they were scheduled to play at the U.S. Open Polo Championship in Wellington in West Palm Beach, it opened a criminal probe and started a veterinary investigation to find the cause.

Toxins or contaminated feed were the main suspects and now it seems that the injections they were given before the game with a vitamin supplement called Biodyl are most likely involved. All the horses that were injected died. None of the others had a problem. The vitamins are given to help them recover from exhaustion. It appears the doses they received that day may have been tainted.

Investigations continue.

What a way to start our outdoor horse season. There is so much to see and do that it is hard to fit it all into one weekend. I can’t imagine anyone interested in horses who wouldn’t find some interesting and useful information at this event.

And that isn’t even considering that most of my horse friends will all be in one place. We can fully immerse in horse info all day and then talk horses through shared suppers and into the evenings.

And then there is the shopping. I have a list of supplies (all completely necessary, of course) that I have saved up so I can check out all the different things that will be offered again this year at what has to be the best horse trade fair in Canada.

Don’t hesitate to come and visit with Dave or myself if you see us there. Be sure to introduce yourself if we don’t recognize you. It is nice to be able to put faces with the names of all the folks who use Northernhorse.com.

See you there!!!

3 More Positive Stallions; Frozen Semen Implication; USDA to Raise
Permit Charges

Three more stallions have tested positive for presence of Taylorella
equigenitalis. Two are located in Illinois at the same facility as the
stallion previously identified as positive in that State. All three
stallions at that facility had also been collected at the same facility
as the previously identified fourth positive Wisconsin stallion during
the breeding seasons 2004-2007. The third newly identified positive
stallion is located in Wisconsin – the sixth to test positive in that
State – and is a Thoroughbred that had semen collected several times
between 2004 and 2008 at the same facility as the fifth positive
stallion in Wisconsin. Continue Reading »

Isn’t it amazing how different horse coats can be? We used to feel sorry for our stallion Cassidy in the winter as he would look slick and shiny throughout. Pretty but didn’t look that warm. He never had an ugly coat day. Even with no blankets and little grooming he would look spiffy.

And then there is Buzz. Buzz is possibly the ugliest horse in the community in the spring. He grows a lush, thick winter coat.  He is getting a little older which seems to encourage even longer coats and slower shedding although I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have Cushing’s disease or anything like that. He looked bad for awhile last spring too but shed out beautifully in the end. I have read that the undercoat is often very noticeable on bay horses, which may turn dark for a short while in the spring. Some bays have an undercoat that is almost black. This describes Buzz. Continue Reading »

Renee Hicks, one of Canada’s top Polocrosse players, has been invited to join the U.S. Junior Polocrosse Team for a series of test matches in South Africa. Matches will be held near Durban June 6-7^th and outside Johannesburg June 13-14th. The South African teams are amongst the best Polocrosse players in the world – the US team will have a great, competitive match. Continue Reading »