Northernhorse.com Blog

The American Quarter Horse Journal, December 21, 2009 – New American Quarter Horse competition rules will be in effect with the New Year. Several rule changes involve team penning and ranch sorting, two of AQHA’s most popular classes.

“At AQHA, nothing is more paramount than ensuring the welfare of the American Quarter Horse during competition,” said Don Treadway Jr., AQHA executive vice president. “For more than 40 years, AQHA’s welfare and competition policies have been set in place to protect the horse, and for the past year we have spent a lot of time reviewing and fine-tuning those policies within AQHA’s own rules and in discussions with all of our alliance partners.” Continue Reading »

The Actual Average for the Western Bloodstock’s 10th Annual NCHA Futurity Sale on December 8 thru 13, 2009 at $13,260 was only down slightly from the 2008 average of $13,688 . The fact that this year’s average is still the 2nd lowest average of the past 10 years makes me think  there were still some excellent buying opportunities at this year’s sale.

Out of 974 lots offered, 778 sold. That makes 80% completed sales.

More stats at NCHA Futurity Sales

I was always taught that giving horses treats is usually a recipe for bad manners. Then we got a bunch of Grandkids. Then we got Buzz.

Buzz loves treats. His former owner Kathy somehow made me feel just a wee bit guilty when I would answer her query of “Do the Grandkids like feeding Buzz treats?” with “Well actually we just don’t feed Buzz or any of the horses treats.” And, of course, the Grandkids found out that horses liked treats – not from me but none-the-less I now had Buzz, the Grandkids and Kathy making me feel guilty. Continue Reading »

We realize that lots of horse operations wouldn’t call 2009 a stellar year but we did get this very positive message from one of our clients.

Hi Lynn, Merry Xmas to Northernhorse! Really enjoying this new collaboration. Business has been booming in 2009!! Thankyou, Dale Dodd

We are so pleased that we can be of help especially during these tougher times. The number of people visiting Northernhorse.com has actually increased in the past year so we are getting you seen by even more prospective clients. We have added a Twitter feed and are posting interesting tidbits from or about our Northernhorse.com clients on the Northernhorse.com Facebook page too.We have noticed that this has increased not only our local traffic but also the international traffic. It also helps us get news that is relevant to our clients out to the world.

If you are one of the Ranches or Businesses on Northernhorse.com be sure to send us any interesting news and views and we will get you even more coverage. If you hear some news from the horse world that would be interesting to our readers or if you have some news that you would like to share from your own operation, be sure to let us know. We will give you credit for reporting the news and we will even include a link to your website to give you even better traffic flow from Northernhorse.com.

Merry Christmas to all our clients and visitors. Working with you brings us joy! Even we are amazed at how well this website continues to work to promote Canadian horse people and their horses.

Alberta’s horse industry, and horse racing in particular, received an early Christmas present when the United Horseman of Alberta (UHA) announced that they have resolved their financial issues and the new track in Southern Alberta is moving ahead. The new race track, which is being built near Balzac just north of Calgary, will resume construction early in 2010 with plans to start racing in 2011.

Thanks to the Horse Industry of Alberta Association for this news.

Topsail Whiz, a 1987 stallion who sired earners of more than $6.8 million, died Wednesday, Dec. 23. The stallion had undergone surgery for a problem with a vertebrae that was pinching his spinal cord and affecting his balance, and although the surgery was successful, Topsail Whiz collapsed two days later and could not get back on his feet. Owner Bob Loomis, Marietta, Okla., made the difficult decision to humanely put him down.

“It’s been a really sad day,” Loomis said. “I’ve been blessed so many ways for so long. He was more of a family member than a horse.”

The loss came just two weeks after Loomis’ junior sire, West Coast Whiz (Topsail Whiz x My Moon Stone Chex x King Fritz), had to be euthanized due to complications of founder and white line disease.

Read more at Quarter Horse News.com

The December 31st Deadline for nomination to the NRHA Futurity / Derby Nomination Program is fast approaching. If you are going to nominate your weanlings to the World’s Richest Reining Program you had best get on with it. January 1st it will cost you an extra $1700 to nominate the same weanling. It’s only $300 if postmarked before December 31. So far they are up 11% in nominations this year.

We received a present in our email from Dixie Stewart. It starts out as follows:

Seeing as it is the holiday season, there is much attention given to the topic of presents.  So I thought I’d tell you a little story about a profound gift I was given this fall.  The telling of this has been percolating in my mind for awhile now, to me it represents the true meaning of a present and has a way of putting things into the right perspective.  If you are in a mood for a little introspection and some insight, read the story and watch the presentation at www.thehorseranch.com.  You just might not believe how it can change your outlook, and how that can in turn shape events.  If you think someone you know might appreciate reading it, feel free to pass it on, even if they are not avid horse lovers the message is universal.  It might be just the thing to put you in the Christmas Spirit!  Here is the start of it.

“My gift did not start out as profound at all, and it sure as heck was not nicely wrapped or presented.  It was a hell of a mess, on one of those cold wet and windy September days – you know the kind, after its rained about four days and is really working itself into a full blown snow storm.”

You can watch the presentation and read the whole story at The Horse Ranch

Some more humour for the holidays.

Excerpts from a Dog’s Diary……

8:00 am – Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am – A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am – A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am – Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm – Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm – Played in the yard! My favorite thing!
3:00 pm – Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm – Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm – Got to play ball! My favorite thing!
8:00  pm – Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm – Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing! Continue Reading »

Dr. Wendy Pearson, author of more than 20 scientific peer-reviewed research papers and speaker at events in the UK, UAE, China, Ireland, Australia, Netherlands, Italy, Botswana, USA and Canada, is one of the 17 international presenters on the agenda at the 28th annual Horse Breeders and Owners Conference (HBOC) being held in Red Deer on January 15 to 17, 2010. Her presentation is titled Natural Supplements for the Performance Horse – Sorting the Chalk from the Cheese. Continue Reading »