Northernhorse.com Blog

To Horse Council BC Youth Members, Horse Council BC welcomes you to apply for the Sports Funder Youth Travel Assistance Program past the due date, until all funds are exhausted.  There are limited resources available at this late date, so we recommend you apply as soon as possible as funds will be issued on a first come first serve basis.  If you are a competitor under 17, and a member of Horse Council who has travelled over 200 kms to horse show(s) this season you are eligible to apply.

More information or visit www.hcbc.ca

Just finished watching Eric Lamze win personal gold at the 2008 Olympics. What an exciting jump off. What an inspiration to see someone who has overcome a less than supportive youth and some antics of his own to become one of our best athletes. And what a horse he has in Hickstead. And all this after being a part of our Silver win in the Show Jumping Team event.

The Globe & Mail has this quote:

“There’ve been some difficult times,” he said. “But when you finally get here, you think about the moments you’re not proud of, that didn’t go well in your life, and it shows anyone can come back. I’m proud of what I’ve done.”

Now Canada has a gold medal in this event.  We are proud too.

He says he is a great example of why you should never give up on people who make mistakes. In a sport that is often populated by privileged young people it is a story of success coming to an underdog with many personal challenges to overcome on the way.

Isn’t it nice when we see someone overcome big odds and turn their lives into something wonderful and special? And for me it is even more special because of the help of a horse (or horses). Horses were a big part of my own less than easy childhood and many times my little pinto mare was the bright light in a dull day.

A big congratulations to Eric and Hickstead.

Kyle Carter of Calgary, AB, is the top Canadian following cross-country, the second of three phases comprising the equestrian sport of eventing, at the 2008 Olympic Games.  Carter is in 32nd position individually while the Canadian Eventing Team is in ninth position overall.

Carter, who had been sitting in 61st position following the opening phase of dressage, made an impressive leap up the leader board following Monday’s cross-country phase.  Riding Madison Park, a 10-year-old thoroughbred gelding owned by Carter and Nicole Shinton, Carter was only the second rider to tackle the course designed by Great Britain’s Michael Etherington-Smith.  The pair successfully negotiated the 39 jumping efforts placed over a total distance of 4,560 meters but, as did all competitors, incurred time faults for exceeding the time allowed of eight minutes.  Adding 18.40 time penalties to his dressage score, Carter currently has a two-day provisional score of 81.90 penalty points. Continue Reading »

We are very happy to report that the Wildrose Circuit in Red Deer  was the biggest and best it has been in years!!!!   Thank you to everyone who participated .  We received a tonne  (Ton for you Americans) of positive feedback which was very welcome and incredibly appreciated.   The circuit ended up with nearly 3,000 AQHA entries featuring some of the biggest classes we’ve had in years.   More importantly…. it was a lot of fun!!!!   The new facilities in Red Deer allowed for several warm up pens and two very nice show pens!!!     Continue Reading »

I see that there is only one week left if you want to win a chance to spend some time around John Lyon’s dinner table and be contributing to the Rescue 100 folks at the same time. I haven’t been to many trainers and I don’t seem to get very many training videos watched or books read but John Lyons is one of my personal favorites. Continue Reading »

In the brief time I had to explore the web for more information about viewing the equestrian events, I came across these tidbits:

The CBC website has news, information and a cool little “Equestrian Sport Explainer” that should be seen. Continue Reading »

One of our visitors sent us an email with advice for those horse crazy people who want to watch all the equestrian events this time. Usually it seems the equestrian events don’t get a lot of coverage but this time we can apparently see them all by signing up for CBC’s digital channnel “BOLD”. Continue Reading »

Looking for a unique marketing opportunity for your foals and yearlings?   The Alberta 50/50 Horse Association offers just that.  The association’s purpose is to promote quality light horses that ride well, have the capability to work and will look good when engaged in these activities. As well as to create an incentive to develop and train all horses in a humane manner, protecting at all times their physical and mental potential. Continue Reading »

Ed Byam of RE Quarter Horses sent us this little thought for today. Everywhere you go no matter what discipline or equine event you attend you always hear the comment that US bred horses are far more superior than Canadian bred horses. I was at a sale last weekend and this comment was made by someone standing in the crowd around the sale ring. An elderly rancher was standing close and overheard the comment. He turned to the fellow that made the comment. He asked if they minded  if he gave them his opinion on this matter. Continue Reading »

What is the Licensing Program?

NSBA has introduced the new Stallion Incentive Fund Licensing program for horses of all ages. All licensed horses, are eligible to earn money for NSBA points earned in Dual Approved classes. Payout for the Dual Approved points will be based on the purse of the donated and sold Stallion Incentive Fund sires for the current year. On a study of the past two years, NSBA points would be valued at around $80 per point. The Stallion Nominator will receive 10% of the earnings of offspring in the Dual Approved payout. The Foal Nominator will receive 10% of the earnings of the foal in Dual Approved payout. The owner at the time of competition will receive 80% of the earnings in Dual Approved payout. Continue Reading »