Krystal Meade was the Northern Alberta Reined Cow Horse Club's 2016 Green As Grass Rein-Box Reserve Champion with her horse, Herc. Photo Credit: Natalie Jackman/Have-Dog-Will-Travel Photography ------------------------------- When I dreamt up the “Influencers” series, I was thinking about people, horses and organizations that positively impact the horse industry. As many of you know, I am a huge supporter of beginner and novice competitors and I’m always on the lookout for

Stallion, Metallic Masterpiece is a show-stopper. "Quasi" has amassed multiple championships and an impressive earnings resume in his time in the show pen. Yet, it's his incredible story - one of strength, determination, heart and try - that sets him apart. Photo Credit: Performance Horse Photography/Laura Cowen ———————— In the much-beloved 1996 Disney classic, “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”, we meet the malformed bell-ringer of the Notre Dame cathedral, Quasimodo. Misundersto

1. You head out for dinner with friends, and wonder if the Multiple Elastic Bands on your wrist are a socially acceptable form of jewellery 2. Leggings are a style of shotgun chap, not the tight yoga pant variety 3. What are "Show Saddles" and "Show Bridles"? If people mean that old Roo-Hide you use on atleast five horses per day at home then yeah, that's a show saddle because it made it to the show. 4. Herd-Side and Cow-Side make a hell of a lot more sense to you than Left,

The nature of working for a horse trainer can often by physically, and emotionally, taxing. Physically, you're riding horses, you're cleaning stalls, you're on the road and often, you're far away from home. However, today this post is about the emotional side that I think every trainer, trainer's assistant, or loper has had to deal with atleast once in a life time... and that's saying goodbye to a good horse. What I mean by this is when a horse leaves your barn - it may be to

Tao is a Chinese word signifying 'way', 'path', or 'route', or sometimes more loosely, 'doctrine' or 'principle'. Within the context of traditional Chinese philosophy and religion, the Tao is the intuitive knowing of "life" that cannot be grasped full-heartedly as just a concept but is known nonetheless through actual living experience of one's everyday being. So what does an ancient Chinese philosophy have to do with cleaning the stalls of horses? After many hours spent tryi

It's not every day that someone asks you to review underwear on your website. Okay, it's never. However, when boss-babe Kaydee Johnston, owner and founder of Pony Tail Sportswear asks you to review her padded underwear for equestrians, the answer is definitely always yes. Plus, I've been preaching the good word for a long time about buying and wearing brands that are made for competitive women... so how am I going to turn down a brand that's for competitive women's behinds?!

Well, that's it, that's all folks.... The Calgary Stampede Cutting Horse Futurity wraps up today and with the final cutter entering the herd, it will signal the end of show season in Canada. For some cutters, they will head down across the border to more small futurities, pre-works and then maybe even the big daddy of them all, The NCHA Futurity, held every year in Fort Worth, Texas. Other cutters, who have hauled all year long will also head down to Fort Worth, but they will

If you haven’t heard the name “Dufurrena” before, after the astounding year the family has had, I bet you’ve heard it now. The Dufurrena family has been successfully breeding, raising, training and showing cutting horses for years. The family is helmed by NCHA Trainer Ed Dufurrena, a million dollar trainer, his wife Shona, and their two children, Brandon and Rieta. For the family, it’s all about the horses, and the success they have achieved can be attributed to a strong fami

Jennifer Webster, after securing her championship at the Canadian Supreme, with family in tow. Photo Credit: Barb Glazer In late November I opened up my Facebook feed to see Western Horse Review had shared a blog post entitled, “Reflections of the Ride.” I eagerly opened up the piece and dove in, WHR is one of my most favourite horse publications, and the fact it centres in the West, and in Canada, makes it even better. Written by then Editor-in-Chief Ingrid Schulz, it was a