Well, as you have already realized, I missed last week’s column. Please accept my apologies - I was so busy with the Fall Fair I completely forgot about sending in the column although it was ready to go!

This week we are back to business and while the Current Events was actually supposed to run last week I’m going to go ahead and run it anyway - it gives you a pretty good idea of what the Fall Fair schedule was like (plus it shows why I got too busy to remember the column!).

I am home again (my own bed - yippee!) but only briefly as I am heading out to Chilliwack for a wedding this weekend - my third one to attend this year! This one is for a very dear internet friend of mine - over the past three years, Leslie and I have become great friends and I am thankful for the chance to be at her wedding! I’m flying down and back so it should be a relatively quick trip (except that to book flights I have to leave Thursday and return Monday, I’m taking another looong weekend!) - here’s hoping I can get the next column ready to go in time!

I am also travelling back to Vancouver Island in September as my dad and his girlfriend are getting married September 21 - whew, it has been the year for weddings! Of course, I hope to plan for a little horsin’ around on that trip, possibly moving horses for my friend Linda and if I have time, running up to see Kayla and Riser again. More columns to be written in advance I guess!!

Photo credit: Chris Hassell

So, for now I’m totally swamped with the Fall Fair paperwork and packing for the trip to Chilliwack. After I return, September will hopefully offer some spare time to see how Tori is doing. She has been turned out since the 10th of August when I brought her home for some down time. She was lame at the end of July and we never did pinpoint anything, so I am hoping the time off will have helped her heal up and get ready to go back to work. I see the farrier has pulled her shoes in my absence so it may be a while before I can ride her again - I’ll keep you posted!

OH! The really exciting Fall Fair news for me!!! Karisma went to the show, thanks to Christine and Chrisandra Hassell. Chrisandra did all the leg work, working Kari each day, bathing her and prepping her for the show, and then Christine presented her in the show ring for Leadline Trail and Quarter Horse Foals and Yearlings at Halter. Was I ever tickled when she won BOTH classes!! She then went on to earn Reserve Champion Quarter Horse in that section of the show - we are flying high here at the farm I tell you! Many thanks to Chris and DG for doing such a great job with her!

I’m including a pic for Jim to put up with the editorial - sooner or later I’ll get some good ones of Tori and I, but for now you’ll have to make do with this one of Karisma at the Summer Show in Smithers. She’s pretty neat!!

Until next week, happy riding!
~ Kristi :)

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After lunch break, the English Flat classes resume with Margaret Maltby in the Main Ring. Jumping also resumes at 1 pm, as does the Driving. Following the English Pleasure Stake, Kerry Walton returns to the ring to score the Trail / Bridle Path classes, designed by Telkwa resident Barb Henderson.

The big draw of Saturday afternoon is the Hoof and Woof class, where the horse and rider set a time on their course, and then the partnered dog and handler complete their course. This is a crowd please, so be sure to have found a spot on the Hunt Field bleachers before 1 pm! And if you think that is exciting to watch, you better stay into the evening for the Liberty classes.

The Liberty classes feature the horses turned loose in the Indoor Arena and encouraged to move about to show off their gaits naturally, while appropriate music is being played. They are loose for 2 minutes of often breathtaking action, and then the handler has one minute to catch them again. I will warn you - the show starts at 7:30 pm, and the bleachers are usually standing room only by 7 pm - or earlier!!

Sunday seems quite sedate after the uproar of Friday and Saturday.The ring starts off at 8 am with two separate Leadline Trail classes for the Weanlings (born this year, and some of them aren’t weaned yet!) and for the more experienced Yearlings and Two Year Olds.

The Halter classes are so many that the Main arena is split in half and we run the two halves simultaneously. The announcer has to keep her cool - imagine having two ring stewards, and two whipper-ins to deal with, plus people asking you questions over the radio and in person, PLUS the office noise behind you... well, you can see that talking to the announcer on Sunday morning is probably NOT a good idea!

Each Halter Breed Division has their own set of classes, followed by a Champion and Reserve class for each breed. These winners receive extra special ribbons and a prize.

Also starting at 8 am are the Hunter Divisions in the Hunt Field. Unlike the Jumpers, which are based on speed, the Hunter Division is based on style and form. There are three divisions featured for the various riders to choose from.

At 1:30 pm, the Specialty Halter Classes get underway. The two very exciting Best Locally Foaled/Sired Classes honour those yearlings and two year olds who are shown in hand. This is a very prestigious class and has great added money for prizes. Produce of Dam and Get of Sire classes follow, and these classes are judged on the quality of the offspring - the parents are not even shown. Broodmares is next, and then comes the class everyone has waited for.

Best of Show encompasses all of the Champion and Reserve horses from each of the Halter Breed Divisions. All of them, from Morgans to Quarter Horses, from Ponies to Sport Horses, they all come together in the Main Ring to find out who goes home with the prize of being the Best of Show. With $400 for the Best of Show and $200 for the Runner Up, it is worth the wait!

There are also 11 High Point awards tabulated throughout the Light Horse Show, and these are presented at this time.

All in all, this is a great horse show - a lot of fun for competitors, staff, and spectators. We hope to see YOU at the Fair!

It came to my attention recently (thanks to Kim in FL!) that many northern BC equestrians do not receive coaching at local shows.

I started to wonder why, and have come up with the following reason. There may be other contributing factors as well (for instance, perhaps the students simply don’t know to ask for coaching at the shows because nobody else they know does it) but I think this is the main cause.

Here in these smaller, more remote areas such as those communities found along our Highway 16 corridor, only so many shows are held. Unlike the bigger centers, where all levels of competitions are held from nervous novice and schooling shows to serious, big money payout competitions, smaller areas tend to have just a few local shows per year.

Because there are so few shows, the competitors entered are from all levels of experience - both the new horsemen and amateurs as well as the professional trainers and coaches spend time in the show ring at these events.

Each professional carries their own agenda as a competitor - very important, of course is to do well, so that more clients may be obtained. To compete successfully, the coach must spend much time and effort, and most importantly, focus on their own competition.

Due to their strong need to focus on their own entry, most coaches don’t have a lot of time or energy left to give to students who are competing in the same division at the same show. We can’t expect them to be superhuman and to be able to compete and coach successfully at the same time!

I myself have been there, actually competing in classes against my coach, several years ago. To her, she felt that a true sign of good coaching was when her students were able to beat her in the show pen, and sometimes some of us students achieved exactly that goal. It was a great feeling for both of us!

However, without realizing it at the time, we were robbing both of us of a special bond that we didn’t even know could exist.

Continued next week...

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• Baerental Ranch
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• Hoskins Ford
• Northern Horse Supply
• Ridennoure Paint Horses
• The Tack Store

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