On July 20 & 21 I packed up Karisma and headed for Smithers to enter the Summer Schooling Show. What fun I had!

One of the best parts of showing just a baby, and not taking any other horse along, is that you don’t have to split your focus. While a young horse can sometimes take all of your energy, attention and then some, it can be so rewarding when things work out well.

The transmission was still bad in my truck so I asked Chita and Naomi Foote if they would haul Kari along with their two students and their mounts. With such a large trailer, they readily agreed to give Kari a ride, which was great. They headed out in the afternoon while I followed behind after work. I worried that it would leave me too late to get Kari bathed and ready for the show but it worked out well!

When I arrived, I bathed Kari first to get it over and done with. She was not too impressed with me, I have to admit! She was much better though about getting up on the cement wash rack, so we are making progress! It was also her first bath ever, so I was very happy with how she behaved.

Once her stall was bedded and she was fed and watered for the night, I headed out to stay with friends. We had a good visit, if short - we had to get up early Saturday morning!

On Saturday, I expected Kari to be a bit hot and silly, as she had been locked in a stall all night in a strange place, but she was again very well behaved. We entered our halter class and she acted quite well - she even trotted on the lead when asked!

Photo credit: Chris Hassell

I was very pleased with her behaviour and thrilled to receive her first 2nd place ribbon.

That was it - all that preparation for one class? Wow! So I asked Chris Hassell to take some pictures of us while we were all cleaned up and spiffy. She took some very nice photos on her digital camera and now we just have to figure out how to download them to her computer!

Sunday was a bit busier for me as we started an hour earlier - yikes! Luckily Karisma had stayed clean all night and was ready to go after a quick brushing. We had entered Leadline Trail - a class where you lead your young horse through the trail obstacles. It is a great way of exposing your young horses to the sights and sounds of a show ring without the added pressure of being on their backs.

I did lead Kari through two trail classes in the Spring Schooling Show, and she was even better this time. Since early June, we have added trotting in hand and have improved her back up, so all in all it was a far better pattern. We barely squeaked by the other competitor and took home the first place ribbon. We also entered two classes just for the experience and worked on things in both.

Best of all, it was a lot of fun, Kari had a great experience at her second ever show, and I got to visit with friends once my few classes were over!

Until next week, happy riding!
~ Kristi :)

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So far in the course of the colour genetics column, you have learned about three of the dilute genes that affect the base coat of the horse - cream, dun and silver. In the next couple of weeks I’ll try to inform you about the champagne dilution gene.

Champagne is much like dun in that it is a simple dominant gene. If the horse receives one copy of the champagne gene from a parent, it will be a champagne. If there is only one copy, the horse is heterozygous and only has a 50% chance of passing the gene on to its offspring.

Champagne dilution is often mistaken for cream dilution, but there are some very marked differences. First and foremost is the skin. The champagne horse has freckles on their skin - sort of like Appaloosa mottling, but different. Where an appaloosa will most likely be born with mottled skin, the champagne’s freckles develop as the horse ages. These freckles can be seen the most easily around the eyes and under the tail, but are also present under the hair coat. Their skin will appear a shade of pink or even purple, rather than grey or black like a non-champagne gened horse.

Some palominos and sorrels are also born pink skinned but the change to dark skin is rapid, usually within the first week or so. Champagnes take much longer to develop their mottling.

Another noted distinction between the cream and champagne genes is that the cream gene is an incomplete dominant - if there is one copy of the cream gene present, the body coat will be diluted, but if there is two copies the body coat will be further diluted. Neither dun nor champagne “double up” their effect the way the cream gene does.

Another obvious difference in champagne gened horses is their eye colour. Champagnes at birth have bright blue eyes which turn green, hazel or any shade of amber, or even remain blue, rather than turn brown like most other horses. This brighter blue is different from the icy, pale blue associated with cremellos and Paints with blue eyes. The champagne’s eyes change slowly, sometimes over a period of months or even a couple of years.

The best way to identify a champagne is to follow the horse through those changes of skin and eye colour. The coat colour also changes, but unlike most other colours with which the foal coat is a lighter shade than the mature coat, many foals are born darker in colour than they mature. There is no DNA test yet available for this gene, and it can be hard to tell for sure, so watching the changes and of course identifying one or both parents as champagnes also helps to confirm the presence of the champagne gene.

There are two other traits that are commonly associated with champagne, although both are also found in other colours. Many champagne horses have a reverse dappling effect and a metallic glow to their summer coats. These are not by themselves indicative of champagne, but are frequently found.

The Northern Saddle Club Summer Show was a lot of fun. For some reason, the Summer Show tends to be smaller than the other NSC shows, perhaps because people are away on holidays. Fortunately, due to the smaller size, it tends to be a very fun show!

Saturday was started at 8 am in the Main Arena with Gymkhana, and also with Dressage in the Dressage Ring, which was scored by Lisa Hamer of Terrace.

Judge Terry Johnson from Kamloops kept busy all day with the All Breed Halter classes in the Indoor Arena, followed by the Young Riders division in the Main Ring. She then moved over to the Driving Ring to judge the driving classes, and then returned to the Main Ring for the English Flat.

Liberty was exciting to watch on Saturday evening with a Mares and Geldings section and a separate Stallions class.

Pam Morrison from Prince George came up on Sunday for the Trail, Western Flat, and Reining classes. The remainder of the gymkhana classes were run following the reining. Terry Johnson stayed busy with a full slate of hunter and jumper classes in the Hunt Field.

Concession was done by the B.V. Pony Club and featured chili and a bun, hotdogs, muffins, veggie burgers and a variety of other items as something different from the usual hamburgers (although they had those too!).

One of the neatest features of the Northern Saddle Club grounds is that they have so much to offer. Unlike many smaller riding clubs, the NSC has had the opportunity to develop a first class riding facility - with numerous rings, warm up enclosures and a covered arena.

These arenas consist of the large Main Arena, with show office and grandstands, the small warm up ring behind the main arena, a Hunt Field (also called Jump Ring), a Dressage Ring, and a grassy Driving Ring, as well as a warm up ring for the jumping and dressage rings. In addition to that is the three-sided, covered arena with large bleachers - and for Liberty classes those bleachers can be packed! The indoor arena also features a sprinkler system for wetting down the dust.

In addition to the arenas, there are three Saddle Club use barns, a large cement washrack with three hoses, and some barn cleaning equipment for public use. You can also find a pair of ramps for unloading from stock racks or stock trucks.

I think many people who have grown up in Smithers take these facilities for granted but if they ever get the chance to travel elsewhere they will see just how incredibly well equipped the Northern Saddle Club Grounds are!

The other super part of having this facility is that so much can be put on at each show, because several of the different disciplines have their own arenas. While it can be difficult for the organizers to keep track of everything going on, there can easily be a “three ring circus” at those horse shows for the spectators to choose from!

The Northern Saddle Club Summer Show was a lot of fun, and if you ever get the chance to stop by one of their shows, or the big Smithers Fall Fair (which uses the NSC Grounds), take a look around you and marvel at the wonderful facilities we have here in the north!

Northern BC Horse is sponsored by local businesses who support equine sports in our area including:

• Baerental Ranch
• Burns Lake Building Supplies
• Griffin Crick Ranch
• Hoskins Ford
• Northern Horse Supply
• Ridennoure Paint Horses
• The Tack Store

Do you have a horse or equipment to sell? Want to buy a horse or equipment? Check the Free Classified Ads.