What to write, what to write? Once again, I need to send a plea out to you readers. What do you want to see written about? Do you have questions to be answered? Topics to be discussed? Editorials you would like to submit? At Northern BC Horse, we encourage your participation - after all, this website is for you!

And here’s another question - if you do email me a question, do you expect an answer back, or do you hope it will be covered in a future issue? I have been answering the questions as they come in, but I began to realize that perhaps other people would like to know the answers too. Not to mention it would help me come up with more topics that way!

One of the ideas we have in the wings is an emergency contact list. Have you ever been travelling and had truck trouble resulting in needing a place to stay for your horses? Or maybe you haven’t, but you have worried about it. I recently received a suggestion to compile a list of people available on short notice to haul horses, board horses, or even put up people overnight in case of an emergency.

If you are in a position where you can offer a spot to a traveller with horses who is in need, please contact me and we’ll begin to compile a list. We’ll need your name, phone number, and general location (ie, 10 minutes east of Prince George on the highway, 20 minutes west of Vanderhoof and 5 minutes off the highway, etc ).

Photo credit: Chris Hassell

If you have access to a trailer and can haul someone’s horses on short notice, we would also appreciate hearing from you. Same goes if you are a good local contact in your area to put someone in need in touch with other area horse people.

We are not going to advertise boarding or hauling businesses here (commercial listing inquiries can be directed to jim@hiway16.com), but we will include you on the list as emergency contacts.

I’d like to also thank everyone who has been using the trailer page. I hope that as the knowledge of this site expands that it will become more and more useful to you all. Please be sure to tell your friends about the page, as everyone can benefit from sharing trailer rides!

I’m off early this week as my dad is getting remarried on September 21. So I am still not getting much time to spend with the horses - I hope you are all fitting in some good times before the snow flies!

Until next week, happy riding!
~ Kristi :)

Foal Announcements View the latest or...
If you have a Foal Announcement you wish to submit, click here

Would you like to Share a Trailer Ride? View the rides offered here... or submit your offer for a ride here

Saturday at the Fall Fair is the busy one, as we have several rings running at once, and it is of course the busiest day for spectators as well. The Main Ring started out with Kerry Walton overseeing a section called Lots-A-Classes, which encompasses the Western Riding, Western Pleasure Northwind Arts $50 Added Stake class (won by Jessica Mikolayczyk on Jets Cadillac Jack), the very fun-to-watch Pairs class (won by the Musketeer team of Kaleigh Allen on Eko Bay Spark Plug and Kaili Clay on Arly), the three big added money reining classes (dominated by Nancy Huntley, Bibs Dallaire and Larry Wierenga), the costume classes, tiny tot (leadline) and bareback equitation.

Thanks go to Marie Norquay and Nancy Huntley for performing the reining demo, after which we were thrilled to watch Erin Rowsell’s costume kur. The music and the costume were both great!

Margaret Maltby then took her place in the Main Ring, judging the English Pleasure classes. Cliff High added to his mom’s Friday Walk-Jog honours by winning his English Pleasure Walk-Trot class. Karen Ritchey won two classes (Novice Horse and Junior Horse) on the four year old Hurricane, and Erin Rowsell and Tulpenprinz again dominated the senior horse scene, winning the Senior Rider class and the Stake class.

Trail course designer Barb Henderson took over the ring after the English Pleasure Stake class and set up the trail obstacles. All of the riders did a great job of negotiating the tough courses, and when the dust settled it was Larry Wierenga on Elaborate that came away the big winner with first place in both the Junior Horse class and the Gitaanmaax Village Government $50 Added Trail Stake. These wins clinched Larry’s shot at the Western High Point with his home raised gelding Elaborate. On a side note, Elaborate’s dam was raised by Doug Boersema, who many of you will recognize as our very capable grounds manager during the Fair. I think Doug was as proud of Elaborate’s performance as anyone!

Working in the Driving Ring, Peter Wilding-Davies of Langley put the drivers through their paces. Janine Payne drove Ken’s Blossom to red ribbons in four of her classes, earning them the Driving Horse High Point, with Lesley Flint (Northern Cotten Picken Poo Nee) and Fran Page (Webster) tying behind her for Reserve honours. Norm and Shannon Flint were a huge help running the driving division as efficiently as ever - thanks you two!

Starting at 9 am, Jill Yonge started watching the Jumper division, a nice change from her two days in dressage ring. Sherry Kirsch (on Cruise) and Erin Rowsell (Prinz) were near the top of each of the first four classes. Hoof N Woof, featured right after the lunch break, is the big crowd pleaser, and this year was no exception. Holy Moses, piloted by Marie Perry, and Belle, instructed by Sharon Poulin, won the exciting class. Belle also took the 2nd place ribbon when teamed with Wranglers Gold Dust, ridden by Stephannie Wall.

The Oviatt Contracting $100 Added Power & Speed class was won by Dave Evans, riding Jane’s horse Wager, while the Houston Forest Products $150 Added Northwest Championship Mini Prix was won by Kirsten Anderson on Miro. Kirsten also won the Challenge Cup. Unfortunately, entries were down in the higher jumper classes, and the Jumper High Point was not awarded.

More highlights next week!!

The West Nile virus is all in the horse news lately, as it has now been found in 32 states and as far west in Canada as Manitoba. In case you have been hearing about it but don’t yet really have an understanding of the illness, I’d like to fill you in on some details.

The West Nile virus causes West Nile encephalitis. Encephalitis simply means brain swelling. The resulting conditions from swelling on the brain can vary in severity.

Some of the main symptoms of West Nile virus, or any other encephalitis, are as follows:
1. falling, staggering or unable to rise
2. off feed, lethargic
3. stiffness in limbs, especially impairing hind end coordination
4. head tremors and/or muscle twitches

Of course, it takes blood tests to confirm the presence of WNV, as many other viruses can cause these symptoms, including Eastern and Western Equine Encephalitis, which you may recognize as EEE and WEE, viruses we routinely vaccinate for. In areas that have not yet had any cases of WNV infection, your veterinarian likely would not routinely test for the presence of WNV unless you specifically requested it.

WNV was first found in the United States in 1999 - prior to that it had only been found in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. It was first noted in 1937 and the first cases of WNV in horses were reported in the early 1960’s.

Now, some good news about West Nile virus! First of all, it is spread by mosquitoes only. There have been no cases where the disease was passed from animal to animal or from animal to human. Therefore, by avoiding mosquito bites, we can reduce our risks right there.

However, you may scoff at that idea, knowing how difficult it is to find a control method that is 100% effective against mosquitoes! Next week, some management tips to reduce mosquito swarms in your area.

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.