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All about horses in northern B.C. Issue # 43: September 4, 2000 Published each Monday by Kristi McCrindle, editor Well, I have survived it all, though sometimes I feel a bit like a reeling punch-drunk person staggering through the complicated and busy maze of my life! No wonder our summer horse season is so short, I'd totally overdo it if the summer lasted longer! The BV Exhibition is behind us, the Burns Lake Fall Fair team penning is behind us, and the NSC Fall Show is yet to come, as is the LDCPA final penning competition of the year. The paperwork unfortunately lasts longer than the events do, and I've managed to stick myself in the way of the paperwork for all of these events - whew! No rest for the wicked indeed! Alberta was wonderful, as you could probably tell from my quick reports. I wish I could afford to ride there more often, the ground we gained was awesome (too bad I've only just started finding time to ride again after two weeks of no-ride time!). It was a very positive experience, and one of the most memorable moments for me (besides those awesome 24' sliding stops!) was almost buying a horse. The horse in question was priced fairly high, and I went through a lot of doubts on my part - like why would I consider buying a horse of that quality when I didn't have the skills or the facilities to take him as far as he could go. J.P. turned that equation right around on me and asked why I was wasting my time and skills on horses that couldn't take me where I wanted to go. Touche! You know, sometimes when the time has come to move on, you need to put those doubts aside and plunge ahead. Depending on what your goals with your horses are, the horse you have now may not be suitable. If you want to sell and move on, do it without guilt - there is only so much time we have here on this earth, and why not spend it doing what we enjoy most? With that in mind I have decided to re-advertise my horses and hope I can find good homes for them, taking less than my price if necessary. The money will then go to a savings account until we find me the right horse, and then we're going places! Till next week, keep dreaming those dreams! 'Til next week, ~ Kristi :) email to editor: kristi@hiway16.com new! Photo Show Foal Announcements - add a listing or check out the latest

Compost that manure To really do the compost pile well, you should build a compost box, and a good example for this comes from Horse Illustrated magazine for September 2000. They suggest using a wooden pallet (like the ones many of store hay on) for the floor to facilitate good air circulation - oxygen is very important to composting both for breakdown of the material and also to keep the pile from smelling awful. A compost pile must be a combination of *greens* and *browns*. The readily available greens in this case is our ever-replenishing supply of horse manure! Layer that fresh manure with dried dead leaves, old hay that wasn't good enough to feed your horses, straw, sawdust, or even shredded newspaper. Moisten each layer as you put it down. The browns help to hold oxygen in the pile. Covering a manure pile is also supposed to cut down on fly breeding, and helps to keep moisture in when it is hot and dry, as well as preventing too much moisture if it is raining often. While a compost pile needs to be moist, you don't want it any wetter than a squeezed out sponge would feel. Once the compost heats up (as high as 65 degrees Celsius!), you need to turn it occasionally to keep oxygen in the pile and to cool it down a little. Too hot can rob nutrients from the soil you are trying to create, and by adding oxygen you are allowing the material to break down better. This frequent turning and high heat discourage flies from breeding in the pile, so you are actually preventing fly re-population as well as dealing with your extra manure which cuts down on worm infestations - two parasite problems taken care of all at once! You may be able to sell this compost to local gardeners, or better yet, put it back into your own fields as you rotate grazing on them. Gardeners prefer mixed compost, as straight manure is too high in nitrogen, doesn't break down well, and will burn plants by itself. If you have tips or questions on equipment care, purchases, fit, or anything else to do with equestrian equipment, please mail them to kristi@hiway16.com Western, English, Penning or Trail riding, all equine sports have a voice on Northern B.C. Horse	Past articles are all available in the What's happened and what's happening? Even though what passed as our summer this year is quickly changing into fall, there are still lots of equestrian events to keep us horse people busy! August 19 & 20 saw the Lakes District Cattle penning competition at the Eagle Creek Grounds in conjunction with the Burns Lake Fall Fair. Two days of fast and furious penning (including two new arena records!) were well enjoyed by penners from as far as Quesnel. A total of 6 classes were held this year - the usual Open class, #10 class, #7 class, #5 class and Juniors class, plus a new #3 class with teams made up from people new to penning. Entries were taken up to the last minute and there were actually quite a few teams. It was quite fun to watch these total beginners at it! The Bulkley Valley Exhibition was held the following weekend, getting underway on Thursday, August 24. Events ranged from dressage to reining, hunter-jumpers to gymkhana, pleasure classes, trail classes, and halter classes, plus rodeo action on Friday and Saturday nights. A total of 209 entries were taken for the Light Horse Show, coming from Prince George, Terrace, Kitimat, Burns Lake and the Bulkley and Kispiox Valleys. Spectators were found throughout the grounds, watching the arena that most held their interest (jumping and gymkhana are both popular). The weekend just passed saw the Northern BC Quarter Horse show held in Vanderhoof at the Exhibition Grounds. I didn't attend so have no reports on that one. Next weekend, September 8-10, is another J.P. Forget reining clinic at Riverside Stables in Vanderhoof. I'll let you know how that goes! The September 15-17 weekend is the Northern Saddle Club Fall Show in Smithers, followed by the September 23 Lakes District team penning competition in Grassy Plains, followed by the 5th Annual Invitational Championship Gymkhana (Finals) held this year on September 30 in Terrace. Whew - then the Poker Rides get started! No rest for us until the end of October... there should be something for everyone with all there events being held! If you have tips or questions you'd like to share with other local equestrians, please mail them to kristi@hiway16.com Northern B.C. Horse is brought to you courtesy of our advertisers including: The Tack Store Ridennoure Paint Horses Burns Lake Building Supplies Hoskins Ford Uniglobe Travel North Griffin Enterprises Thanks to our advertisers for making this all possible... ...for information about advertising, email jim@hiway16.com If you are new to Northern B.C. Horse, check out all the previous issues on the Archive page. Kristi is building a great knowledge base about horses, with the emphasis on our area of the world	New to showing series - What are those classes all about? English Pleasure English Pleasure classes are based on the way the horse goes. Judges look for a good stride at all gaits, nice behaviour, a quiet manner, etc - in other words, the horse should be a pleasure to ride. Horses will be asked to walk, trot and canter both ways of the ring,and may be asked to rein back (back up). Horses are ridden in english tack and attire. Most horses are shown in snaffle bits, with some people preferring to use kimberwickes (added control with the curb chain). The Pleasure horse should get its correct leads at the canter, and its rider should get her correct diagonals at the trot. Basic Seat Equitation Equitation classes are based on the rider's ability to ride the horse. There may be rail work only, rail work and a pattern, or just a pattern, depending on the judge's preference. Patterns are common and may be posted prior to the class (for you to study and memorize) or explained by the judge or ring steward inside the show pen. Riders may be called upon to sit the trot, make a 20' circle, extend a gait, drop their stirrups, and other tests of individual rider ability. Basic Seat is ridden in english tack and attire. Western Pleasure As in English, Western Pleasure classes are based on the way the horse goes. Judges look for good movement, quiet manner, etc. Horses will be asked to walk, jog and lope both ways of the ring - the same type of gaits as English, but the western version. Western pleasure horses will be expected to perform on a reasonably loose rein, at a reasonable walk, slow jog, and slow lope on the correct lead each way of the ring - in other words, the horse should be a pleasure to ride. For years the standard way of asking riders to go through their paces in a Pleasure class was walk-jog-walk-lope-walk, but now you will find judges mixing things up - walk-lope-jog-walk for instance. Make sure your horse is well prepared for any kind of transition, including lope to halt, and jog into line-up among others. Horses may also be called upon to back up or rein back, either in line up or on the rail. Western Horsemanship Horsemanship classes are based on the rider's ability to ride the horse. There will likely be a pattern, or rail work and a pattern, or just rail work. As in Equitation classes, patterns may be posted prior to the class or explained by the judge or ring steward inside the show pen. As in western pleasure, the horse will be expected to walk, jog, and lope, but you may also be called upon for more advanced maneuvres such as pivots (turn on the haunches), turns on the forehand, extended jog, stops or transitions exactly at markers, and so on. The rider is judged on her ability to ride and show the horse. Two-Way Combination or Versatility Class Horses and riders are expected to change tack mid-way through the class. After showing their suitability as a western horse (most classes I've seen start western), they switch into an english outfit and trade their english tack for western (usually with the help of a wheelbarrow-toting groom). They then head back out on the rail as an english pleasure horse. The class is usually judged on the horse's suitability as an English and Western Pleasure horse. The rider's outfit change can be helped along if the rider wears chaps over her jodhpurs and a western vest over a white english blouse. By simply removing the chaps and vest, changing her boots and hat, and adding an english jacket, she is set to show (and without having to actually change clothes in the ring which is not fun!). Meanwhile, the helpful (and essential!) groom is removing the western tack from the horse and replacing it with english. If you have tips or questions you'd like to share with other local equestrians, please mail them to kristi@hiway16.com

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