A city girl who loves horses is pursuing her dream, thanks to a special hands-on Horse Training Program at a northern Alberta campus.

Originally from Vancouver, it was Sherry Spanza’s mother who saw an ad for the NAIT-Fairview program and encouraged her to enroll.

Despite having worked in a north Vancouver stable prior to her arrival on campus, Sherry discovered that she had a great deal to learn, but that the experience was wonderful and rewarding. Her biggest challenge, she confessed, was learning the “horse sense” necessary to train her own horse, provided by the program – a task that must be completed to a high standard in order to graduate.
continue reading "NAIT Graduate Living her Dream"

by Rhianne J. Weghnnar

Brian and Colleen Coleman are considered by their peers to be among North America’s top draft horse trainers.

While the family, including young daughter Taylor, currently reside in Schulenburg, Texas, they will be returning to Alberta once restoration and reconstruction of their farm is finalized.

Many horse people will remember that the family and their Didsbury farm suffered a tragic loss due to a fire where 32 head of horses perished. Their new facility now under construction will stable 18 horses and provide a more suitable learning atmosphere.

The Coleman’s desire is to help educate and establish proper progress of the sport of driving because, as Colleen says, “a big influence on what people think of as driving is what they see on TV or in the movies.”
continue reading "Learning to Drive with Brian and Colleen Coleman"

by Rose Johnson

Have you ever wandered out to the corral one morning to find that “Trigger” didn’t seem quite himself? Something’s wrong, but you’re not sure what. Or, maybe you go to check on him in the pasture and discover an ugly cut on his leg.

Should you call the veterinarian right away, or is this something you can handle yourself? And just what does “handling” it entail?
continue reading "Equine emergency or not? Olds College program takes guesswork out of first-aid treatment"

by J. Edward Chamberlin with Geoff Chamberlin

Balanced like a circus performer, he stood in his stirrups and swept down to the banks of the river. He was riding herd on 100 horses, carrying a long pole with a loop at the end.

When his hat blew off in the high wind, he broke into a gallop and snatched it up off the ground without breaking stride. As we came close, he nodded, the laconic greeting of the working cowboy … except that we weren’t on the western plains, but on the eastern steppes, in Mongolia.

It is high country, brutally cold in the winter and hot in the summer, but not as far north as you might think: most of Mongolia is south of the 49th parallel.

The sun shines more here than anywhere in the world they say, and the eternal blue sky has been worshipped since the dawn of time. It was back then that Mongols first rode horses and developed one of the great horse cultures of all time.

I had just written a book about horses, a book that begins in southern Alberta where my grandfather went in 1885 to run cattle on the open range, and plains Indians held onto their own great horse culture. But the real beginning of any story about horses and how they shaped our world is out there on the steppes of Asia.

Geoff, my son: “Then let’s go to Mongolia and ride horses.”

Me: “Wonderful idea.”
continue reading "Mongolia on Horseback: A Ride Back in Time"

by Darla Walters

“What can I teach this horse today?” This is a thought that passes through my head quite regularly as both a rider and a coach. However, Ross MacInnes of Higher Trails has turned this idea completely around and instead uses his horses to teach people about themselves.

MacInnes claims that his workshops can not only teach us to be more effective at our jobs, but to also communicate better with our families and help heal emotional scars of the past.
continue reading "Equine-assisted Learning: Horses Teach Communication Skills and more"

by Janet Barriage

For the first time in Western Canada, Polo Canada put on a Junior Polo Camp at the Calgary Polo grounds from July 24 to 28, 2006. Geared for those aged 12 to 21, Horses All sent out its Junior Reporter Janet Barriage (aged 17) to get the scoop. Here is her story.
continue reading "Junior Polo Camp a First for Alberta"

From its modest beginnings that, 25 years ago, attracted approximately 60 attendees to a breeder specific meeting prior to the University of Calgary’s two-day horse program, the Horse Breeders and Owners Conference (HBOC) has grown to a world-class event that attracts well over 700 equine enthusiasts each year.

“As I remember, the conference started because those in the breeding business wanted an education program that met their educational needs,” says Bob Coleman, associate professor and extension horse specialist at the University of Kentucky, and one of the original members of the organizing committee.
continue reading "Equine Conference Celebrates 25 years (2006)"