Hey, I hope everyone had a great long weekend! I had a very busy one that included attending the Can-Am All Breed Horse Emporium. This four-day equine trade show featured clinicians like Stacey Westfall, Jonathan Field and Guy Mclean. It was very interesting and turned out to be a great way to connect with horse people that I haven't seen for a while.
The first 'interesting thing' I encountered was the parking lot. People were pitching in to push cars out of mud holes, but we horse people are hardy, and a bit of mud isn't going to stop us from having fun. Still, I was glad to avoid the worst of the mud and even made it to the building without my light beige suede boots getting too coated. The first exhibit I went through was a large heated tent filled with the newest in horse trailers. There were some really beautiful trailers, and walking through the living quarters of one, I couldn't help think it was better decorated than my house. I picked one out for Trillium a nice bright aluminum with tack storage. Yes, one day I'll replace mine with one of those.
The main vendor hall was packed with people. Everyone was checking out the tack and other equipment. People were carrying out stacks of plastic buckets. I never found out which vendor they were from—but there must have been a great bargain on them. There was everything equine related for sale. I lingered over a Schleese custom dressage saddle made especially for women riders, coveted several pairs of western boots (yes, I ride English, but love western boots) and would love to have brought home a set of paintings that I'm sure I wouldn't have a wall big enough for anywhere. The one item that I thought was a 'must have' was a manure sifter. This machine featured screens that allowed the bedding to fall through, and then vibrated the horse buns down through a chute into a muck bucket.
I watched two demonstrations. The first was presented by the Eglinton and Caledon Hunt. I've only hill topped on a hunt, but riding in one is definitely on my bucket list. This was really fun to watch as there were ten pairs of hounds in the ring with two huntsmen on horseback. Although these very happy looking hounds are trained to track coyote, they also caught the scent of hot dogs, spilled popcorn and small children in strollers. The hounds crawled under the bleachers, made friends with audience members and explored where every exit led to. It was a chaotic fun and definitely turned the somewhat stuffy image of field hunting on its ear. Everyone, including the hounds, was smiling.
The second demonstration I caught was by Stacy Westfall. I'm still thinking about some of the things she said, so I'll leave my impressions of that for another day. I then sat for a while and watched the horses on Breeds Avenue. Watching the very cute Minis, massive Percherons, colorful Gypsy Vanners, elegant Hanovarians and other breeds parading by, I couldn't help thinking—I wanted one of those, and one of those and one of those...
Things I wish I didn't miss: an appearance by Heartland's Amanda Marshall, the Canadian Cowgirls drill team, a centred riding demonstration, and Anatomy in Motion with Susan Harris who depicts how the horse's bones, muscle, tendons and
other tissues work by drawing on a horse with chalk paint. I saw the horse (very
colorful), but not the actual presentation. So, I'll be looking forward to the next Can-Am and planning my visit more careful to see everything I want to.
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