Draft Horses Working In the Field

May 29, 2019June 14, 2019Lynn Scott Leave a comment

Grab the old folks and the kids. There is something happening in west central Alberta this weekend that they all will enjoy. Wild Rose Draft Horse Field & Pioneer Days on June 1 & 2 at Double Tree Village Museum. Gates open at 9 AM. It is 2 whole days of fun with something for everyone.

I’m going to start right off with my favorite part. It is the Draft Horses working in the field. Few people remember when that was “how it was done”. The turning point – when the amount of tractor power overtook the amount of horse power on American farms – was 1945. Jobs for draft horses were pretty scarce after that.

The draft horses at the Double Tree Museum give all those youngsters under 75 a chance to see horses working in the field. Actually putting in a crop. In a beautiful setting which includes a whole village filled with interesting things from the past.

You can tour a village reminiscent of the early villages in Alberta stocked with thousands of items. Join in the Jam Session and Cowboy Poetry Sat. at 5:00, vendors, Handicrafts, Pack Horse Demo, Hand work demos, Mini horses and much more…

There is a concession but if you are trying to have some fun with the family but on a severe budget, bring some fried chicken and potato salad, a nice big watermelon and lots of water and enjoy a whole day of fun for just a General Admission of $5.00 per person. There are places to sit and eat or rest. There are wagon rides to and from where the horses are working in the field.

Maybe you would like to purchase supper provided by the Spruce View Lions Club on Saturday evening during the jam session. Or breakfast which includes Cowboy Gospel singing as breakfast is served. You will be welcomed with true western hospitality.

6 miles west of Spruce View on Hwy 54 to RR41, turn north as the sign and follow the road into the village.

We also have an extraordinary setting for family and wedding pictures.

Interesting short article “Horses Finally Lose Their Jobs“.

Cooperative Care

November 7, 2018Lynn Scott Leave a comment

I read an article today about “Cooperative Care”. It made me think about how animal handling has changed in my lifetime.

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Suggesting “training an animal to not only tolerate handling and husbandry procedures, but to be an active, willing participant in these experiences” would have got you scoffed out of the group of farmers drinking coffee at the local auction mart when I was a kid. Continue reading “Cooperative Care” →

Exchanging Remotes for Reins..

August 20, 2018August 20, 2018Lynn Scott Leave a comment

Post by Melody Garner-Skiba
Rocking Heart Ranch

Every day each of us gets a little older. It does not matter what industry you work in or what job you do, days go by so quickly and none of us get any younger. This is especially important to remember if you want to ensure your way of life, your business, and your passion will continue long after you are gone. The horse industry is not immune to this circle and unless we get our kids to exchange remotes for a set of reins, we could find ourselves in a bit of a conundrum down the road.

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It is with this potential pitfall down the road, that our ranch started to work on a vision of getting Youth Back in the Saddle several years ago. Our mission is to encourage up and comers of all ages to get involved in the industry and contribute to ensuring this way of life that we all love will be around for future generations. One of the projects that our ranch is undertaking to meet this vision, is our 60-day Colt Starting Challenge. This challenge focuses on promoting up and coming trainers who are trying to ensure that people of all ages get back into the saddle and stay in the saddle! Continue reading “Exchanging Remotes for Reins..” →

Mules & Ponies

July 10, 2018July 10, 2018Lynn Scott Leave a comment

Some things just catch your fancy.

Like a Mule and Donkey Show.

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or how about a Pony Show?

Alvesta Sedona, yearling Welsh Section B (Llanarth Tarquin x Alvesta Fairy Lustre) was 2017 overall Welsh Gelding Champion. Owned by Alvesta Farm; shown by Karen Podolski. Michelle Walerius Photography.

I was reading through the events section on Northernhorse when it struck me that these might be fun “things to do” for almost anyone. Continue reading “Mules & Ponies” →

3 Canadians Among the 2017 AQHA Legacy Breeders

November 29, 2017November 15, 2025Lynn Scott Leave a comment

News Release: CQHA

2017 has been a very good year in terms of recognizing Canadian breeders of American Quarter Horses. This year, Gordon B. Mason of Killarney, Manitoba, Pat and Eddy Sparks of Taber, Alberta, and Donald A. Woitte of Clive, Alberta were invited to an AQHA Hall of Fame and Museum ceremony in Amarillo, Texas to accept their Breeder Legacy Awards for having registered at least one foal for 50 consecutive years. The Mason family was able to attend the ceremony Unfortunately the Sparks family and Woitte family were unable to attend due to health issues.

CQHA congratulates these pioneers in our industry and invites you to visit the history section of our website to view the Lists of Canadian AQHA Legacy Breeders over the years, in two categories: those who have registered foals for 50 consecutive years; and those who have registered foals for 50 cumulative years.

DONALD & IRENE WOITTE, CLIVE, AB, CA

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“The horse operation started as a hobby, but developed into a first-class business for my wife and myself,” he says. “We don’t have a large operation. It’s small compared to what most breeding operations are. At our peak, we ran about 45 horses a year – including about 20 broodmares – and now we’re down to about 15 horses, including eight broodmares. But we’ve done this a long time. We’ve bred about 800 mares during our 50 years in the business, some of them our own mares and some were outside mares.”

The Woittes call their operation Fintry Quarter Horses, named for a historic ranch that Don’s father cowboyed on near Kelowna, British Columbia. The first horse they registered under the name was Fintry Tom Cat, a 1967 sorrel stallion by Old Tom Cat. Horses that contributed to the Fintry program include Zella Hep, a 1954 mare by Leo’s full brother Tucson A that was out of Panita Lass by Little Joe The Wrangler, and she became the dam of AQHA Champion Jay Page and Leozella, a good show mare. Others were J A Bar Tango, a King Leo Bar mare who was the reserve junior performance mare in Alberta as a 4-year-old in 1972; and Fintry Miss Wimpy, Fintry Catechu Dan, Fintry Blue Ambrose and Fancy Partner, a Superior halter mare by Fintry Tom Cat who produced top-notch ranch horses.

PAT & EDDY SPARKS, TABER, AB, CA

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“When I first started attending rodeos in the late ‘40s, I was impressed by the horses that the timed-event cowboys were riding,” Eddy says. “They called them Texas Quarter Horses. Then, through the ‘50s, I broke and trained some of those horses for people who had acquired breeding stock from the States. A lot of those were by or descendants of Sleepy Cat, a son of Red Dog, that Jack Casement bred out of a Sheep mare. When I started calf roping at rodeos in the ‘50s, it was those kind of horses that I wanted to ride and use.”

Those horses also taught him what constitutes a really good horse.

“My ideal horse would be 15 or 15.1 hands, weighing around 1,100 pounds,” he says. “He has to have good withers and a short back, long shoulders and hips, a clean neck and a nice head with a big, soft eye. He should have good feet and legs, be low in the hocks with short cannons, with Size 0 shoes and well-rounded, dark hooves. Color is not really important, but I do not like too many white hooves.”

GORDON B. MASON, KILLARNEY, MB, CA

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American Quarter Horses have long been a fixture in the lives of Gordon and Gladys Mason, pioneers of the American Quarter Horse industry in Canada.

The Masons established their farm when the breed’s popularity began to grow in their home province of Manitoba. At peak production, the Masons owned approximately 68 broodmares, a considerable growth from their 17-head herd in 1966. Since 2010, they have downsized significantly, and currently have one stallion and six broodmares.

Although the Masons stood 10 stallions during their 50 years of breeding, one sire – their first – was particularly influential in their program. Mr. Blackburn 49, a 1963 bay stallion by Poco Eagle and out of Lady Cowan by Blackburn, who was shown in halter and reining, laid the foundation for their operation, siring nearly 300 offspring.

Photos provided by the breeders’ families, Northernhorse & AQHA
Text Content provided by AQHA

Competitors in 2017 Mongol Derby

July 6, 2017Lynn Scott Leave a comment

35 competitors from around the world tackle the 9th Mongol Derby: the world’s longest horse race www.mongolderby.com

“What better way to test yourself than through a tough endurance race that immerses you in a unique culture and takes you to Mongolia, the spiritual home of equestrianism.” Mongol Derby competitor 2017

This is the 9 th Mongol Derby, featured in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s longest and toughest horse race. The 2017 race features 12 men and 23 women from nine countries riding 1000km across Mongolia on semi-wild horses.

William Comiskey was one of the joint winners in 2016 – and he’s back to try and win single handedly this time. Trying to stop him are 34 fearsome competitors including an Olympian, a cattle herder, a dairy farmer, a potato farmer, an ostrich rider, a dog sledder, a psychologist, an artist, a banker, a private investigator. And even a desperate housewife. Plus of course, the usual vets and riders of every type of horse on the planet. Although of course, many of them are yet to ride the Mongolian horses… Continue reading “Competitors in 2017 Mongol Derby” →