The Alberta Equestrian Federation

September 22, 2011

Issue No. 24

Upcoming Events:  


Check out our Events Calendar for some great clinics and workshops.  Here are a few examples of what you can find on the calendar.  "A Gathering of the Horse Industry",  "Jumping Clinics" .  All these are offered by AEF Supporters.


REGISTER EARLY TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT
 

Check out the coaching clinics and updates page for the most up to date list of coming events

 

You can now add your show to the AEF Show Calendar by contacting Allison Blackmore at : competitions@albertaequestrian.com

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Equine Biosecurity Workshops
 

Protect your horses by developing and implementing a disease control and prevention program. Attend a free AEF Equine Biosecurity Workshop to learn the importance of risk assessments, complete a risk assessment form and discuss risk management strategies with a veterinarian with your horses in mind!

 

For details and to register for an upcoming workshop please follow go to www.albertaequestrian.com/Biosecurity .

Workshop participants will be entered to win a Mobile Biosecurity Kit, stocked with supplies to help you manage disease risk while away from home.
 

Registration closes 7 days prior to the scheduled workshop.  Please visit the website for more detailed information on these upcoming workshops.  Click here to view the workshop schedule and register


PLEASE NOTE OCTOBER 18 DATE HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED FOR OCTOBER 20 AT SPRUCE MEADOWS.


 

Funding for this project was made available through Growing Forward, a federal-provincial-territorial initiative. Together, the governments of Canada and Alberta are investing $273 million over five years (2009-2013) for flexible and innovative programs for Alberta's agriculture industry. 

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Stables and Clinicians are Invited to Partner with the AEF in Education   

  

The AEF is exploring ways to bring educational clinics to local riders throughout Alberta.  The AEF welcomes the opportunity to partner on an existing clinic or to support a new clinic.  The AEF can help with developing ideas, registering participants, providing educational handouts, promoting the event and so on.   As a business member, your event will be publicized to thousands of AEF members. 
 

Please contact Wendy in the AEF Office if you are interested in a mutually beneficial partnership in support of education.  

 
Help the AEF enhance the well-being of Alberta equines and their riders. 

About Us 

The Alberta Equestrian Federation (AEF) is a member driven, nonprofit Provincial organization responsible for organizing, coordinating, sanctioning and administering equine sport and recreation in Alberta since 1978.
 

Membership is in excess of 12,000 individual members as well as over 100 member equine Provincial organizations and industry partners. The AEF is the only Equestrian Body recognized by Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation. As such, we are the only body to directly receive funding and to have a voice within the Alberta Government on behalf of all equestrians in Alberta.

Vision

The Voice of Equine Alberta.  The premier source for education, information and support for Alberta's entire equine community.

 

Mission

To assist in creating a positive environment for the enjoyment of equines through leadership and a proactive approach we promote, facilitate, and coordinate equestrian related activities in Alberta.

 

Contact Us 


Executive Director

Sonia Dantu
  

Marketing/Program Support 
Wendy Kemble 

 

Competitions
Allison Blackmore  

 

Coaching
Jessica Paul 

 

Memberships  

Rita Bernard 

Office Administration
Norma Cnudde

 

AEF President
Dixie Crowson 

 

 

Suite 100

251 Midpark Blvd SE

Calgary, AB T2X 1S3

Phone: 403.253.4411 

1.877.463.6233 

Fax: 403.252.5260 

www.albertaequestrian.com  

 

 

Gus

   

Photo Credit: Wendy Kemble

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Find us on Facebook 

NEW things happening at the AEF! 


 AEF members save!  Click on the logo to take you to the listing of AEF business members that offer great discounts for AEF members.  Help support our business members and save money at the same time! 
 

New for potential Business Members - the AEF is now offering membership for your business to run year to year vs calendar year memberships! This is a very exciting addition to the membership benefits. For more information and to start receiving your member benefits contact Wendy at marketing@albertaequestrian.com


MPP Logo 

 
Online Store has been Upgraded

We have also made shopping with the AEF easier for you and are excited to launch our improved Online Store!!  Watch for new products coming soon.

 

Donations Made Easy  
Please consider a donation to the Alberta Equestrian Federation for any amount.  Each year, the AEF can apply for the Alberta Community Spirit Donation Grant to match your donation.
  


The donation grant provides an opportunity for eligible non-profit organizations to receive a provincial grant. The grant is based on total annual cash donations from individual Albertans that have been received by an eligible organization over a 12-month fiscal period. The grant can be used to support an organization's operations, programs and/or capital projects. The maximum grant available is $25,000 up to a maximum of $50,000 over three years. A minimum total of $1,000 in eligible cash donations needs to be received prior to applying for a grant.


This grant goes toward supporting our programs and educational scholarship given out each year to AEF members.

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Stampede's 4-H Rodeo all about fundamentals and F-U-N

Courtesy of Calgary Stampede
 

To finish first, first you must finish. It's a time-worn adage in the world of auto racing, but it's also just as relevant in rodeo's roughstock events.


The Calgary Stampede's 14th annual Invitational 4-H Rodeo wrapped up its two-day run under the Big Top on Sunday afternoon, after more than 100 youngsters aged 9 through 20, hailing from 30 4-H clubs across the province, descended on the Stampede City.


One of the cornerstones of the Stampede's 4-H Rodeo, sponsored by Westcan Bulk Transport and Lammle's Western Wear and Tack, is top-notch education - courtesy of undisputed rodeo experts. And the advice doesn't get much more big-league than former Canadian rodeo star Dave Shields of Okotoks, Alta., who recently earned the Canadian Pro Rodeo Hall of Fame's Legendary Achievement Award, and qualified for 10 Canadian Finals Rodeos from 1979 to 1990.


On Sunday morning, Shields presented a roughstock clinic to young 4-H Rodeo cowboys and cowgirls, using the same livestock simulator that he designed himself a quarter-century ago, propelled his son Davey Jr. to bareback fame, and was used at Shields' Ridin' High Rodeo School by every Canadian professional bareback rider who competed at the 2011 Stampede.


As Shields explained to young rodeo minds on Sunday, the dismount determines everything.


"It's about properly setting your rope, setting your hands in the rope, what to do with your feet . . . and how to get off. And that's probably one of the most important elements in roughstock," says Shields, who chairs the Stampede's 4-H Rodeo committee.


"A lot of people don't think of that. They concentrate so much on how to get on, but they don't give any thought on how to get off," adds Shields. "It's so important, especially if they're riding steers or bulls. If they're taught right off the bat how to turn their head and look backward, they'll roll over and land on their hands and knees, rather than their backs or hips or head."


For many who entered the ring this weekend, the Stampede's youth invitational affair was their first taste of rodeo. Some will go on to participate in Wrangler (junior high), high school, college, amateur, or even the pro rodeo circuit, while others are merely seeking some weekend enjoyment.


That's why Stampede 4-H Rodeo organizers not only stressed the didactic component . . . they also emphasized fun.

 

"Hey, I've also coached minor hockey for 20 years - and the first part of the word 'fundamentals' is spelled F-U-N," notes Lorne Lausen, owner of Lausen Indoor Arena south of Strathmore, who conducted a calf roping clinic on Sunday morning. "We teach the kids how to swing a rope, but it's fairly easygoing, and it's all about fun."


Adds Shields: "If they're going to do it, they've got to have fun. The only reason to be doing this is because you enjoy it, not because someone else wants you to."


Under the Big Top arena, timed events were held Saturday afternoon. Desirae Jackson of Sundre, Alta., had a big day Saturday, winning the barrel racing event in the senior (15 to 20) age category with a time of 14.85 seconds and following up with victory in the senior pole-bending event - which involves head-to-head runs, combining slalom racing and straight-out speed - in a time of 19.88 seconds.


Jackson had competed Saturday aboard her 14-year-old quarter-horse gelding Frosty, and on Sunday she earned yet another red ribbon - this time in senior goat tying, a roughstock event - on her cousin's 12-year-old quarter-horse gelding Bush, laying down a nifty time of 11.67 seconds.


"I've been barrel racing and pole-bending most of my life. This year, I've been working hard at it for high school rodeo, which I just started this month," said Jackson, 15, who's been competing at the Stampede's 4-H Rodeo since 2006. "It's really tough competition, but I've been placing Top-10 against fields of 70 girls. This weekend, I think, gave me a lot of confidence to take back to high-school rodeo."


Also Saturday, Breanna Macklin of Sundre won the senior thread-the-needle event - which sees competitors negotiate a tight corridor, circumscribe a pole at the end of the course, and return down the same corridor - in 11.73 seconds. Dayna Powell of Onaway, Alta., was the thread-the-needle champion in the intermediate (12 to 14) age category in 11.63 seconds, while Megan Rawn of Millarville, Alta., was the junior (9 to 11) thread-the-needle champ in 12.63 seconds. Miranda Hartung of High River, Alta., won intermediate barrels in 15.16 seconds, while Madelyn Schauer of Halkirk, Alta., prevailed in junior barrels by stopping the clock in 15.05 seconds. Karlyn Janssen of Lacombe, Alta., earned the intermediate pole-bending title with a 20.553-second run, and Deshann Valentine of Sundre emerged atop the junior pole-bending category in 22.05 seconds.


Sunday afternoon, the roughstock events took over the Big Top infield, with M.J. Wowk of Myrnam, Alta., earning a pair of championships - senior cow riding, with a score of 69, and senior breakaway roping, with a formidable time of 6.42 seconds.


"I ranch rodeo, so I do stock saddle-bronc riding and ranch roping. This is my first year riding broncs, and I really like it. I'd like to do more bronc riding, and see where it takes me," said Wowk, 16.


Nicole Lausen of Carseland, Alta., and Powell won the Stampede 4-H Rodeo's inaugural steer daubing contest, Lausen claiming the senior category in 1.31 seconds and Powell winning intermediate in 1.49 seconds. Wace Pallesen of Strathmore, Alta., was intermediate cow riding champ with a 71-point ride; Ashton Ewasiuk of Elk Point, Alta., won intermediate goat tying in 12.99 seconds, and followed it up by emerging atop the pack in intermediate breakaway roping in 6.29 seconds.


After it was all over Sunday, Wowk talked about skills accrued, lessons learned, and new friendships gained. "You leave here today and you have to say goodbye," he noted, "but you also know it's not the last time. That, to me, is the biggest thing - the people you meet, and the places that'll take you later on in life."


Adds 4-H Rodeo committee member John Finn: "Every year, after it's all done, we have kids and parents come up to us and thank us for what we're doing. And that's when the point is really driven home to us that we're doing something special. That's what really makes it all worth while."


And for the young cowboys and cowgirls who felt this weekend was the start of something special, Shields notes there's also a large, tangible reward potentially waiting down the trail. Like their counterparts in the world of hockey, lacrosse, and soccer, high-school-aged rodeo athletes can reach out and pluck American college scholarships, he says.


"There's a full four-year college education available through rodeo, if these kids do it right," says Shields. "I never finished school. To this day, I wish I would have known about high school rodeo (and its springboard potential to U.S. college). I always try to push that, whenever I can, through my rodeo schools.

 

"College coaches in the States are looking for Canadians all the time, because the Canadians are the tougher cowboys in the roughstock events. Kids here are used to getting on bucking horses. And our kids who do end up on the U.S. college rodeo circuit, they go down there and shine."
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BEYOND DEWORMING.... Courtesy of Western Horse Review

While a strong deworming protocol is important to the health of your horse herd, regardless if you have 1 or 20, the war against equine parasites cannot be fought by deworming drugs alone. There are other things you can do to help prevent your animals from ingesting the infective stages of parasites. Here are six suggestions that can help you eliminate the possibility of parasites on your property:

 

1. Separate horses into age groups 

Adults are often the major source of infection for parasites, but young horses can be more prone to them. Young horses may have trouble competing for food in pastures and therefore, must eat whatever is left over. Often the remaining feed has been defecated on or trampled over.

  

2. Feed off the ground 

Further to the above point, feeders in outdoor stabling and mangers or haynets in stalls can keep horses from eating off the ground. Eating off the ground is one of the best ways horses can ingest infective parasite larvae.

  

3. Avoid Overcrowding 

Too many horses houses together is the number one way of infecting your herd with worms. Pastures or corrals can become contaminated with heaps of manure, especially around waterers and feeders.

  

4. Maintain Sanitation 

Have your stalls cleaned often, let horses outside and try to prevent foals from eating manure or suckling the mare when she is dirty. Clean out your paddocks and corrals at least once a year with a bobcat and don't allow "Mount Manure" to sit idle on your property for too long, especially if you aren't practicing proper composting techniques.

  

5. Pasture Examinations 

Rotate animals in pastures to prevent parasite build up, harrow your pastures often to expose larvae to sunlight and break up manure.

 

6. Fecal Egg Counts 

It's not a pretty job, but you really should do it. Fecal egg counts are microscopic examinations of eggs within an individual horse's manure sample. Since they cannot be seen with the naked eye, samples must be collected and taken to a vet to be placed under the microscope. Your vet then can determine the type of parasites present and the number of eggs in the feces, which in turn is an indication of the number of adult parasites in the horse's gut. Fecal egg counts can be done periodically to monitor your parasite control program throughout the year and determine its effectiveness.

 

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HAPPY TRAILS!!