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2011 Everything Equine Show
The Everything Equine Show was held on May 14 th and is hosted by the Uxbridge Horseman’s Association. The OMHC hasn’t participated if a few years but thought we would try putting on a demo and have our booth set up this year. Thankfully, our booth was inside as the weather was mostly wet but there seemed to be a good crowd that showed up despite the overcast and moist day.
Sheila and Linda McNaughton took care of the booth that Amanda McKill set up the night before; thank you Ladies for volunteering. I know for Sheila, it is a bit of hardship as she has to arrange time off from her normal job at the tack shop on the RCRA grounds.
The Kavanagh’s and the McGinty’s volunteered to take horses for the demo. Lauren McGinty rode her gelding Hillwood Irish Proverb (Riley) and Lisa Kavanagh rode Cyan Star Trinity (Jordan). It is a quick drive from our farm in Greenbank to the Uxbridge Fairgrounds and while it was grey and overcast, the rain held off for a good portion of the morning. We set up our trailer with two box stalls for the horses to stay dry and comfortable and we were able to get them groomed and tacked up and stay dry and comfortable too!
Our time slot was 11:45 am for our first demo which was great. There was a good crowd on hand and we were ready to go. Lauren and Riley looked superb as they represented the Hunter Pleasure Morgan and Lisa and Jordan were beautiful as the Western Pleasure entry. Hilary Balmer read the bios for the breed while the girls demonstrated the gaits of the Morgan. Lauren took this opportunity to re-introduce Riley to the show ring as they haven’t shown in a couple of years and it was good to see them out there. Lisa took Jordan over to the rail where the majority of people were watching and gave them a chance to pet Jordan and ask questions. Jordan soaked up the attention while Riley proudly trotted around the ring.
At this point the rain started to come down and it was nice to get back to our trailer and not get too wet. They had demos going all day and the rain didn’t dampen their efforts although I’m sure there were some horses that weren’t too keen on all the umbrellas!
We had a long break before our final demo at 3:30 so we took the opportunity to walk around and see the vendors and watch some of the other demos. This was especially good for Lauren and our two wonderful grooms for the day; Kyla Vendrig and Madeleine Gainey. Thank you to Kyla and Madeleine for all your help.
As we prepared for the final demo, we realized the demos getting a bit behind schedule but we got ready for our time slot and took a longer warm up while we waited. The rain was getting stronger and the grassy footing a bit more slippery but thank fully, the main ring is sand and wasn’t too bad. As we prepared to enter the ring, we were introduced by Akaash Maharaj, the CEO of Equine Canada. I am not aware that any of the other demos were so royally introduced!
It is unfortunate that for our final demo, the rain was really starting to come down and the crowds were leaving but we did our job and I’m very pleased how well our horses performed.
Thank you to Lisa and Lauren for riding and to everyone who helped make our day in promoting the Morgan possible.
Nancy Kavanagh
WHY DO WE PROMOTE THE MORGAN HORSE?
The beauty of the Morgan horse lifts the heart. The breed exists solely because it pleases people. It is their heritage.
The Morgan is easily recognized by his proud carriage, upright graceful neck, and distinctive head with expressive eyes. Deep bodied and compact, the Morgan has strongly muscled quarters.
The intelligence, willingness, zest for life, and good sense of the Morgan is blended with soundness of limb, athleticism, and stamina. In addition, Morgan thriftiness and longevity have made this breed a good bargain for more than 200 years - easy to love and affordable to own.
The Morgan horse is free moving and calm under western tack or elegant and aristocratic ridden in English style. A tractable temperament allows the Morgan to excel when driving in single or multiple hitches.
Companionable and comfortable on a quiet pleasure ride anywhere open skies beckon, working as a sensible partner in a long day of ranch work or endurance riding, waiting alert and ready to enter a show ring, or performing in formal riding disciplines, the Morgan is a versatile horse within a versatile breed. The Morgan horse agreeably adapts to his owner's life style. This first American breed can be found worldwide.
Reliable, loyal, tireless, and versatile, a Morgan becomes one with people of all ages and walks of life, sharing the mutual enjoyment in every equine pastime.
Today, Morgans can be found in all of Canada and the US and in more than 20 foreign countries. Individuals generally range from 14.1 to 15.2 hands, with exceptions under and over that. Colors allowed within the breed include bay, black, brown, chestnut, gray, palomino, creme, dun and buckskin.
The Morgan has remained a stylish mount with conformation that lends itself well to a vast range of disciplines. Morgan versatility is widely recognized. The breed's soundness, power, agility and stamina make it the choice of many driving enthusiasts. Morgans comprise a large number of entries at Combined Driving and Carriage events. Morgans also excel in many other disciplines, including Park Saddle and Harness, English and Classic Pleasure Saddle and Driving, Western, Hunter, Jumper, Eventing, Dressage, Reining, Cutting, Endurance and Competitive Trail. They are gentle enough for lessons, 4-H and Pony Club involvement, and due to their steady, comfortable gaits, are in great demand as therapeutic riding horses. Morgans are equally well known for their loving, kind dispositions. Those who buy a Morgan often say they have not only purchased a horse, but have welcomed a new family member.2011 Can Am , Team Morgan was there!
Whistler's Morgans
My boyfriend Harry and I took 11 year old Whistler's Beam Dreamin' into the CanAm Equine Emporium in London Sunday March 20th. It started off as one of those 'anything that can go wrong will go wrong' mornings. I had picked up overtime the day before and I left Bea out for the night and she was absolutely filthy! We are talking mud pucks in her tail. Oh, well, ... .
The horse trailer lights quit working just before we loaded. We ended up arriving at CanAm later than I wanted to. Harry is a calming influence on me, thank heavens! First order of business: immediately sticking Bea in the wash stand and spending 40 minutes scrubbing her down. I took some ribbing from Jerry at the Halflinger booth about the amazing transformation she underwent: Bea is an expressive beauty who cleans up well!
Lisa showing Bea off.
Our OMHC/CMHA booth was on an accessible corner, so we attracted attention and had quite a bit of traffic. Bea is a seasoned CanAm veteran. She loves nothing better than standing around eating and flirting up a storm with all passerbys. The lovely and talented Lisa Kavanagh came out to help as she always does! I count so much on Lisa, and I so enjoy letting Lisa handle and pose Bea in the arena. I get great pleasure watching those two and taking photos! It was also wonderful to have Sandra and Lauren McGinty to help out manning the booth. It gave Harry and I time to look around and actually sit in on some clinics.
Bea and the gang at the booth.
CanAm was different this year in that there were not so many breeds represented and the actual number of horse breeds present were down a bit. That did make loading the horse and parking the trailer less of a trial. There might have been a few less tack/gift vendors, but the crowds, however were excellent and enthusiastic! Quite a few folks looking to purchase, or had had Morgans in the past. We all chatted up a storm, passionate about our Morgans! It was Harry's first time at CanAm, and he was impressed. I heard good things about all of the clinicians, and for certain, if you were looking to buy a horse trailer, the selection was excellent.
All in all, another successful CanAm for the Morgan Horse! Yes, Bea went home and promptly dropped in the mud and rolled. Thanks again to Lisa, Sandra and Lauren, and to Amanda for taking the booth with her!
Laurie Willert
Samor's Morgans
Saturday, March 19th at the Can-Am Equine event has come and gone and given us lots to talk about! Early that morning Tim, myself, our friend Sandy Pettman and neice Sonia Berry bundled up our stallion, Equinox Beau Dandy and headed for London to the Agriplex. We arrived in plenty of time to get settled in and chat with some old friends and organize our day. As soon as the doors opened at 0900hr, we had people stopping by. All of us had someone to talk to and all handed out lots of the Morgan promotional materials. There were many interested people asking very pointed questions. We did our best to make the Morgan an exceptional choice! Convincing or not, we were quickly running out of Morgan Hotline sales lists!
Then came time to saddle up and strut our 'stuff' in the main arena for the Parade of Breeds. We only had a few minutes but Beau and I put out everything that we could to show the people what a Morgan can do. All 3 gaits, collected and extended, half-passes, difficult transitions, it was busy but felt fluid and I credit Beau Dandy for that! He really was in the mood to show off and the people showed their appreciation as we left the ring along with a further accolade from the announcer! We barely got back to our stall before we had people talking to us about Beau Dandy and the Morgan.
This attracted a presenter to our booth who asked us if Beau would mind being her subject. No problem! She was an Equine Massage Therapist - who wouldn't like that! Beau was amazing, standing there in the room for 45 minutes without moving. He showed his enjoyment with his entertaining facial expression during the massage techniques which got many chuckles from the crowd. The therapist was very explicit in describing who her subject was and complimented him during the demonstration. This was all good for the Morgan horse! Afterwards, she came back to his stall to do his other side as a Thank-you for being such an obliguing model. This drew another big crowd around the stall and booth, watching him get the rest of his massage and making more 'funny faces'. What another great opportunity to talk to people about our wonderful breed and believe me, we did!
There was always a steady stream of people passing by so our voices had a major work-out. The afternoon Parade of Breeds gave us another chance to put a second quick routine together and this time in front of backed stands. Again, Beau delivered and pleased a very large audience. I am very proud of him. He has certainly taken on his job as breed ambassador with vim and vigor. Things came to a close around 1800hrs for us and we packed up and headed home to do 'chores', satisfied that we did a respectable job in representing our 'bestest' Morgan horse to the public. Lets hope that we see some exciting activity from this years Can-Am!
Wendy & Tim Inch
Upper Canada Morgans
Janet Phillips and Hillary Kirkvleit pose with UCM Tecumseh
at the Can Am stall.
Sumitted by Nancy Kavanagh