Canadian Appaloosa show features special breed of horse, competitors

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This article was published 02/08/2013 (4461 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The 55th annual Canadian National Appaloosa Horse Show at the Keystone Centre is a chance for competitors around the world to gather for some friendly competition while showcasing a special breed.

“Its popularity now is still as big as it ever was,” show chairman Merv Veinot said while watching some of the Appaloosas compete on Thursday. “The Appaloosa horse is a stock body type bred horse, so it is a little heavier in body than the Arabian and of course we’re breeding for spots.”

The show kicked off on Tuesday and ends on Saturday evening with the presentation of all major show awards.

This year, the nearly 60 entries, 15 of which are from across Manitoba, are competing for both Appaloosa Canadian points and Appaloosa American points. There is also a youth team tournament portion of the competition and youth classes with competitors from Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

The three judges from New Brunswick, Alberta and Colorado are looking for “balanced, versatile” horses, Veinot said.

“In the western pleasure, they’re looking for a very soft, free moving horse,” he said. “In the English pleasure classes, they’re looking for a very forward moving horse with a stronger gate and confirmation, they’re looking for the perfect halter horse and in the timed events, they’re looking for a speed horse and he doesn’t have to be pretty at all as long as he can run.”

This year’s show marks “another milestone” for the Appaloosa Horse Club of Canada, he said.

“We’ll definitely do something for the 60th in five years time and hopefully we’ll still be here for the 60th here in Brandon,” Veinot said, admitting the number of competitors has declined over the years. “Our numbers are down, the horse industry in general has declining numbers, the big American show this year was down … we’re down about 10 to 15 per cent from last year.”

Veinot added they are looking at ways to increase their numbers with plans of revisiting the event schedule. They hope to move the cattle classes to the weekend instead of during the week and plan to add some open classes for non-Appaloosa horses.

But competitor Andrea Robertson of Boissevain said it’s not the size of the show that keeps her coming back, it’s the “friendly atmosphere.”

“You see all the same people from way back when I was a youth and I just really like the Appaloosa breed,” she said.

Robertson, who has been competing since she was young, said after taking a break from horses to raise her two children, she knew she wanted to get back into it.

“It’s just always stuck with me, even through the years with having kids, and I had to get out of it for a little while, it’s always been on the back burner … now I’m back into it.”

But she admits owning and showing horses can be costly.

“I think people are just trying to minimize their costs. There are some exhibitors from Oklahoma and North Dakota but not near the amount say 10 years ago that used to come up,” she said. “It just seems the whole horse show, not just the Appaloosa nationals, it’s everywhere that numbers are down.”

For competitor Sharon Marshall, who travelled from Lexington, Okla., with her mother Joan, this horse show is becoming an annual tradition.

“We really like the people here, they’re incredibly friendly, it’s just a friendly competition,” Sharon said. “I love the facility, this is probably one of the most convenient facilities we show at across the states.”

The Marshalls said they compete “border to border” and have been coming to this horse show with their Appaloosas since 2001. Although they admit that transporting all their gear and four horses this year wasn’t an easy task, it is something they’re getting used to.

“We’ve done it enough, it’s not that hard,” Sharon said. “I know where my fuel stops are, I know where we’re overnighting, it’s not as hard as some people want to think it is getting across the border, just do your paperwork right.”

While Sharon is competing in a wide variety of classes this year, Joan will only compete in the Ladies Native Dress competition this evening.

“It’s a class that Mom has started to specialize in,” Sharon said looking over at her mother. “In the States, it’s the only walk, trot class, that’s how she got into it because of her back, so it’s a class that she does and does extremely well.”

The class involves the horse and the rider being dressed in authentic First Nations attire and explaining to the judges the back story behind their outfits.

“The idea is to be as authentic as you can,” Joan said. “It’s a class I enjoy immensely. You have to be able to talk to judges and answer questions.”

Although Sharon admits she can be competitive when it comes to showing her horses, it’s not the only reason she competes.

“The success is not the end all be all … as long as I’m beat by a better horse, I will go up and shake your hand,” she said. “That’s fine, I like seeing how much we are progressing as a breed and keeping going in a forward manner.”

The Keystone Centre will also host the Canadian National and Half Arabian Championship Horse Show from Aug. 12-17. The event includes 187 classes in youth, western, dressage, hunter and English disciplines.

» lenns@brandonsun.com