2006 Alberta Horse Owners & Breeders Conference

On January 13-15, the city of Red Deer, Alberta hosted the annual Alberta Horse Owners & Breeders Conference. Over the past ten years, this event has grown into two days full of interesting talks relevant to owners and breeders. Sport Pony Canada decided to hold its 2006 inaugural Annual General Meeting in conjunction with the conference, and this was a success as far as everyone involved was concerned! We would especially like to thank the nice folks from the Appaloosa Horse Club of Canada, who have been helping us navigate the Animal Pedigree Act which they have recently restructured for.

Meeting notes and a message from the president, Alana Longman, are available on the Sport Pony Canada website.

Judy Wardrope

Sport Pony Canada also held a conformation clinic by noted equestrian consultant Judy Wardrope. This excellent clinic was an eye-opener to all involved. Ms. Wardrope showed participants how to effectively evaluate the bone structure of a horse for top competition, using a system that is easy to remember and produces results.

Friday also saw an update from Vel Evans of Equine Canada on the Unique Lifetime Identification Number (ULIN) system proposed for equines in Canada. More coverage of this topic is available in this month’s ULIN Update.

This year’s conference was opened by keynote speaker Juli S. Thorson. Ms. Thorson was editor of Horse & Rider magazine during the 1990’s, and is currently an associate editor with Western Horseman. With a keen eye for the larger picture in the horse industry, she introduced us to her views on demographics and how they might be impacting the future of the industry, both long-term and short-term. (One of her points was that, if you hear about the same subject from three separate people, it’s probably a trend you want to keep your eye on. Based on this tidbit, sport ponies are a definite trend!)

The bad news is that the short-term picture is not so good. The number of breedings has steadily climed, but the number of horse owners has remained relatively steady, resulting in a glut in the market and especially in the lower end of the market. Thorson says this is due to the fact that the baby boomers are aging and beginning to cycle out of horse ownership, while the generation that follows them, Generation X, is only half the size of the boomer generation. But the long-term picture wasn’t all gloom and doom, as the generation following Generation X (known as the Millenial Generation) is once again a fairly large group equaling the size of the Baby Boomers.

Other informative speakers included Dr. Phillip Sponenberg, who gave talks on the genetic issues of coat color inheritance and managing diseases in purebred populations. Dr. A.M. Merritt gave an excellent overview of Equine Gastric Ulcer Syndrome causes, symptoms and treatment. Other health-related topics included understanding and managing vision problems, shock wave therapy, and feeding Omega-3 fatty acids. There were also several business oriented topics including advice on standing stallions in regional markets, agri-tourism for the horse business, and advice on setting up futurities. Though there were three sessions going on at any one time, conference attendees got an overview of each presenter’s talk in a handy coil-bound book.

Thanks again to the Horse Industry Association of Alberta for putting this on, and we look forward to next year!