Monday, July 14, 2014

Calgary Stampede - Lady and Colt

Earlier this year I was invited to join the Draft Horse Town committee for the Calgary Stampede. The theme for the Calgary Stampede 2014 was Horse Power.

The Stampede poster for 2014 was a beautiful Belgian Draft Horse named Lady. This was the first time a draft horse has been depicted on the Stampede poster. I had the good fortune to meet the artist, Adaline Halverson. I learned from Adaline that the creation of each Stampede poster is a very secretive process. So secretive in fact, that even the owner of Lady did not know his horse was the 2014 poster horse until the painting was revealed to the public.

As a result of being involved with DHT committee, I was asked to present Lady to the public daily during the 10 days of Stampede. On Father's Day, June 15th, Lady gave birth to a beautiful colt so I suggested we hold a contest to name the colt. Lady's Man was the winning name and the winner, Chris Tracy, will be bringing her family to spend an afternoon with me and the 'Boys'. We look forward to having them out.

This was my first time volunteering for the Calgary Stampede and it was so much fun that I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to volunteer their time.

Ya Hoo!
Tovie, Lady and Lady's Man

Monday, July 7, 2014

Dollar Found His Forever Home

Nearly one year to the day that I brought Dollar home, he found his forever home. Unfortunately Michele's life took a turn that prevented her from committing to Dollar so he was advertised on Kijii. The ad invited folks to spend time with him to make sure he was a horse they would enjoy and he would come with a money back policy that if they weren't happy, they were welcome to bring him back - no questions asked. He has been gone for approximately 6 weeks and we received a lovely note from his new owner just the other day. Alf wanted us to know how much the whole family loves Dollar and that they have been happily riding him every other day. He still has trouble with the trailer but they are continuing to work on that.

All I ever wanted was to find Dollar a home where he would be loved and appreciated. His new home is in Priddis so hopefully I`ll get a chance to visit him.

I made the decision to donate the profit of the purchase price to the Dare to Dream Horse Rescue organization to thank them for supporting my teaching efforts.

This situation was a win-win for so many folks. The original owner of Dollar now has horses she and her daughter are enjoying; I experienced the joy of helping Dollar become a reliable riding companion; His new owners are extremely happy and proud to own him; and Dare to Dream benefited from his sale. Most importantly, Dollar is loved, happy and well cared for.

During Stampede I had the opportunity to listen to William Shatner talk about his love the American Saddlebred horse. I was not surprised to learn that the breed was very popular during war times because of their incredible bravery and friendly temperaments. That pretty much reinforced my feelings about Dollar.

Have a wonderful summer!
Tovie and Dollar