Thursday I’m headed to the 40th Annual One of a Kind Spring Show in Toronto, Ontario and guess what that means: I’ve been attending the One of a Kind Spring Show for 40 years. Always running near my birthday, it’s often my present to myself. Or more accurately, anything horse-themed is on my list, […]
Old Friends thrives and attracts about 20,000 visitors annually to this non-profit venture designed to provide a quality life to 175 equine who earned millions in prize money racing and even more in stud fees. Tour fees support the running of the farm.
Old Friends – a Kentucky horse rescue – is essentially a living history museum to the North American Thoroughbred Racing industry … history that eats carrots from visitor’s hands.
Horses aren’t necessarily top of mind when you think Amsterdam. But here I am, in the Netherlands, walking through a European-style subdivision past rows of narrow Brownstone-style contemporary homes looking for a riding stable. Yes, a stable. In a subdivision. I stop and ask a woman pushing a stroller along the sidewalk: “I think I’m […]
What Better Way to Celebrate Valentines Day? Great Idea! The Old Friends Annual “Share the Love” Horse Share Certificate Sale This Valentine’s Day help share the love for our Old Friends residents with a Share Certificate donation. Now until February 14th, we’re offering our popular, personalized certificates in a special holiday sale. You will receive […]
“It’s all about the gear,” someone said as I shopped for, well … riding clothing at The Royal Winter Fair in Toronto last fall. Granted, I can’t get enough horse embossed hoodies, jackets, coats, bags and boots. There’s something classic about equestrian style and, thanks to the tights-as-pants trend, it’s easy to pull off in […]
“Ownership is essential,” Lesley Bayne, director of the Donkey Sanctuary of Canada (DSC) says about equine rescue. “We don’t adopt animals out because you never know what happens to them,” she says. The Donkey Sanctuary of Canada located in Puslinch, Ontario about one-hour west of Toronto, does indefinitely foster out several of the donkeys and […]
Happy New Year! I kissed a horse and I liked it. Ok, I do that all the time. New Years’ Eve, no exception. Clearly, in this photo I’m not shivering in negative 20 degree Celsius winter temperatures in Ontario, Canada. In this photo, I’m at the Farmer’s Pantry pick-your-own-apple farm (last fall) located in Clarksburg, […]
A couple nights after Christmas and all through the house, visions of Boxing Week sales are dancing in my head. On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer and Vixen (assuming these are horses) let’s get to the equine tack shops this week for all the discounts on off season coats, boots, chaps, breeches and more. I’ll […]
The Royal Winter Agricultural Fair 2017 has wrapped up for another year – but not before I got to experience the most edge-of-your-seat horse jumping competition that (almost) beat Indoor Eventing for white knuckle tension.
On November 9, 2017, McLain Ward of the US won the International Accumulator Show Jumping Challenge at The Royal Winter Fair in Toronto, Ontario.
Megan Lane of Collingwood, Ontario left the Royal Thursday night $20,000 richer after she and her 16-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare Caravella won the Dressage Invitation Grand Prix Freestyle Cup – for the second year in a row.
Unlike the sport’s show jumping cousin, Eventing is a little more rock and roll – literally. Rocking loud music plays, the audience is encouraged to cheer while horse and rider compete and commentators talk during the ride.
On Saturday, November 4, 2018 Amy Millar won the $100,000 Canadian Show Jumping Championship at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, Ontario, for the first time in a two-decade career.
What are the judges looking for while kids and adults walk their minis into the ring then stand, for what seems like days, waiting for the announcer call their numbers?
Potbellied pigs are smaller than farmed pigs, and really cute as piglets – that’s the image most people see. However, farm pigs can grow up to 1000 pounds. What many people don’t know is potbellied pigs grown on average to 40 to 200 pounds – technically smaller than a pork pig, but often too big for the living room – which is why Ralphy’s Resort and Animal Sanctuary is at capacity.
Thursday at the Norfolk Fair, it’s all about the jumping, with some heavy hitch, wagon and junior single-horse hitch driving competitions happening nearby. After 11 am, hordes of school kids flood into the fair to see the livestock, biggest pumpkin competition and poultry barn – including a new category: rainbow chickens.
Giddy Up! It’s Fall Fair Season. And what’s a fall fair without horses? An afternoon at the 163rd Binbrook Fair started my Ontario Fall Fair Tour off last weekend – this year I’ve booked one a weekend and I’m determined to get to each bright and early to catch all the horse shows. (No horse show? […]
Dog Tales Rescue and Sanctuary in King City, Ontario, might be the most beautiful horse farm I’ve visited yet. Not the most beautiful rescue facility, the most beautiful farm. The horses rescued here aren’t just lucky to be rescued, they’re very lucky to be rescued here. (Check out our other Year of Heroes rescue post). The […]
A galloping Palomino plowed into a tumbler knocking him down during the Grand Finale of Cavalia’s Odysseo August 5, 2017, in Mississauga, Ontario. It was a hard reminder that horses are powerful creatures with free will (and fear) that demands respect. Fortuitously, after the first act of Odysseo when nine ‘liberty’ (unsaddled and unbridled) horses […]
There’s something charming about classic circus acts. I’d say nostalgic, but nostalgia requires some memory of the original event and the early 20th century predates even me. Everything I know about the classic circus – thick facial hair, puffy trousers, and women in white tights – is through photos, films and now Circus 1903: The […]
On the eve of your 50th birthday, do something that scares you. Something that makes your heart beat out of your chest while holding your breath. I did and big surprise, it involved horses. Imagine running on foot through bushes, hiding in tall grass and making a break for it through the woods as oilskin-coat-clad […]
Global Travel for Horse Lovers 