Trainer Kade Mills out of Sundre, Alta., gets Slick saddled and ready during the Everything Equine trainer challenge finals on Sunday evening. Mills ended up winning the event’s well-attended challenge.Taylor Weaver Meridian Source
Whether it was the trainer’s challenge or one of the many clinical presentations, this past weekend’s Everything Equine show was the place to be.
The show, which was held at the Lloyd Ex, was originally planned for January of last year, but with the restrictions in place at the time, the organizing committee decided to shelf the idea for a later date.
“This was our first year doing this show,” said committee chair Dallas Eaket.
“We shelved it and came out full force this year, and we’re 100 per cent doing this again next year.”
This being the event’s inaugural year, Eaket wasn’t sure what kind of reception the show would get, but he said crowds were good all weekend.
“The stands were full on Saturday and they’re full this afternoon, and we have a trade show, too,” he said.
“We had some presentations on the Agland stage as well, and the reception for that has been great.”
On top of the trainer’s challenge, clinical presentations and trade show, Everything Equine also included a fashion show as well as demonstrations from the Birch Bay Drill Team and Indian Relay ponies.
“We had three days of clinics from jumper Alexander Grayton from Calgary and Jason and Browyn Irwin from Elgin, Ont.,” said Eaket.
“They did horsemanship, young colt, and barrels and poles. Alexander is a pretty acclaimed show jumper and has an international win under his belt. He teaches international winners, so we were really lucky to get him. The Irwins have a great resume, too. They’re on The Cowboy Channel and have been all over North America doing shows like this, so we were lucky to get them as well.
“For the trainers’ challenge, we’ve got three really good trainers here with Kade Mills, Travis Beaton and Rod Olsen.”
For Mills, this past weekend’s experience was all about educating and sharing his passion with others.
“This is the first show in Lloyd and it’s been awesome,” he said. “We came up here and did a horse-training demo roughly seven years ago when this was an Ag show, and this is the first year they’ve switched it to an all-horse show. They had a bunch of great things going on here including clinics and the trainers’ challenge.”
