We had an awesome time at Horse Day this year! The barn was filled with horses and the arena was filled with riding demos, we showed Vancouver why horses are the best!
This year we had over 170 volunteers help make Horse Day the success that it was. Many clubs who joined us this Saturday were with us at the PNE last year and we had a lot of new clubs excited to take part this time around as well. Everyone set up fantastic booths and showcased their love of horses in a fun, informative way. The riders were superb in demonstrating different styles of riding and how to have fun with horses. Horse Council BC brought our cool new Photo Boards for people to take pictures of themselves “jumping” or “racing” and we loved seeing everyone have a blast with those! If you took a photo with those boards, we’d love for you to send us your pic!
In addition to the amazing booths our volunteers designed, our breed aisle was filled with such an eclectic and diverse range of horses that PNE guests got to meet and interact with everything from Friesians, Thoroughbreds, Connemara’s, and to Mini Donkeys, an Icelandic, a Highland Pony and more!
Our Horse Day Extravaganza was a colourful showcase of some of the exciting things you can do with horses. The Langley Riders Drill Team exploded into the arena as the opening act, putting on such an exhilarating display for the audience; Fusion Vaulters wowed the audience with their impressive and elegant movements; Thundering Impact demonstrated the beauty and control of draught horses under saddle; Academie Duello targeted the combat-minded with a demonstration of mounted combat; Natalie Vonk danced her way into the hearts of the audience with a spectacular and out-of-the-ordinary demonstration of the traditional art of Garrocha; and the BC Lower Mainland Pony Clubs teamed together to put on a jumping demonstration to give the audience a better understanding of a familiar activity.
The weather didn’t put a damper on any of the PNE guests, but we did get a bit of a scare with the high winds and falling trees. We almost had to call it quits, but with a great show of horsemen resilience we were able to keep the day in full swing!
What was our favorite part of Horse Day? Why, the mini donuts, of course! That, and sharing our day with such a wonderful group of people and horses and introducing the public to such an amazing sport. The goal of Horse Day is to share the enjoyment of horses with the public and introduce newcomers to the beauty of favourite horse breeds and the fun of equestrian activities. This years’ Horse Day surpassed all our expectations for meeting those goals.
Horse Council BC would like to extend a heart-felt Thank You to all the volunteers for putting on such a fantastic event. We couldn’t have done it without everyone!
Thank you!
Thank you to all of our Horse Day 2015 Volunteers!
1st Mainland Donkey & Mule Club
Ayri Wylie
Burnaby Horsemen’s Association
Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society
Clover Valley Veterinary Hospital
Endurance Riders Association of BC
New Stride Thoroughbred Adoption Society
Richmond Therapeutic Riding Association
Susan Balcom
Get Social