Submitted by Brooklyn Collard, Club President
The Millarville Saddle Sores 4-H Light Horse Club had a great year, winding up with our Achievement Day and Banquet on May 10th. Our Achievement Day and the Provincial Highway Clean-up were on the same day so we planned a joint barbecue lunch with the Millarville Stockland Beef and Sheep Club. It was great to meet up with our friends and neighbours following the two different events.
At our Achievement Day, each kid demonstrated a “pattern”, show-casing what they had learned all year. Everyone did really well, and some kids even set their patterns to music. Thank you to Cassandra Day for being such a great instructor.
The day ended with our Wind-up Banquet, and there were lots of awards and prizes. Ethan Jurkowski won the J.C. Palmer Memorial Award, and Brooklyn Collard won the Sportmanship Award. Record book winners were Clara Blatz, Martie Blatz and Sasha Lewis. Public Speaking Awards went to Clara Blatz, Isabella MacDonald, Martie Blatz, Aimee Michaelis, Kendra Mackenzie and Alexandra Fura. Morgan Mills was the most improved rider. Sasha Lewis (reining), Morgan Mills (rodeo) and Brooklyn Collard (English jumping) all took home awards for their Special Projects, and every kid received a really nice cooler as an Achievement Award.
A few members attended the Midnight Express Schooling Show near Airdrie and 4-H on Parade at the Calgary Stampede grounds. 4-H on Parade had some new events this year like Jeopardy Trail and Horse Bowl. The weekend was lots of fun, and it was great to hang out with kids from other clubs or watch the beef and sheep events.
We had some really great clinics this year, including horsemanship with Jess Hartung, polocrosse with Polocrosse Canada, showing with Cassandra Day, and a flag clinic with Jesse Thomson. We also had some fun gymkhanas and games days. Our winter workshop was a scrapbooking session at Michael’s.
The Millarville Saddle Sores were proudly sponsored by First General Services Calgary Inc.; Frontline Integrated Services (Division of Secure Energy Services); Pengrowth Energy Corporation, Matrix Solutions Inc., Andy Campbell of Agro Scenic Tours, Safeway, Altalink, Alberta Treasury Branch (ATB), Boot Hill Gallery, Costco in Okotoks, Country Living, Diamond Valley Chiropractic, Okotoks Bottle Depot, Okotoks Chevrolet Buick GMC, Pharmasave in Black Diamond, One on One Studio, The Mill Store, Sheep River Veterinary Clinic, Sobeys in Okotoks, SS Chaps and United Farmers of Alberta (UFA). We’d also like to thank the Millarville Racetrack and Agricultural Society (MRAS) for providing such a great facility for our home base.
Our 2014-2015 year will kick off in late September. We focus on western riding, with one club meeting and about two instructed rides per month. We also have fun clinics, gymkhanas and fun days. Participants must provide a horse and transport. If you are interested in joining this club, please contact our General Leader, Marilyn Collard, at (403) 256-1902 or collard@platinum.ca.