The sixth annual Saskatchewan Equine Expo at Saskatoon’s Prairieland Park wrapped up Sunday. Around 11,725 members of Saskatchewan’s agricultural community came out to celebrate their craft, shop and learn a little along the way.
One of the main events in the agriculture building was the colt training challenge. Competitor Amos Abrahamson made riding an untrained three-year-old look easy. On Thursday, he was the first person to ever get on the horse.
“It’s not just about me coming out and training a horse, it’s about communicating my training methods to the folks that watch me here today,” Abrahamson said on Sunday.
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He is one of three in the colt training competition.
Judge and horsemanship clinician Glenn Stewart said the riders start by getting on the horse and then work up to cantering. They even teach the horse not to be scared of loud noises, waving flags and tarps.
“They’ve only got three hours and 45 minutes to do this. I know for a fact from teaching for 20 years there are riders that have been on a horse for a year or two and still haven’t cantered,” Stewart explained.
“There’s certain things you can do with horses in a certain manner that can produce quick results,” he added.
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Both Stewart and Abrahamson agree the key to great horsemanship is an emotional connection.
“My favorite thing is building confidence in them and have them looking at me as the leader,” Abrahamson said prior to the competition finals.
“So when we get out in new environments like the finals tonight, the horse will look to me for leadership when she may be freaking out.”
“I’m looking to see if they’re mentally, physically and emotionally helping these horses. Because it’s a very easy trap to fall into just physically getting the horses to do things,” Stewart explained when asked what he’s judging on.
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