Greetings from the American Horse Publications in New Orleans!

by Karen Pickering

On Wednesday, June 24, I left Blaine, Washington to take an adventure—I was on my way to the annual convention for members of American Horse Publications (AHP), held this year in New Orleans, Louisiana. The second night in town, a group of us toured the French Quarter via the “haunted history” tour. Our tour guide was author of New Orleans Ghosts, Voodoo and Vampires…Journey into Darkness, Kalila Katherina Smith. She has been interviewed by the History Channel, Travel Channel, Discovery, Fox News, Sci Fi, MTV, CNN and more! She told many tales of ghostly encounters within the streets of the French Corridor.

Many mule-drawn carriages took people around New Orleans. I’m not sure how they survive the heat--I didn’t do so well. That second evening, the temperature was close to 90 degrees with 100% humidity! I took refuge in a fantastic restaurant with good friends, Cheryl and Kerry of California

Riding Magazine and Daniel of California Horse Trader.

After dinner, the heat finally caught up with me. Ringing ears, a feeling of weakness and no peripheral vision were the first indicators I was experiencing heatstroke. The gang called a cab, poured me in, and got me back to the hotel. Once I’d cooled down, though, everything was fine. Whew, glad I live in Washington! They’ve had a record heat wave here in New Orleans, something most of us Northwesterners aren’t accustomed to.

I’m having a great time and learning lots of new things at the convention--it’s quite an honor to be a part of this group. Tonight we got a surprise visit from Molly, a Pony of the Americas survivor of Katrina and her Aussie companion, Ruby. I had the privilege of a photo with Molly, who is doing incredible work visiting hospitals, schools, nursing homes and army bases. Molly’s story is an encouragement to everyone struggling with a handicap. She survived the hurricane but was later attacked by a traumatized pitt bull, another tragedy of Katrina, and now wears a prosthesis after having her leg amputated. I encourage you to read her story at www.mollythepony.com. She is the “spokeshorse” for a worthwhile cause, so I encourage you to consider a donation to her work.

All in all, it’s been a great trip. Please enjoy the pictures and let me know if you have any adventures to share! We post reader stories every Friday!

Western States Horse Expo Recap – Fun in the Sun!

by Karen Pickering

I’ve just returned from a great trip to Sacramento, California where I attended the Western States Horse Expo, which was a real success this year. I’m used to the smaller shows in Washington, Oregon and BC, so this was really a treat. The WSHE is massive. Numerous buildings housed vendors with just about anything you could ever want—clothing, tack, horse treats, hand lotions, and of course, your favorite clinicians. There were nearly five acres of horse trailers to look through as well. I would definitely put it on your list of places to visit for 2010.

While there, I was able to interview five of the clinicians. They were kind enough to spend a couple of minutes sharing their thoughts on the horse industry with us, so keep an eye on the website and digital edition to hear more about those soon. We also have an online photo gallery so you can get an overview of just how much fun this expo really is.

It was great to see John Lyons receiving the prestigious award for the 2009 Horse Expo Hall of Fame. The award was presented by Ken McNabb, Clinician, & Miki Cohen, founder and president of Western States Horse Expo.

I ended up making the journey to and from the expo by car--what a beautiful trip! We really do live in an awesome part of the world. I was amazed at how fortunate we are to live in this much natural beauty. I finished the trip with a great visit with Raye & Sharon Lochert. They are incredible hosts and have a beautiful ranch in Santa Rosa.

I invite you to send in your thoughts and comments about experiences you’ve had this summer to editor@nwhorsesource.com. We will post selected stories and photos here on our blog each week.

Have a great summer and make time in the saddle. It’s the best place on earth.

Who to leave in charge?

by Karyn "K.C." Cowdrey

First, I hope everyone is having a really happy holiday season! I know many of you were getting weary of the snow this week, but I, for one, have to admit I love it!

I love the clean, white look of freshly fallen snow. I love watching the horses make snow angels and my dogs roll and dive into the white stuff. I love driving on it. I just love snow.

I do not particularly like the frozen pipes in my barn and hauling at least six buckets of water a day from my neighbor's place, but it is a small price to pay for a rare white Christmas in Northwest Washington!

Because I love the snow so much, I’m actually off on some snowmobile adventures, taking a break for the week from the busy, hectic schedule I call a life. Leaving your house for 11 days is challenge enough, but if you have three horses and three dogs you’re leaving behind, what do you do?

I am fortunate enough to have a wonderful neighbor, Kerri, who pitches in and feeds animals and cleans stalls. This year I think I’ll owe her a spa day when I get back. Who do you leave in charge of the care of your animals when you are away?  

Drop me a note and let me know; in the meantime, stay warm, stay safe and ride!

Back from the wilds of Alaska

I hope you enjoyed the National Geographic videos from our recent posts. I have to admit that they were a bit of a time-filler, as I was on vacation, visiting some family members, over the last few posting times. Now I'm back from Homer, Alaska (with stops in Anchorage, Soldotna, and Kenai) and I was hoping to have some moose photos to post here. I know, moose aren't a part of the equine family, but I thought they'd be a fun tangent. Sadly, they were all in hiding and I didn't even see one off in the distance. I did see a small family of caribou outside the city of Kenai, and the nose of a Beluga whale poking out of the water along the way down the peninsula. Then there was an otter in Homer, many species of birds, and the insects I tried to ignore (only added one mosquito bite to the current collection--hooray!).

What does this have to do with horses? Not a thing (although I did see a few of those around, including people who were exercising 2 horses and a pony at the beach on a rare sunny day) but I think that horse people appreciate the broad spectrum of wildlife (flies notwithstanding) and it's always nice to go to a new place and see the animals in their natural habitat.

I highly recommend that if you get a chance to travel out of your home area, you take it. On previous trips to Alaska, I've seen bears (from a distance!) and moose and elk, foxes that have no fear of planes, baby bald eagles, and a wide variety of sea and tidepool life that is hard to find elsewhere. I've sat just a few yards away from swimming otters and eaten surprisingly good stew made from halibut and kelp.

Travel is good not only for seeing new things, but for giving you an appreciation of home and all that it has to offer. I'm grateful to be back amongst the Washington firs and ferns, waving at the deer and coyotes as I drive by, and giving my own critters the attention that they missed.

I hope all of you get the opportunity to travel, not only through our beautiful Pacific Northwest, but as far as your imagination may take you.