Profiles

Living the Dream

When and why did you become a professional trainer?

I started training professionally and giving some small clinics when I was in college, pursuing a degree in agricultural business management. It was a good way to keep up with my …

Sir Laurie, Looking Forward

His family was rocked by the doctor’s news. Husband, father and grandfather, Laurie Silvera was not likely to come out of his 17-day unconsciousness, suffering from complications from the digestive disease diverticulitis.

It was early in 2009 and Silvera, then …

Saul McHugh

From the lush green grass of Northern Ireland through the Dubai desert and more, Saul McHugh has gained a lifetime of horse training in 35 years.

Life in Living Colour

April Wayenberg was a horse-crazy eight-year-old when she was given an orphan foal to care for and raise. With palomino colouring, four white stockings, a white blaze and blue eyes, the colt named Baby Blaze and April became inseparable.

More …

A Promise of Forever

When I was teenager, I dreamed of getting a foal from my riding horse. I pored over magazines trying to find the perfect mate for my sport horse mare Carla Candida (aka Karrie). I finally chose a handsome bay Thoroughbred …

Horses at the Core

With 109 years of farming, ranching, developing horses and making the Canadian prairies home, history runs deep at the family-run Rocking Heart Ranch (RHR), located near Waterton Lakes National Park, Alberta.

But, says Marc Garner of his family’s legacy, “Quite …

Forging a Future

Thousands of eyes gaze upon my slender frame as I jump the rails into a sandy show ring in St. Catharines, Ontario, in 1973. I’m clutching four tools in my hands and have four horse shoe nails in my shorts …

Sergeant Reckless

A little mare named Reckless served in the US Marine Corps – an unusual job for a horse, but in this case it was the perfect job for a very unusual horse. She stood around 14.1 hands (technically a pony) …

100-Mile Gambling Diet

When I was a kid, my dad used to take us to the local fall fair every year. It wasn’t much of a fair – it was kind of small, and the “thrill rides” really weren’t all that thrilling after …

Catching a Couple of Chukkers

The ball is hit with a resounding thwack! and eight players, mallets held high in the air, turn their horses in unison and gallop down the pitch towards the ball which has settled in the short-cropped grass in the middle …