Mark Thompson

Cal Expo to host tens of thousands over the long weekend

It’s that time of year again.  A weekend filled with clinicians, demonstrations, exhibitions, and lots of shopping.  It’s none other than the Western States Horse Expo, celebrating it’s 15^th at Cal Expo in Sacramento.  Horse Expo will begin on Friday, June 7^th and end on Sunday, June 9^th.

This year, Horse Expo will be filled with many of their most popular events.  The Magnificent 7, a competition where noted trainers put stock horses through their paces, will return on Friday evening.  Horses must perform a reining pattern, fence work, cutting, and roping.  While the Finals will culminate on Friday evening, the preliminary competition will be held on Thursday.  This preliminary competition is open to the public as is free of charge.

Noted clinician, Chris Cox will present Chris Cox & Friends.  This is a celebration of different horse styles and disciplines.  At the January Horse Expo in Pomona, Chris’s event featured Spanish horses, an early product of the Mustang Makeover, working cow dogs, and Richard and Sarah Winters.  Also expect a unique and surprising group of entertainers in Sacramento.

Charles Wilhelm is launching the Ultimate Super Horse Challenge at this year’s Horse Expo.  The Challenge will feature three days of competition including equitation and trail patterns, “Dancing with Cows” and working patterns, and a Grand Finale including a flag run, dragging and crossing a large tarp, pedestal, balls, and jumps.  Charles describes a Super Horse as a horse that is “able to quietly do a variety of tasks and exercises with confidence and success.”

“One of the great bonuses of having the Ultimate Super Horse Challenge at Western States Horse Expo is that these horses will be exposed to huge crowds, golf carts, babies crying, horse all around them, bursts of applause, loud speakers – all kinds of environments and noises that you can’t duplicate at home.”  The overall winner of the three-day Ultimate Super Horse Challenge will receive one of Charles Wilhelm’s signature saddles.

Horse Expo is also presenting a Trail Symposium.  The Symposium will feature lectures and demonstrations from both competition and pleasure riders.  Speakers include Becky Hart, the three-time FEI World Endurance Champion, experts from the American Competitive Trail Horse Association (ACTHA) and the North American Trail Ride Conference (NATRC), and horse camping expert, Bonnie Davis.  The Symposium will run the length of Horse Expo.

In addition, demonstrations will also continue throughout the weekend along with the Equine Dream Art Show and Sale, The Book Corral, and Young Rider Park and Petting Zoo.  The Young Rider Park will focus on 4-H and Pony Club programs where parents can learn about what these groups have to offer.  And there are plenty of shopping booths covering everything imaginable from tack to clothes to trailer to something special for the barn.  A list of all the activities follows this article.

Horse Expo is located at the Cal Expo Fairgrounds at 1600 Exposition Boulevard in Sacramento.  A map is included below.  Gate admission is $18 per day and a three day pass can be purchased for $45.  Parking is an additional $10 per day.  Children ages 7 to 13 are $5 and 6 and under are free.  Seniors (60 years and older) are $12.  Many local tack and feed stores in California offer Expo Bucks which provides a $3 discount on the gate admission.

On Friday evening, the finals of the Magnificent 7 will be a ticketed event.  The cost is $10.  Chris Cox & Friends on Saturday evening is also $10. If you intend to partake in one of the evening shows but not visit Horse Expo that day, arrive less than an hour prior to the evening performance and you will not be charged gate admission.

As of this writing, a great deal on Horse Expo tickets is found on the daily deal site Living Social.  Daily entry passes were being discounted 50% to $9 per day.  You can view the Living Social Horse Expo Deal by clicking here.

For additional information and the latest news about the Western States Horse Expo, please visit: www.horsexpo.com or call (800) 352-2411.

Currently, this year’s line-up includes:

• Chris Cox will present Rider Confidence, Horse Trailer Loading and Advanced Refinements
• Jonathan Field will present phases of guiding the student on a journey to success with horses
• Charles Wilhelm, creator of Ultimate Foundation Training that combines the best of traditional, classical and natural horsemanship, will present the Ultimate Super Horse Challenge
• Kerry Kuhn, winner of numerous colt starting competitions and developer of the Practical Horsemanship program, will demonstrate three days of ongoing colt starting
• Dick Pieper, NRHA Futurity Champion, NRHA Hall of Fame, cutting champion, AQHA champion, creator of The Language of Horsemanship program, will demonstrate the art of Reining
• Deb Bennett, PhD, who over decades contributed articles on equine conformation to Equus Magazine, will lecture on equine anatomy and physiology
• Sandy Collier, NRCHA and AQHA champion and the only woman winner of the Snaffle Bit Futurity, will demonstrate cow horse skills
• Nancy Loving, DVM, author of numerous books about horse health, will discuss how to prevent physical and metabolic issues with the equine athlete
• Tim Kimura, trail class expert, will present winning tips for this popular event
• Sabine Rijssenbeek from the Netherlands, an accomplished dressage coach and competitor, will demonstrate the refinements of dressage
• Leslie Berndl, Olympic level driving expert, will address all forms of competitive driving including dressage, cones and cross country
• Marvin Pierce will demonstrate with his cow dogs, working dogs and ranch partner dogs, and will talk about all-around well-behaved canines
• Carmi Weininger is a saddle fitting expert who has a flair for explaining the importance of saddle fit while the horse is standing, under saddle and in motion

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