What do you do when your child turns to you fresh after watching Ian Miller ride to yet another victory at Spruce Meadows and say they want a horse?

What do you do when your child turns to you fresh after watching Ian Miller ride to yet another victory at Spruce Meadows and say they want a horse?

Over the last 30 years that Spruce Meadows has been quietly growing on the south edge of the city, many have dreamed of winning a small piece of the $55.6 million of price money on top of one of the magnificent horses in the main ring.

It’s considered cute when your child says they want to ‘do horse jumping or showing, but when it is your father, who is an electrical engineer working in the corporate cement jungles of Toronto, decides he wants a horse, is may be not.

Cliff MacRae, with three young girls, a wife and good job, decided he wanted a change that included being around horses and the lifestyle they can bring.

That meant picking up and moving to a picturesque 160 areas butted up against the Rocky Mountains just northwest of Cochrane. To complete this change Cliff knew he needed to learn about horses, so went and worked as a gopher with a dude ranch. That in turn lead to him becoming, a very successful real estate agent with ReMax West Real Estate in Cochrane specializing in the land, homes, and facilities you need to raise a horse and a family. www.cliffmacrae.com

Those three young daughters are now 18, 19 & 21, up to their eyes in horsing and all things that go with horses. Their involvement includes the 4-H progressing to be current leaders, riding English and western, show, trail, gymkhana, rodeo events and now cutting and reining. ‘

Cliff’s middle daughter went on to complete the equine science course at Olds College and is now working with thoroughbred, standardbred, Peruvian and quarter horse trainers.

Horse trainers, as Janis Cook and Lisa Osachoff of Equi-Products will tell you, come in all sizes, shapes, types, and styles, but mean everything in the success of your child’s progression in the sport of horses. www.equi-products.com

To get started with a home and land in the Cochrane area Cliff suggests you are looking at spending around $500,000 for a basic 20 acre property with a starter home on it. If this includes the barn and fenced coral, it will need work to make it into a place that both child and horse can grow together in.

If you want some comfort in the home you buy or build, along with decent horse facilities that are more than the basics, you are looking at starting in the $700,000 to $800,000 area, northwest of Calgary.

When looking at getting into a sport, hobby, or past time with your children like horses, it is always best to talk with someone who has been with horses since he was 12, like Burt Strandburg. Burt can be found minding the family business for his daughter and son-in-law, at the Grand Saddlery store across from Cliff’s office in Cochrane. www.grandsaddlery.com

Burt will tell you that horses are not bullet proof, need attention and work to bring them to the point where you can even think of riding them, let alone anything else. A horse that is ‘green broke,’ may not have had a human riding on them yet, and may not let a human ride them.

Finding a horse that is green broke is only the beginning.

Buying a basic quarter horse can be as cheap as $2,500. Like that first car, the purchase price you will find, is only the beginning. There are monthly boarding costs of the horse if you do not plan to move to an acreage that can start at $300.

There are vet costs that can cost as little as $200 to $300 per year, but not stop there. Remember the horse is a living being, with all of the associated systems, with no way to tell you what is wrong, in a 1,500 to 2,000 pound package that is difficult to load into the car to be taken to the local medical walk-in clinic.

The horse has feet with hoofs that are growing and need to be trimmed and maintained every 3 or 4 months at a cost of $60 to $75, with shoes running around $200 plus. All being done by a qualified Ferrier.

You will have to become bi-lingual and learn a new philosophy. Words like withers, mane and forelock, dock, fetlock, cannon, coronet, gaskin, flank, and stifle, are part of the new vernacular.

Just so you know, the Coronet refers to the part of the hoof that connects the hoof to the pastern, which in turn is the connection between the coronet and the fetlock.

According to Janis Cook and Lisa Osachoff of Equi-Products, a key piece to this puzzle can be the saddle. Not only the type, but also how it fits, the rider and horse.

A poorly fitted saddle, which finding the cure is a specialty of Janis’, can lead to a rider who is green, getting frustrated, and hinder in them becoming a good rider, and enjoying and moving ahead in the sport.

This is exactly like buying your child the right runner or ice skate for the right purpose.

A basic saddle for barrel riders will cost you $795, $1,695 for a Penning Saddle, and for the cowboy or girl in the family who want to do some real work with the horse you can look at spending $3,995 for a Cutting Saddle by Cowboy Tack.

At Equi-Products they specialize in the English saddle, and a good saddle can be in the range of $2,300.

Jenny Simpson of Carrots and Cocktails is an example of someone who had her fate with horses pre-determined for life, with a maiden name of Horsey.

Jenny’s life with horses has led to travels of the world with her dressage horses, earning many awards, accolades, and life long friendships, basically following in the footsteps of mom, who is also an accomplished dressage horsewoman.

This part of Jenny’s life, which started when she was 9, is still with her in the career she has enjoyed with CIBC Wood Gundy.

How or where else could a country girl travel to places as far a field as Maui and New Zealand, but with her horse?

Now with two young children she has decided to go back to horses and help young horse people to develop their skills and abilities to move to the levels she has been at, and above all benefit as she has.

Like so many things that come about from such auspicious beginnings, members of the Carrots and Cocktails committee are giving back to the young people on the way up, what they themselves have learned and enjoyed.

Jenny’s idea is to develop what is called ‘school stables,’ or ‘schooling shows,’ which are similar in purpose to the various community and organized junior hockey programs through out Canada are to the NHL and professional hockey.

There is no real organized system to help young horse people to start in and progress along so they can one day appear in the main show ring of Spruce Meadows, or maybe ride for Canada’s Olympic Equine team.

When you get past the business end of horses, you will find Jenny to be a huge supporter of what a child can learn from being around horses, having one, and becoming involved with the horse. Jenny fully believes that the fact the rider has got to become one with the horse, by learning to work as a team with something else that cannot talk to you to explain what is wrong, is a life-long lesson that no money can buy.

As well, she has yet to see a horse hitch at a 7/11.

If you want to check things out for yourself, or show your child some internet resources about horses, what is needed and expected a good site is http://www.albertaequine.com/careb001.asp in an article titled Needs of the Acreage Horse.

Ms Simpson is a firm believer in the idea of joining up with a School Stable where your child can rent a horse, and get involved in the riding, caring, and learning about and of a horse slowly and at their own speed. Her web site is www.carrotsandcocktails.com.

Having a horse in your back 40 to be cared for is not like buying a pair of figure skates, that are tossed in the corner because the interest is no longer there, or as Jenny says, ‘boys and girls are discovered to be more interesting than a horse.’

Rick Dalton the Managing Director of the Calgary Polo Club, is another part of the equine sports that a child can start in and work up to becoming either a hobbyist in the sport or a professional that can play polo around the continent or the world. www.calgarypoloclub.com

In fact his son, Steve Dalton is now a professional polo player who lives and plays in Florida and California and comes to Canada during the summer months.

The highest rated Canadian polo player comes from the Calgary Polo Club, in the person of Fred Mannix Jr at a Handicap of 7 Goals (10 Goals being the best in the world).

Rick will tell you that polo is a sport like hockey, tennis and baseball, and needs good eye hand coordination, physical stamina, and where size is not the dominating factor.

This also means like dressage and horse jumping, girls as well as boys can learn and compete together in polo too.

The typical path in polo is to start in the arena where the ground is a little softer, and you get to know how to ride and handle a horse.

They then move you to the, ‘stick and ball,’ field to advance to the next level. This is a chance to play a game or practice with the professionals, in a gentle non-competitive way, similar to a pick-up game of softball or hockey, on top of 1,100 pounds of polo pony.

Calgary Polo Club has a school, where anyone can come to learn, and get started, without buying a horse. The horses used in polo are thoroughbreds and can run from $5,000 to $50,000. These are not the race track rejects, but horses that are fast, agile, and bred and trained for polo.

At the Calgary Polo Club they also have things such as the teaching league where a beginner can go to play with the pros in a game that is designed specifically for the new polo player to learn, and grow from.
If you are thinking that to embrace the sport of polo requires to move to the country, then there happens to be the perfect solution in a home and property right on the way to the Calgary Polo Club, listed by Debbie Laliberte of Sather R.E. Pro Brokers Ltd. in Okotoks, with 2700 square feet on the main floor, and 2200 square feet on the lower level with a walkout, built by Ashley Custom Homes all on 6.8 acres with no barn or corral. The price is $691,000.
Raw land to build your dream home in the Okotoks area is possible.
Dale Glover of ReMax Classic in Okotoks has 47 acres on Highway 549 just west of the town that is perfect and waiting for a home, barn, horses and family. The price for the land is $10,000 per acre.
A little farther to the west and south, closer to Spruce Meadows there are homes of a variety of sizes, ages, and prices that can be bought.
In Woodvalley Estates a bungalow nestled with a stunning walkout nestled in the trees, that has been designed o capture the amazing valley views with the use of an open vaulted plan to capture the amazing valley views. The home sits on 4.62 acres, which is enough for a horse, although there may be restrictions in the development that may not allow them. There are farms and horse boarding facilities near by. The price on this fine home is $744,900.
Further down the road Nadine Faule of Sutton Canwest Vista has a stunning home listed for sale in the Country Horizon development, sitting on 4.2 acres with only 9 other homes, built in the European Country Manor style as opposed to a more rustic feeling acreage. About the only thing this home doesn’t have are the horses. It does have a separate 4 bay shop the current owner uses that can be turned into a horse barn and stable in no time. This home has 4400 square feet on the main floor with a completely developed basement to add another 2700 square feet. The price tag is $1,450,000. www.nadinefaule.com

Across the road from this new home is a vacant lot of 4.2 acres for sale at $373,000. Down the road Summerbrae Homes is building a brand new 6,000 square foot home at a cost of around $1,300,000 with the lot costing about $380,000. The house includes things such as radiant heated flooring control panels, 2- three car garages, granite kitchen cabinet tops, and a trip of about ¾’s of an hour to downtown Calgary. www.summerbraehomes.com.

Like hockey, tennis, golf, skiing, sailing, or flying, horses can bring a whole new lifestyle, social calendar, and experiences for both the child and family who want to just dabble in horses as a hobby, or go into full tilt.