What a wonderful opportunity for learning, and a great way to kick off the new year!
By Emily McCague
Grey Bruce Farmers’ Week Horse Day has wrapped up for another year! Held on Sunday January 12th at the Elmwood Community Centre, it was a strong gathering of horse enthusiasts and industry personnel with live presentations throughout the day, an active tradeshow and recorded content on-going for the next month. What a wonderful opportunity for learning, and a great way to kick off the new year!
Farrier Steve McConnell and licensed chiropractor Dr. Stephanie Crawford. Dr. Crawford
The morning started with a presentation by farrier Steve McConnell. After his presentation at the 2024 event, overwhelming demand caused organizers to bring him back for a second year in a row. Steve spoke about hoof mapping, encouraging horse owners to become familiar with what their horse’s hooves should look like when optimally balanced according to their individual needs. His presentation focused on using external landmarks to understand what was happening to the internal structures of the hoof. Adding a hands-on element, Dr. Victoria Thompson from Walkerton-Hanover Veterinary Clinic took radiographs of two cadaver limbs before and after being trimmed by Steve, showing the audience the practical application of his talk as he went.
Following McConnell was Dr. Stephanie Crawford. Dr. Crawford is a licensed chiropractor for both humans and horses and also spent time riding in a professional capacity in the past. Her topic was Rider Biomechanics, and was interspersed with fun audience exercises and demonstrations highlighting tactics for building body awareness, overriding pesky habits automated by our brains, and promoting consciousness of the true actions our body is taking.
Noontime brought the fabled hot roast beef dinner - always a highlight of each GBFW day. Once again the caterers did not disappoint! If you’ve ever been to Farmers’ Week then you’ll understand why no one seems to mention attending without talking about the amazing hot roast beef dinner, or the pies that follow for dessert!
Madeline Boast, MSc Equine Nutritionist of Balanced Bay Nutrition and an audience member with a life-sized model of the equine gastrointestinal tract
Madeline Boast, MSc Equine Nutritionist of Balanced Bay Nutrition took the stage following lunch. Madeline brought along several samples of hay and their corresponding analyses to guide the audience through reading hay test results. She covered everything from taking a hay sample and getting the analysis done to practical application of the results for your feeding program.
Following Madeline, Gayle Ecker from Equine Guelph captured audience attention with a life-sized model of the equine gastrointestinal tract. Her presentation was informative and high energy, with pop quizzes coming up, small fuzzy “microbes” being lobbed throughout the crowd, and the vast lengths of cloth intestine being stretched across the room. Educational and fun, Gayle’s presentation certainly kept all from napping despite the large meal beforehand!
Lindsay Grice and Jeff Gilkinson of Bayshore Country Feeds
Rounding out the day was Lindsay Grice, presenting “The Science of Bits, Spurs and Training Tack: How We Use, Choose and Sometimes Abuse Them”. Lindsay covered function for a wide variety of tack and spoke about making decisions for when to use them or find another option. She noted tack that is used for training only and options that are allowed in a show pen too.
Event organizers would like to extend a special thank you to Susan Moffat Century 21 Real Estate for sponsoring the day, Midwest Co-op & Masterfeeds for sponsoring the meal, and Jeff Gilkinson of Bayshore Country Feeds for chairing the day’s program. They would also like to thank everyone who took part as an audience member, weeklong sponsor, or tradeshow exhibitor. Horse Day 2025 was another excellent event, and organizers look forward to hosting the event again in 2026!
Source: Grey Bruce Agricultural Services