This month I attended the second annual Horse Expo 2023, at a local equestrian center. There was lots of interesting demonstrations and things to see. There was also quite a few venders offering horse related products or services.
I even watched the horse farrier work for a bit. A farrier is a person who takes care of horse hooves and makes horse shoes.
Park Police Demonstration
One of the demonstrations was the mounted park police who went through several drills with their horses. The audience learned how the officers and their horses work together for crowd control, on busy downtown streets, and in parks, etc.
To me it would seem, the officers have the advantage of being up higher on their horse so they can see what is happening and react faster.
The officer and horse teams definitely have to expect the unexpected while on the job. One of the drills was for the teams to interact with a large beach ball, another time pool toys were placed over an officer’s head. Lastly, a wave of small plastic balls was thrown at the officers on their horses.
It was amazing to see how well the officers and the horses worked together on these challenging situations.
Kids Fun Jump
The Kids Fun Jump was, again, one of favorite things to watch.
The equestrian jumps were placed in the equestrian warm-up ring, but they were set low enough so children could climb or jump over them.
I also saw some of the parents getting in to the spirt by jumping over the jumps. too. Everyone was having loads of fun and there were lots of smiles.
Pony and Horse Rides
Children, who previously signed up, were given a pony or horse ride. You could really see the joy in the children’s faces while the parents aimed cameras for the special ride.
Mounted Games Demonstration
Unfortunately, I only saw the photographs of this event, but it looked exciting.
Riders and their horses participated in such events as picking up a basket from a barrel, having a relay race, going around obstacles, aimed throws, etc.
Horse Expo 2023 Venders
In front of the indoor stables, vendors set up tables of merchandise from equine photography, animal food, local farms, or different equestrian clubs to join, etc.
Ending Notes of Horse Expo 2023
In conclusion, the Horse Expo 2023 event was definitely well attended.
Everyone learned more about horses, saw informative demonstrations, and had a great time.
Note: None of the photographs on this page are related to the Horse Expo 2023 event.