SUBMITTED PHOTO Laura Gallaghan rides "Out of the Woods" in the dressage class. The Medicine Hat Exhibition & Stampede All Breed Horse Show will take place from July 19 to 21. Admission is free for spectators.
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The All Breed Horse Show is taking place July 19-21 with awards for participants and a great show for the whole family.
The Medicine Hat Exhibition and Stampede event started more than 30 years ago, said show committee chairperson Brenda Gilchrist.
Even if you do not know a lot of about horses it is a wonderful opportunity to see a range of horse breeds and observe the skills they have, said dressage coordinator Jan Kay.
The program starts at 8 a.m. Friday with dressage and western dressage. Dressage is the French word for training and is the basics for any discipline.
It is an opportunity to gain an understanding of walking, trotting and the horse becoming used to signals from the rider, said Gilchrist.
The hunter division including some jumps starts at 8 a.m. on Saturday.
“A hunter class is judged on form, pace and rhythm,” said Gilchrist. “As they go through the course the judges look at… strides between fences and if their pace is regular. The jumper class is based on time and knock down of rails. If they knock down a rail in the hunter class it will be judged on whether it was tapped with the front foot or knocked with the back foot.”
A mounted shooter division begins in the grandstand arena Saturday at 6:30 p.m. The shooting division is a new addition – it was previously only an exhibition at the event.
“It’s a fast growing sport,” said Gilchrist. “They actually have a handgun that they use to shoot at moving targets while they are riding.”
On Sunday there will be a general performance western division from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Admission is free. Gilchrist says they are hoping for 75 competitors this year.
