~By BCHA Board President, Clare Tone Authors Note: At the Annual Fun Show on Oct 22nd, 2023, the Recognition Award was presented to Dr. Fitch’s daughter, Lindsay Fitch. Before he was Dr. Fitch, Mark grew up on a cattle ranch outside of Gillette, WY where his passion for horses budded through participation in 4-H and […]
News
Kudos and Achievements
In 2022 We Have: Grown and stabilized our leadership team coming out of the Covid Pandemic era by welcoming Jonas Balloga to the Board as Secretary and Jodi Fowler as Chair of our newly formed Emergency Preparedness Committee. Hosted our first Emergency Preparedness Clinic alongside Boulder County Mounted Search and Rescue, Boulder County Animal Control […]
A Tribute to Jay Hearst
Jay and his horse Sonny, up Niwot Ridge in 2000. Photo Courtesy of Suzanne Webel JAY W. HEARST (1931-2021) A belated tribute to longtime BCHA member and Board member Jay Hearst by Suzanne Webel I met Jay in about 1998 when he called me to announce, “We’ve never met but I ‘m calling […]
Lily Thomas is Awarded the 2022 BCHA Youth Scholarship!
Lily and her colt Westley from the AQHA young horse development program My name is Lily, I have been riding pretty much my whole life but started showing when I was eight! I have been so blessed to get to learn to ride and care for horses as a youth and get to continue on […]
Boulder County Horse Bowl Team Are National Champions
By Mea French Congratulations to the Boulder County Horse Bowl team as they competed in the 2022 Western National 4-H Roundup Horse Classic in Denver on Saturday, January 8th. The team was there proudly representing Colorado as they brought home the national title by winning every single round in which they played. They competed against […]
Removing Recreational Sport Shooting from National Forest Land Along the Northern Front Range
By Brittany Steffensen What if sport shooting was eliminated on US Forest Service (USFS) land in Boulder County and neighboring counties to the north and south? As equestrians who escape into the mountains for fun filled weekend trail rides, how would this impact your visits to the Front Range? With the rapid population growth and […]
The positive side of being lame
BCHA would like to introduce our newest business member to the BCHA herd, Anna Mannerfelt. She is the owner of Wired Mustang, a full service digital marketing firm specializing in Equine related businesses. Anna recently sent me this inspiring story to share with our readers: By Anna Mannerfelt Howdy BCHA team and members, I failed […]
BCHA Announces its 2021 BCHA Youth Scholarship Recipients!
PRESS RELEASE: AUGUST 20, 2021 The Boulder County Horse Association (BCHA) is thrilled to announce the winners of the 2021 BCHA Youth Scholarships: Nora Ditzel, $250 Teen Scholarship Madeline Williams, $750 Collegiate Scholarship These two very impressive young horsewomen demonstrated equestrian dedication, along with high standards of character in their community involvement and educational achievements. […]
Horse Trailer Loading: New tools for your “Horse Tool Box”
By Mary Cook, BCHA member and contributing Writer On my journey with horses I have always liked adding new tools to my “horse tool box. This past May I decided to attend the Colorado Horse Rescues’ (CHR) free Trailering and Loading clinic led by Sarah Hofkamp, Training Manager at CHR. What a great clinic! Sarah […]
More Than Just An Exam: the real value to the annual examination of your horse
By Dr. Meg Bacon, DVM, MS, IVCA and Fear Free Certified Just because your horse seems to be doing great does not mean you should skip out on your annual exam with your veterinarian. Why? Your veterinarian is a trained professional that can let you know when there are early indicators for disease or pain. […]
On the Trails: What’s New!
By Randy Winter, BCHA Trail Advisor I recently met with City of Boulder Open Space staff on a variety of topics. We covered a lot of ground—so to speak. Here is a April update on trails around Boulder County. Hall Ranch Thanks to trail maintenance crews, it’s smooth sailing into the horse trailer parking area […]
Our Horse Community: How I’m spending my Pandemic Time
By Mary Cook My friend and fellow horse lover, Linda Parks, asked if I would share my experience in Ojai, California during the Pandemic as part of the BCHA series “Our Horse Community.” In April 2020, my daughter, son-in-law and 7-year-old grandson had had enough of living in Washington DC. They had been thinking about […]
Local Horse Judging Team Earns National Championship
For Immediate Release: November 16, 2020 Contact: Kendra McConnell, Coach 303-956-2885 The Colorado Arabian Horse Club (CAHC)/Region VIII Arabian Youth Horse Judging Team dominated the U.S. Arabian & Half-Arabian National Championship Youth Judging Contest on November 14, 2020. The contest is typically hosted during the national championship show held at Tulsa Expo Square, Tulsa, Okla., […]
A Fire Season of Historic Proportions
By Clare Tone Photo: Joe LaFollette, temporary pens at Boulder County Fairgrounds It’s likely residents of Boulder County were in a heightened state of wildfire awareness as drought conditions persisted through October and historic wildfires raged elsewhere throughout the west. When the Calwood and Lefthand Canyon Fires broke out in Boulder County in mid-October, the […]
Big Win for the Boulder County Hippology Team!
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2020— The Boulder County 4-H Hippology Team took home first place in the National Arabian Horse Hippology Contest. In addition to the team’s first place win, Liz French garnered the highest individual overall score. This year nine teams from around the country competed for six grueling hours over Zoom. Each hippology team […]
Wildfire Smoke & Livestock
From UC Davis Severe wildfires expose humans and animals to unhealthy air containing who knows what! These particulates can affect our respiratory systems. There is limited information available to horse owners, but the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine published Guidelines for Horses Exposed to Smoke. Quick takeaways (from UC Davis article Wildfire Smoke and […]
H.O.O.F Horse/Livestock Operation Find Form
Download the HOOF form—save time and lives! Just before the 2020 firestorm, horse evacuation emergencies was at the top of our list! BCHA was working with Brandy Perkins, Animal Control Officer with the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office to revise the Horse/Livestock Operation Find (HOOF) Form. The Boulder County Sheriff’s Office is the central dispatch for […]
The 1980s: Article No. 4 — BCHA Gallops Towards 50
By Clare Tone Clare is a Boulder County Horse Association (BCHA) committee member and freelance writer living in western Boulder County. In this monthly column leading up to our 50th Anniversary she explores the rich history of BCHA. What does the 1980s conjure up for you—big hair, neon clothing, high-waisted jeans? For me, because I […]
Update on our City of Boulder Agricultural Lands and Prairie Dogs due to COVID-19
By Linda P As many of you may know we have a big problem on City of Boulder Open Space Agricultural Lands due to uncontrolled growth of prairie dogs. Our open space and agricultural lands have been under attack ever since Council voted to protect them over 10 years ago. Left to continuously breed with […]
Trail Riding Skills: it’s all about ATTITUDE
By Randy Winter Trail riding with horses, like many other ways people enjoy being with their horse, is a skilled discipline not to be taken lightly. Some of the trail skills for your horse are: trailering, obstacle negotiation, control of spook response, maneuverability, gait control, sure footedness and group manners. These are all equine-specific skills […]
Educational Presentation: Hemp for Horses—Why, What, and How Much?
Tickets Available Now! Sept 11, 2019 / 6-8 PM Upslope Brewery, Boulder Upslope Brewery is located at 1898 South Flatiron Court in Boulder Presented by Chelsea Luedke, DVM, MS Join BCHA at Upslope Brewery with Chelsea Luedke, DVM, MS and learn more about Hemp/CBD and horses. Hemp and cannabis products have become the next big […]
The Bridge is Open! Riding the White Rocks Plateau from Gunbarrel Farm
Revised from the original posting on Jan 22, 2013 by Ann Hayes The White Rocks Trail is a segment of the East Boulder Trail System which stretches six scenic miles from the Teller Farm South trailhead off Arapahoe, to its northern terminus at the East Boulder Trail—Gunbarrel Farm trailhead in the heart of the Heatherwood […]
Plan Ahead! Boulder Valley 4-H Open Horse Show on June 15th
Saturday, June 15 Boulder County Fairgrounds Indoor Arena Starts at 8 AM Get out and support your local Boulder Valley Riders 4-H and have fun at this Open Schooling Show. Classes from Showmanship and Equitation to Reining. All ages welcome. Judge: Cody Ruth Show Manager: Kim Madsen Download the showbill
Horsemanship and Trail Obstacle Clinic at Windy Creek Ranch
Come and join other horse women and men for a fun and informative Horsemanship clinic. Windy Creek Ranch Saturday April 13 / 10 AM – 2:30 PM Cost: $30 (bring a sack lunch) To Register: 303 877 4829 Address: 105000 N 49th Street, Longmont CO Trainer: Liz Johnson This is the perfect day to learn how to […]
The 2019 BCHA Youth Scholarships
The Boulder County Horse Association is pleased to announce that we are offering, two new youth scholarships for Boulder County youth equestrians. Our equestrian scholarships are awarded to applicants who demonstrate the highest standards of character in community support, educational achievements and equestrian dedication. There are two scholarships for which you can apply: Collegiate $750 […]
