archives

Pre 2022 material from the old website

BCHA Bike/Horse Educational Presentations

archives, Archives-Advocacy & public lands /

Randy Winter, BCHA Trail Advisor On September 28, 2021, Randy and Cheryl Winter, along with their horse, Ellie, met up with a few cyclists from the Boulder High School Mountain Biking Team. Randy, BCHAs Trails Committee Advisor, and his herd mates have provided bike-horse interaction presentations to multi-trail user groups for quite a long time. As Cheryl described, “their horse Ellie had her early in-hand training days at trailheads. Bikers helped us train her to accept bikes by giving her cookies when she did well. So when Ellie saw the onslaught of bikes coming at her she had visions of cookies dancing in her little red head.” The day (pictured here) was the fourth consecutive session covering a total of 130 high school students. These presentations were about 30 minutes, and seemed to be well received. Afterwards, attendees were invited to come meet Ellie and give her a cookie. WEEEELLLLL, Ellie sure charmed them all and she was soon swarmed over by students.  Some were petting and laying over her back because she was “so soft”, others were taking selfies with her. For many it was their first up-close and personal time with a horse. While others who had ridden before said the experience made them want to start riding again. Whichever way you took it, Ellie was there to help. Needless to say she was a star and helped get the bike/horse world off better connected! [divider style=”solid” color=”#cccccc” opacity=”1″ icon_color=”#666666″ icon_size=”15″ placement=”equal”]To arrange a bike/horse educational presentation with your group please contact Randy Winter […]

BCHA Bike/Horse Educational Presentations Read More »

BCHA Announces its 2021 BCHA Youth Scholarship Recipients!

Archives-Youth /

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. About Nora Ditzel Nora plans to use her BCHA Teen Scholarship award to further her education in reining and ranch horse versatility. She credits her pony, Butch, with getting her hooked on horses at the ripe old age of eight. Nora has had many mentors—both horse and human—especially Liz Johnson of Windy Creek Ranch. Through Liz, Nora has had the experience of helping to train four ponies over three years, and has been able to ride and show Liz’ horse Chex. Nora is now in her ninth year of Blazing Saddles 4-H. She has done everything from serving as the social director, parliamentarian and even historian. To think I didn’t even know there was such a thing as ‘parliamentarian’—way to go Nora! BCHA will be watching your progress and cheering you on, and we look forward to seeing you at BCHA events and activities! About Madeline Williams BCHA Collegiate Scholarship recipient Madeline (Maddie) Williams will apply her scholarship funds toward studies at Colorado State University, where she is pursuing a degree in Animal Science with a focus on Equine Sciences. On top of her studies, Maddie is the 2021 Boulder County Fair Lady-In-Waiting and 2022 Queen! As Rodeo Royalty she’s an

BCHA Announces its 2021 BCHA Youth Scholarship Recipients! Read More »

Horse Trailer Loading: New tools for your “Horse Tool Box”

archives, Archives-education /

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 worked with Oliver, a very handsome 4 year old BLM branded mustang. Oliver was recently rescued from a local auction, and she had had no interaction with Oliver prior to this clinic. Sara took us and Oliver step by step, beginning with round pen groundwork. This included basic halter leading, disengaging the hindquarters, and moving away from pressure using both positive and negative reinforcement. She stressed the importance of building trust, confidence and fairness with your horse. After, Sarah and Oliver moved over to the large arena where a large stock trailer was waiting! She applied the groundwork skills used earlier to the trailer loading. There were no time constraints, and Oliver was never forced to do anything he didn’t want to do. He poked a head inside, then a foot, then another foot and then all four!  By the end of the session he was easily loading and slowly unloading. Don’t wait until the last minute to (hopefully) load your horse into your trailer for a show, clinic or emergency. Practice loading on a regular basis so when the time comes, your horse will easily load! And, don’t forget to attend the last of these free clinics at Colorado Horse Rescue—and add some

Horse Trailer Loading: New tools for your “Horse Tool Box” Read More »