msu stallion expo 2014

Jaime, Kyle, Terry and I traveled into enemy territory (Go Blue!) to have some fun at the Michigan State Stallion Expo. We did some shopping, talked with a bunch of feed reps, got some free samples, and saw some horses. The one thing I wanted, a saddle pad, I did not find. But, oh well, there is always the interweb!

Arab

There was a table that was doing hay testing. We brought a bag of Shyloh hay and a bag of round bale to be tested. I am happy to report that Shy's hay is of good quality and perfect for her. I guess it is a little light on the calories, but for an "apocalypse horse" like Shy, it is all she needs. Yay! 

Knabstrupper

I also saw Janine from Hoofprints of Kaspin, as we seem to meet every year there. It was fun to catch up and chat about our horses and the freezing cold winter.

Gypsy with a mustache!

Of course, I made my way to the Haflinger booth and saw the Haflinger that was there to represent the breed. As I was admiring him and thinking he could be Shy's dad (haha, they both have poof-locks, take photos with their eyes close, and smile), a old German guy started talking to me about the horse. It was not his horse, but we got to talking and he was a hoot. He tried to convince me to breed Shy and drug me over to the Great Lakes Haflinger booth to talk to the people there. I explained that Shy would not make a good horse mom, as she tries to throw minis across the pasture and I cannot imagine what she would do with a foal! Then his wife came up and we talked about the Haflingers that they used to own. 

Poof lock and eyes closed!

A little bit later, I found the owner of the Haflinger at the show and talked to her. Haflinger people are so nice!

noms

Heritage Hills Hitch Farm was there with their Belgians. Jaime knows the owners, the Lovelands, and we spent some time talk to them. They hitched and unhitched their horses four times that day! That is a lot of work! 

I like his eye

noms

I was going through their harness boxes (with permission) asking all kinds of questions about the different bits they use for the horses and how they determine what works for them as a team. Terry was asking all kinds of questions, too. The Lovelands were fantastic and took time to answer everything for us. 

I have a fascination with these!

He really was that high up!

To end the day, the Stallion Expo puts on a little show. We missed the beginning, but met up with some old friends and watched the rest. It was a cool show and we had a ton of fun catching up. I got some photos from the show, but they aren't that good since we were further away from the arena. Enjoy!

Dan Steers of Double Dan

Andulusians

Heritage Hills Hitch Farm

Fresian and mini, cute performance of them doing the same movements and tricks

Cool to watch this guy ride, ended up riding bridless, then put a blindfold on the horse.