Stick Horse Rodeo and Buckaroo Roping Lessons? Great kid-friendly activities in a weekend of family entertainment, but at the Vail/Eagle Valley Rocky Mountain Horse Expo there will be much more: horseback rides and face-painting (courtesy of the 4-H), the M Lazy C Wild West Show—complete with mounted shooting—and even rides on Zambee, the obliging camel who helped train the US Special Forces for desert combat. As a special treat on Sunday afternoon, the Freedom Riders, a 25-member 4-H girls’ drill team from Eagle County, will perform their high-speed patterns as well as some of the intricate maneuvers that make the team of 8-18 year old riders a popular feature in Western Slope parades and other events throughout Colorado.

Old West legends dull in comparison when the M Lazy C Ranch riders bring their famous Wild West Show to the Vail/Eagle Rocky Mountain Horse Expo, and light up the arena with an exhibition of high-speed marksmanship and equestrian pyrotechnics shinier than Wyatt Earp’s badge.

Not everyone can be the champ, but every participant rides away with prizes in the upcoming WRCA Vail Valley Championship Ranch Rodeo, June 2, in Eagle, Colorado. Courtesy of the Roaring Fork Valley Co-op in Carbondale, each ranch rodeo participant will receive a pair of roping gloves and a scarf, and every member of the champion team wins a prize package from the Co-op that includes a saddle blanket, rope halter and lead, stirrup and curb straps, hondo and set of bell boots.

Big Jim’s, vendor of high quality merchandise at high volume discounts, is bringing a semi load of goods to the Vail/Eagle Valley Rocky Mountain Horse Expo. In his 1500 square foot booth, shoppers will find a huge variety of tack, jewelry, purses, luggage and other items (even dog toys) that owner Big Jim Duncan picks up at wholesale prices and sells with significant savings for his customers. Big Jim’s has no regular inventory; as Big Jim says, “You never know what I have at any particular show, but whatever you find, it’ll be the right price to buy.”

Glenwood Springs’ own Cowboy Attitude band brings just the right note—or notes—to close the first full day of events at the Vail/Eagle Valley Rocky Mountain Horse Expo. The concert—on Friday, June 1st from 8-9 p.m.—features the band’s signature mix of “new country,” blues and even a little rock ‘n roll, and is included in that day’s admission to the Horse Expo at Eagle’s new River Center.

Denver, March 9-11

The experts represent the best the horse industry has to offer, and the subjects have been chosen to address the most vital needs and interests of today’s horseperson. The speakers are respected nationally and internationally as researchers, scholars and successful practitioners. In other words, the education program at the 2007 Rocky Mountain Horse Expo in Denver, March 9-11, promises to be the strongest ever.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
11/20/2006
 
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National Animal Identification System to be Voluntary
Equine Species Working Group Recommends No Movement Reporting
 
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is emphasizing that the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) will be a voluntary program and that no plans are in place to make the program mandatory.