The 22nd Annual Midwest Horse Fair!  What an event!  This year it was held on April 20, 21 & 22 in Madison, Wisconsin.  For what seemed like miles and miles, nothing but horses, horsepeople and horse goods!  Along with many horse lovers, Michael Sande, Craig and Holli Sande and myself, enjoyed this horse filled weekend. 

     We arrived on Saturday around 8am to enjoy the whole day at the fair.  You had your choice of many things to learn and see.  From lectures to tack to the horse barns, you could have spent a week at the fair and not seen everything.  Throughout the barns, you are able to see many different breeds up close and learn a little about them.  You also meet many new people who are interested in the same breed as you may be. 

     Our main goal this year was to meet the stallion that we are planning on using for our mare Dawn this year.  She is due in June (there will be pictures!) and we needed to book a new stallion.  We were very impressed.  His name is Dice, owned by Jody Mohn from Boscobel, WI.  Dice was very calm with all those other horses around (especially for a stallion) and he was the perfect gentleman.  His owner Jody was very nice and seemed very knowledgeable.  We are definitely going to breed Dawn to Dice and we should get a pretty nice foal out of the mix!  We are excited!  We will have pictures later on!

     During the horse fair, we saw many different breeds as they go through the arena.  Any breed you can imagine was represented there.  If you tired of sitting, you may wonder into the many barns where many different clinics went on.  From communications with your horse, to how to trim their feet, you could find a clinic going on somewhere at the fair. 

     After the presentations throughout the day, they had a high school rodeo at 7:30pm.  It was a little crazy to get to your seat, but after that we had a wonderful time.  The high school rodeo always puts you in the mood to ride!!!!  They had calf roping, barrell racing, team roping and of course bull riding!  It was a great night.  No one was hurt other then, I'm sure, some bumps and bruises!  We all enjoyed the show!  It really kicks off the warm weather horse season with a bang!  The first thing you want to do after leaving the fair is to go get on your horse and use all the new knowledge you have received throughout the weekend.  I think everyone takes home at least 2 bags full of paperwork on all that you have seen!

      We definitely recommend anyone who hasn't experienced the Midwest Horse Fair, to take a look at going next year.  Don't forget to book your hotel rooms well in advance, they sure fill up quick!