It seems impossible to recap the year without mentioning the wildfires. The summer of 2017 will be forever in our memories.  Horse Council BC would like to thank everyone who donated to HCBC’s Animal Disaster Relief Fund and the volunteers, haulers, and evacuation centres, for your long hours, hard work and phenomenal effort and sacrifice to help during the wildfire situation. Approximate numbers indicate that over 6,000 horses were displaced this summer.  Horse Council focused its efforts on support for the evacuation efforts and evacuation centres by providing the resources they needed, whether it was hay, fuel, equipment or supplies. The equine community stepped up, pulled together and took care of those who needed help.  We are proud to have been a part of the team.

We are encouraging horse people to register for the British Columbia Premises Identification Program which now includes properties housing equines.  Premises Identification was established to reduce the impact of livestock disease or natural disaster emergencies by gathering and organizing information about the location of animals, the types of animals at each location and how to contact those responsible for the health of those animals quickly.  Please take time to register your premises.

We were listening… HCBC made a real effort to host more things outside of the Langley area including Official Clinic, Coach Development sessions and the Share the Trails Workshop.  A few other things were keeping the Horse Council office busy this year.  We were pleased to get to see a little of this beautiful province with the first three stops (Kamloops, Creston and Courtenay) in the new Community Talks Traveling Road Show.  We hosted a free day of science based educational speakers on topics suggested by members.  We have recently surveyed members to see which communities want us to come in 2018 - personally I can’t wait to hear where we are going! 

In June we took horses to Olympic Day at the Richmond oval where 2000 school children had a chance to try different sports.  Bouncy horse pole bending and horseless jumping activities were very popular activities and it was a great way to reach out to children about trying our sport.

At Horse Council we spend a lot of time working to support the Equine Lifestyle and Right to Ride issues that come up around the province.  Whether it’s horse welfare, land use issues regarding farmland or public lands, we advise and support members in their communities on local issues and advocate on provincial issues.  Horse Council gives out grants to support Equestrian Trail development, Participation or Education opportunities to Clubs around BC.

55+ Games this September in Vernon & Area, were great fun for participants in many disciplines with the largest ever turnout for equestrian.  Thanks to our Carolyn Farris, Sport Chair and the other volunteers who did an amazing job. 

At HCBC we are looking forward to an exciting 2018, with quite a few new things rolling out.  Firstly, to help get new people hooked on horses, we are launching a new Discover Riding website with two new programs one aimed at youth and the other an all ages program, both using our professional Certified Coaches and Instructors.  Secondly, a new Online Competition Administration system will be available for organizers to make it quicker and easier to permit a horse show.  The HCBC Colouring and Activity Book will be rolling off the press in the spring.  2018 BC Summer Games will be in Cowichan; this is a multi-sport games for provincial level athletes hoping to progress; and includes the disciplines Jump, Dressage and Para-dressage and Vaulting.  HCBC will be renewing our Strategic Plan, and transitioning our Bylaws in 2018; all in all there will be no time to be bored at Horse Council! 
 
The office will be closed for the holidays December 21, 2017 – January 1, 2018.  We wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season and a Happy New Year! 

HCBC’s Annual Awards honour outstanding achievement within BC’s equine community. These awards acknowledge those who stand out from the crowd and have made a positive impact on the equestrian community in the province.

Award Categories:
Athlete of the Year Senior (18 year of age and older)
Athlete of the Year Junior (17 years of age and younger)
Coach of the Year
Horse Industry Professional of the Year
Bob James Volunteer of the Year Award 
Sherman Olson Lifetime Achievement Award 

Nomination forms can be found at; http://www.hcbc.ca/index.php/about/hcbc-awards/

The 2017 FEI General Assembly in Montevideo, Uruguay, has voted in favour of the Dressage Judging Working Group's proposal to remove three of the four collective marks on dressage score sheets as of 2018.

View the recommendation from the Dressage Judges Working Group here

Are you an equestrian athlete between the ages of 11 & 18? Want to learn more about qualifying for the BC Summer Games? 2018 BC Summer Games Technical Packages are now available online and can be found on the BC Summer Games page of the HCBC website. 

Additional Financial Assistance Available
The second phase of the Canadian Red Cross Support to Small Business Program, through the generous funding from and in partnership with the Government of B.C., is providing additional financial and other assistance to eligible small business owners, cultural livelihoods that support First Nations communities, and not-for-profit organizations impacted by the British Columbia 2017 wildfires. This additional financial assistance is to provide support for uninsured financial losses as a result of interrupted business operations, due to the wildfires. This program is administered by Marsh Canada.

Horse Council BC is partnered with 2 of Canada's top horse magazines for the 2018 season. This means that we are able to offer all HCBC Members a discount to annual subscriptions to each of these great publications.

To purchase a discounted subscription, please log in to our online membership portal and click "Add Magazine Subscriptions to Existing Horse Council BC Membership".

Click on the monthly magazines right here in the e-news to go straight to these publication's websites and check out their great content each month!

Horse Council BC gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the Province of British Columbia through the Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development.