A county horse and rider received top honours this week for being the best saddle-seat team in Canada.
Nathalie Langstaedtler and her horse, Whisper of Love, received the 2011 saddle-seat rider of the year award from Equine Canada last Saturday at the Edmonton Petroleum Club. The two Sturgeon County residents won international fame last fall when they became the first-ever Canadian team in their class to win the 2011 Grand National and World Championship Morgan Horse Show in Oklahoma City, Okla.
Langstaedtler was by far the most successful rider amongst those who applied for the award that was open to all Canadian riders, said Terry Johnson, a member of Equine Canada’s breed sport committee.
“She has been very, very influential in promoting the Morgans,” she said, referring to the Morgan breed of horse, and took the top prize in two categories at last fall’s world championship. “For us to have a Canadian horse that can go out and win in those two divisions is very, very exemplary.”
Langstaedtler, 40, said she was surprised to learn of her win, as she wasn’t sure she met the criteria for the award. It would do a lot to promote Morgan horses and saddle-seat riding, she added.
The award comes in the same week that Whisper won two People’s Choice awards from Horse World, an American horse magazine.
The magazine gives out about 200 of these a year, said Diana Davidson, one of the magazine’s editors, with the winners picked by readers. Whisper was named as the ladies classic pleasure saddle horse of the year and the classic pleasure saddle mare of the year.
Whisper and Langstaedtler are an excellent team, said Davidson, who saw both in action at last fall’s world championship, with a lot of style and presence in the show-ring. “You could just tell how proud Nathalie was with her horse.”
In addition to getting pins and trophies, Langstaedtler and Whisper will be profiled in the next issues of Equine Canada Magazine and Horse World for their wins.
Langstaedtler said she was proud that the world would be willing to vote for her and her horse, as the two of them were relatively unknown internationally up until recently. “It shows that there are quality Morgans up here.”
Farmers are being asked to strap on some twine ribbons this month to promote safety on the farm.
March 11 through 17 is Canadian Agriculture Safety Week in Canada. Alberta Agriculture farm safety co-ordinator Kenda Lubeck said farmers are being asked to examine their farm safety plans to make sure they are working.
The province is launching its own farm safety awareness campaign next week called I Have a Role, Lubeck adds, which encourages all residents to recognize their roles in keeping farms safe. Children have to play safe, for example, while farm workers have to avoid shortcuts. The province is asking people to make and wear twine ribbons to draw attention to safety issues.
Farming is one of the most dangerous jobs in Alberta, says Don Voaklander, director of the Alberta Centre for Injury Control and Research, being responsible for about 17 deaths annually.
“It’s right up there with the construction and mining industries in terms of an injury burden.”
Farmers tend to work long hours, Voaklander says, which makes them more fatigued and prone to mistakes. Many also use decades-old equipment that isn’t equipped with proper safety features.
The most notorious piece of equipment is the tractor. About 75 per cent of farming fatalities are machinery related, according to Voaklander’s research, and about 44 per cent of those involve tractors.
Tractors are heavy, unstable vehicles that tend to roll over, Voaklander explains, crushing their drivers. Drivers might flip their rides pulling a stump out of the ground, or have it run them over when the brakes slip.
And unlike farms in the rest of Canada, Voaklander notes, Alberta farms aren’t subject to occupational health and safety regulations.
“You’re like a little third-world country unto itself. There’s no regulation on what you can do with your employees.”
Farmers can stay safe by having a contact plan, Voaklander said, one that involves scheduled check-ins with others on the farm. They should also add roll cages to their tractors.
“It’s one of the single most important pieces of safety equipment you can put on a tractor.”
Australia recently brought in a retrofit program for roll cages on tractors, he noted, and has virtually eliminated rollover deaths.
Visit www.agriculture.alberta.ca/farmsafety for details.
