Equine Affaire 2010, Columbus, Ohio, April 8-11

For the second year the Nokota Horse Conservancy was represented at the country's oldest Equine Affaire. From last year's Ohio horse crew came Jingle Hawk, 5-year-old grulla roan gelding, and Blue Moon Rising a.k.a. Moonshine, a 10-year-old blue roan gelding.  New this year, and also helping to draw in the crowds, was Raising Cain, a 5-year-old blue roan gelding. So it was a very characteristically colored Nokota crew present, and they did a great job in competing for people's attention among attractions like Chris Cox clinics and Craig Cameron's Extreme Cowboy Race. They all shone brightly, not only in their stalls as multitudes of visitors filed through the breed barn, but also during the great breed demonstration on Saturday, in addition to Jingle Hawk starring in several smaller demos. He also patiently acted as a living model for a veterinarian's equine leg care and rehabilitation demonstration. One had to admire his coolness during the hour-long leg-wrapping session! 

Besides the crowd appeal of our fabulous Nokota horses, the Conservancy's beautiful and eye- catching logo was also very helpful at grabbing the attention of attendees.  The logo was created by Lakota brothers George and Butch Thunder Hawk, and in addition to appearing on numerous Nokota merchandising items like shirts, it proved especially effective when brightly displayed on the large banners that were donated by Nokota owners Andy and Carla Wood. We had many visitors, both those who are new to the Nokotas and some who are already hopelessly in love with the breed, like ourselves. Visiting from Georgia were Nokota owner Elizabeth Bell and her friend Sarah Coleman who has already custom-ordered a foal from Elizabeth even before conception.  From Missouri drove Nokota owners Ron Ahlersmeier and Larry Smith and from the Columbus area came horse trainer Kathy King Raedeke with young student Elise Leveque who participated in the Texas Nokota colt-starting clinic in March, where she successfully started and then purchased a young and previously unhandled Nokota stallion.

Present were Leo and Frank Kuntz, Shelly Hauge, Seth, Aldo, and Emma Zeigler, and Jorja Mottayaw (owner of Jingle Hawk) with her husband Carl and daughter Brooke (who also kindly provided rooms for the whole ND crew), Margaret Odgers (owner of Blue Moon Rising and Raising Cain) with her husband Chris, Lesli Schmeltzer (handling and riding Raising Cain), Karen Pfeifle, and Katrina Fry. Thank you all for your participation and great help in exhibiting the Nokotas!