After years away from horses, Sandy McLeod is back in the saddle again and she’s cleaning up at horse shows around the province.
Over the Labour Day long weekend, McLeod and her family travelled to Saanich Fall Fair and participated in one of the oldest and largest horse shows in BC.
She entered every senior rider, open rider and champion class competition she could with her 19-year-old, pure bred, quarter horse Fashion. Together they won over 20 ribbons, a Grand Champion rosette in Western Pleasure, two High Point titles, both Senior English and Senior Western, the Merle Rimmer Memorial Trophy for quarter horse versatility and the Amanda Zinger Memorial Trophy for overall senior rider.
“Each class had 20-plus riders in it, so it was a big horse show, the biggest show I’ve ever been to,” she said. “In Powell River, we’d be lucky if we can get six riders in a class, so this was quite an experience for us. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s just amazing.”
McLeod has had a long history with horses. She started riding when she was nine years old and was the saddle queen of Powell River Trail Riders. Like many children who grew up on farms, she moved away and stopped riding as a young adult. It wasn’t until her daughter wanted to get involved in raising and showing horses that her interest was also rekindled.
“I’ve put a lot of work into getting [Fashion] where she is right now,” she said. “It’s a lot of work. A lot of expense. A lot of time.”
Her daughter Danni was with her at the show and was impressed that after three days of competition neither horse nor rider showed signs of fatigue.
“My mother wasn’t expecting to do so well,” said Danni. “She represented our city well. She did us all proud.”
While McLeod has put much time and energy into training Fashion and preparing her for the show, she recognizes that Fashion is the true champion. “She’s just a pleasure to ride and an all-round great horse.”
