A Wild Rose Trick Rider wows the crowd Sunday at the 2022 Horse Expo held at Red Deer's Westerner Park April 15-17. (rdnewsNow/Sheldon Spackman)

By Sheldon Spackman

April 15-17, 2022

Westerner Park wraps up successful Horse Expo over the Easter long weekend

Apr 18, 2022 | 5:08 PM

The largest equine trade show in western Canada has now wrapped up at Red Deer’s Westerner Park.

The April 15-17 event hosted by Horse Expo Canada saw thousands of people from central Alberta and abroad come out to enjoy numerous equestrian clinics put on by world-class coaches and instructors, as well as do some spring shopping from the well over 300 exhibitors in attendance.

The event also featured a variety of equine superstars including two Olympians and World Champions, along with a “Trainers Showdown” which highlighted Sunday’s itinerary.

Those in attendance had a chance to learn from equine heroes like Barbra Schulte – cutting, Cindy lshoy – dressage, and Hugh Graham – jumping. There was also barrel racing, mounted shooting demonstrations, trick riding, and mental preparedness sessions, among many other activities.

Mike Olesen, CEO, Westerner Park, says attendance was at a very reasonable level, considering the impact of COVID-19 on live and in-person events over the past two years.

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“In talking with all the vendors and those that attended, I think they were pleased with the value that they received, and we were just excited to host a major event such as that again,” says Olesen.”It’s more intended on it really being a value-add for those citizens of our community and especially those in the horse communities.”

“We’ve had the Wildlife Expo, the Food and Beverage Expo, and now Horse Expo Canada,” adds Olesen. “So we’re certainly ramping up for Westerner Days which we’ll have announcements on shortly.”

“I think central Alberta will be hit with quite a bit of options for folks to plan their summer around and we’re quite excited,” he continues. “It’s nice to be in a place where we’re busy booking, versus busy cancelling, so it seems as if things are turning around.”