The big event this upcoming weekend will be the Moose Jaw Hunter/Jumper Schooling Show Series on Feb. 19 and 20. George Fowler, general manager of the Moose Jaw Exhibition Company, is cautiously optimistic that with restrictions lifting, events will continue to pick up
The big event this upcoming weekend will be the Moose Jaw Hunter/Jumper Schooling Show Series on Feb. 19 and 20. The judge will be Cindy Klassen from Saskatoon.
George Fowler, general manager of the Moose Jaw Exhibition Company, is cautiously optimistic that with restrictions lifting, events will continue to pick up.
Proof-of-vaccination requirements and uncertain public gathering rules led to event cancellations in January and February. Events groups didn’t want to take the risk of putting a show on, only for low attendance to hamstring them.
Upcoming events
The Moose Jaw Hunter/Jumper Schooling Show Series is on Feb. 19 and 20. Each day’s show will start at 8:00 a.m. with courses designed by Don Dorsch and Sam Harland. More information on registration and rules can be found at www.moosejawex.ca.
The next weekend will feature the Moose Jaw Exhibition Company’s Groundhog Special Schooling Show on Feb. 26 and 27. The show was delayed from the actual Groundhog Day weekend due to public health concerns. A wide variety of classes will be shown, including hunter, jumper, equitation, showmanship, horsemanship, and barrels.
The beginning of March (when the provincial mask mandate expires) will see the South Saskatchewan Wildlife Association’s annual Moose Jaw Gun Show coming to the exhibition grounds on Mar. 5 and 6. The event typically draws hundreds of vendors from across southern Saskatchewan, with thousands of attendees perusing guns, knives, bow hunting gear, and ammunition.
Gun show organizers are looking forward to admitting participants without asking for proof of vaccination, although Fowler notes they’re always careful. “We don’t want to get too carried away, and then all of a sudden discover that, you know, we have another variant and they have to bring back in rules.”
On Mar. 12 and 13, there is a dressage show scheduled. Dressage is an Olympic-level combination of sport and art in which a horse and rider must perform a memorized set of movements exactly. Competition is done one at a time. Movement must appear smooth and effortless, with horse and rider communicating precisely in a kind of dance.
On Mar. 19, the Saskatchewan Barrel Racing Association will be holding a competition. Horse and rider must complete a cloverleaf pattern around a triangle of barrels in the fastest time possible. The fast-paced rodeo sport is known to draw plenty of spectators.
The following weekend, Mar. 26 and 27, the Moose Jaw Dog Club will have an agility show. Spectators can watch dogs racing around the Golden Mile Arena with various levels of skill and enthusiasm. Top competitors will obey commands from their trainers instantly as they weave through poles, up and down ramps, over jumps, and through tunnels.
Fowler said the Exhibition Company is moving forward with plans for the Moose Jaw Hometown Fair and Parade from June 23 to 26. The event has been cancelled for two years due to COVID. “We’re just booking for entertainment at this point,” Fowler said. “We’re hoping everything comes together this year that we can actually host the event.”
