By Sarah Ferguson
Five a.m. I awaken to construction in my back alley.
All summer long, Regina’s streets have been filled with holes, cement, rebar, and construction crews. There is no room to move. The downtown core is drowning in a sea of dust and dayglo orange signs.
And I am leaving.
I am heading to the prairie village of Mortlach.
I turn on my radio and pack my things.
The air is charged with words like “progress” and “optimism.”
My article does not concern these elements. I am writing about horses.
In a time where prairie history is being obscured by business and money making schemes, Mortlach has retained its “horse sense.”
I want to know why.
I watch the city recede from the car window, and meditate on the horizon line. I arrive at Mortlach’s riding arena to meet Candis Molde. Her quarter horse Tacoma comes to the fence to greet us, and pushes his head against my arm.
Candis is one of several horse people in the area who are spearheading the Riding Arena Association, which aims to provide youth, particularly those who do not have access to a horse, with the opportunity to ride. Candis also practices horse massage therapy, and serves a growing clientele.
One of her main clients is rancher Glen Fafard, operator of the well- known Fafard Quarter Horse Ranch.
“I have worked on several of Glen’s horses,” she says.
My ears perk. I have an interview with Fafard in the afternoon.
I muse about the concept of the cowboy on my way to lunch. As the horse recedes from the prairie, the ideal of the cowboy has faded into obscurity.
Or has it?
Glen Fafard works on the edge of Moose Jaw, at the junction between Highway 1 and 2.
Horses rule his world. He has trained them, and worked with them for most of his life. He is also a successful Quarter Horse breeder. “Quarter horses are the best horses for cattle ranching…they are calm, and have a strong hind end…good lateral movement to keep up with cattle” he tells me. When I ask about the decline of the horse in farming, he states there is more optimism about the horse’s role in farming than one might think “A lot of cattlemen have tried to replace horses with machines, but it never works. Machines can’t read an animal the way a horse can.”
Today, Fafard is part business man, part horseman. Straddling both worlds has kept his passion for ranching alive. Fafard once worked on the historic Bar U Ranch in Alberta, and now promotes the traditions of ranching through the American Quarter Horse Association. Using the Mortlach arena as his base, he is passing on the traditions to his students, through (con’t on page 6) a program called “The Versatile Ranch Horse”. The first of its kind in Canada, the program trains horse and rider to become a working team capable of ranch duties.
He shows me a video from the Mortlach Saskatoon Berry Festival Horse show. The video shows him breaking three horses to saddle in just over an hour.
An impressive tally.
Fafard’s knowledge of horse language is equally fascinating, and by the time we say goodbye, I have learned more about horses than I ever thought possible. Mortlach has enlightened my city- worn eyes. Perhaps prairie history is not dying, but changing shape. Modern horsemen or women still have purpose, and are still very much alive.
In the evening, I attend an archaeological discussion at the town hall. The topic is arrowheads and pottery, but the subject of horses comes up.
“Horses actually roamed North America first, but eventually went extinct.” says Dr. Dale Walde, visiting from the University of Calgary.
“They were brought back by mankind later on, and thrived quite well after that.”
Indeed.