Two Sturgeon County ladies made history this month when they became the first Canadian horse and rider in their class ever to win the world championship for Morgan horses.
Whisper of Love and her rider, Nathalie Langstaedtler, were crowned world champions in the classic pleasure saddle (ladies) event earlier this month at the 2011 Grand National and World Championship Morgan Horse Show in Oklahoma City, Okla. It was the first time that a Canadian team had ever taken the top prize in that category at the event.
Langstaedtler says she and her friends just screamed when they heard the announcement. "It was amazing," she says. "It's really good for a Canadian horse to win this kind of prize."
What's a Morgan?
Langstaedtler, 40, is a teacher at Edmonton's Ross Sheppard High School who lives just north of Morinville. She says she's been riding horses competitively since she was six, and has competed internationally for about 10 years.
Whisper, who also answers to Mint, is a dark-bay six-year-old female Morgan horse with a brown body, black extremities, a long tail and a tiny white star on her forehead. She also has exceptional manners.
Langstaedtler says her family got into Morgan horses back in 1979 when her father, Roger Poulin, started breeding them.
Morgans are usually bay-coloured horses (brown body, black extremities and hair) that stand about 15 hands (1.5 metres) tall, Langstaedtler says. A lightweight breed, they are known for their excellent manners and lofty trot — they kind of kick out their front feet as they walk.
Whisper comes from Birch Meadow Farm, B.C., Langstaedtler says, and has been with her family for five years. "She has a great attitude. She hits the show ring and her ears are forward the whole time, her head is up and she's very excited. She likes her job."
The big show
The Oklahoma City show is considered the premier event for Morgans in the world, says show secretary Peggy Hatfield, and has been in operation for about 35 years. About 1,100 horses from the U.S., Canada and Austria gathered at State Fair Park from Oct. 8 to 15 for this year's event.
Whisper and Langstaedtler competed in the classic pleasure saddle event — a formal event where horses are required to walk, trot, canter and move backwards all while looking as dignified as possible. Their riders wear three-piece suits and bowler or top hats.
"A good show horse has to be able to turn it on," Langstaedtler says, and perform on command. "They have to have the attitude to do it."
This is a Morgan event, Langstaedtler says, so the horses are also judged based on how closely they match the breed standard. "They have to look like a Morgan." Most horses undergo extensive brushing and hairstyling before each show, and often have black hoof-polish applied so their feet look extra shiny.
Langstaedtler says she was a little nervous going into the final — she knew she stood a chance, but also knew that she was up against several former world champions. One of the last of 16 competitors, she recalls coming down the chute into the arena and having Whisper trot cheerfully into the bright lights — and later, of course, into the winner's circle.
For winning, Langstaedtler says she received a ribbon, medal, plaque, blanket, halter and a ceremonial ring of roses. Whisper got "piles of carrots" and the rest of the year off, she adds. The two hope to defend their title at next year's event.
Full results are available at www.morgangrandnational.com.
