By Lisa Parent

The art of sheep shearing and equine rehabilitation on display at the stampede

Jul 28, 2023 | 3:52 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – The Medicine Hat Stampede wouldn’t be running without hard-working agriculture and animal workers behind the scenes. two ladies at Country in the City are giving demonstrations of that hard work.

Wool was flying in the back corner of the Cypress Center building, while seasoned shearer Allison Preston showed the crowd how to shear a sheep. With three generations of shearers ahead of her, Preston has the craft in her blood and loves doing it.

“I guess at the root of it I love sheep in general. They’re kind of my therapy animal. Nothing can take a bad day and turn it around as cuddling a fuzzy sheep. Even if you’re getting kicked by said fuzzy sheep,” Preston said while laughing.

Being at the stampede gives Preston the opportunity to do another thing she loves, educating people on the craft.

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“Somebody who’s never seen it before gets to learn something, because how are you going to learn about sheep shearing in school? It’s not going to be in your textbooks. Agriculture in general isn’t really in a textbook, so it’s an opportunity to connect back with the community,” said Preston.

She added, “it’s really cool to see other people’s reactions to it. I don’t remember what my first reaction was to seeing a sheep being torn. I was way too young but it’s fun. It’s really exciting and empowering to realize I’m making a difference in the industry that I get to pass it on to the next generation.”

Just a few steps away from the sheep shearing is another woman who loves her job, and animals. Hilary Blanchette is the owner of Holsom Equine based in Medicine Hat. Her job is to rehabilitate what she not only calls horses, but athletes, like the ones in the Stampede.

“These athletes are high powered athletes, you think of your Olympians. So in the horse world we have all the same things. We have massage therapists that actually come into our barn and do that as well. Then we have a veterinarian that comes in and works with us. We have chiropractors that come into the barn and work so we kind of have that full medical community for horses,” Blanchette said.

Some other healing options for the horses include light therapy, epsom salt baths and water therapy. One piece of equipment on display is a vibrating floor, usually for horses, but available for people to try too.

“We’ve had horses that people will say they’re really finicky, they don’t stand still. And it’s amazing how still they stand on there. Even people’s children have come and stood on it and the kids are instantly quiet and they’re just like loving life. So that’s really cool to see how everybody enjoys it,” she mentioned.

Blanchette methods like the vibrating floor result in a relaxed and happy horse.

“Horses lick their lips, so that’s how we know that they enjoy it. So you’ll see them really start to lick their lips,” Blanchette explained.

Both ladies can be found in the Cypress Center doing presentations at the Stampede Grounds, south of the Midway. Blanchette will be presenting at 2:30 tomorrow, and Allison Preston can be found at 3:00 for sheep shearing.