Nebraska Horse Council

Adult Armbands 3 day armbands $25.00
1 day armbands $10.00
Children 6-12 1 day armbands $5.00
Children 5 & under Free.

Thanks to our outstanding Expo Planning Committee: the 10th Annual Nebraska Horse Expo Schedule has been released.

Friday, March 12th

Saturday, March 13th

Sunday, March 14th

Thank you to everyone for your hours of hard work!

Dress in layers: Dress yourself in layers that can be easily removed if you warm up.

Wear Safe Boots: You may want to wear warmer boots. Be sure they are not so bulky that they could get wedged in the stirrups. They should still slide out easily.

Warm the Bit: A frosty cold bit can be uncomfortable for your horse. Warm the bit with your hands or keep the bridles in the house, or in the truck until you reach your destination.

Avoid Hazards: Know what is under the snow, the snow may be covering ice. Avoid areas where you know there are holes, branches or other hazards covered by the snow.

Adjust the Workload: Working in snow is harder work for your horse, plan your ride accordingly.
Remember walking in hard or crust on the snow is hard for the horse to break through, change the lead horse a lot, so that each horse gets a break.

Ride with a loose rein: Allow the horse to use his neck and head to the best of his potential. Don’t interfere with his head.  Maintain a center of balance to help you horse walk through slippery areas.

Keep muscles warm: If your horse is use to being stabled, consider using a rump rug or quarter sheet to keep his muscles from getting chilled while riding.

A wet horse can get cold: Plan extra time to cool down.

Talk to you farrier: If you plan to ride and the ground is slippery, ask you farrier about shoes with pads or ice caulks.

Prevent Snowballs: If snowballs form in the hooves, give the bottom of the hooves a coating of petroleum jelly.

Bring extra water: Working in cold weather can be dehydrating, pack extra water for yourself.

The Nebraska Horse Trails Committee sponsored a Horse Fun Day this past Saturday to raise funds for horse trails in our state.  Held at 3V Stables in Ashland, over 60 people came to participate in the mounted games, this year geared toward trail challenges, followed by the traditional speed games.  It was fun watching horses work at being patience, side passing, pulling a sled, letting their rider pick up a scary plastic bag and lots of other challenges.  With proceeds from the accompanying silent auction and raffle, the day was a huge success.

These events are made possible by some very special friends of trails.  First, we would like to thank Greg and Cindy Vossler of 3VStables for graciously donating their beautiful facilities, which is a perfect setting for this kind of event.  We could not have such an event without you!

A very special thank you to Vicki and Kirk Fraser, formerly of Springfield, for donating their snow blower for our raffle.  We hope they are enjoying more pleasant temperatures at their new home in Texas.  Polly Volz of Gretna was our lucky winner.  I guess you all know who to call when we get our first blizzard!  Congratulations, Polly.

The NHTC would also like to thank the following businesses for donating items which we used in our silent auction.  They are The Fort Western of Lincoln, NE, Lincoln Orthopaedic, Bomgaars of Plattsmouth, Bronco Billy’s of Council Bluffs.  Ed Mark Insurance, Exeter, Tanya Lynch’s Hair Illusions, The Tanning Zone, Orschleins, Nebraska Iron Works and Ameritas Life Insurance Corp, all of Lincoln.  And thank you to Horsetrailriders.com for advertising.

We also thank the following people for their donations, Tiffany Lauer, Juanita Serafini, Mary Hansen, Pattianne Belitz, Shelly Price and the lady who brought the pink brush caddy.

As chairman of the NHTC, I owe a big thank you our Fun Day Chairman, Tammy Vasa and the following volunteer workers:  Pattianne Belitz and Sandy Ries for scorekeeping, Jess Vallery chaired the raffle and took registrations.  Michelle for assisting with the silent auction and raffle tickets.  Jason Ries and Colton Vossler for helping with arena set-up and being our runners.  Bob Carrol for being the gate guy, Vickie Sich for serving as judge and provided much needed office help, Tim Kirpatrick for his humor and helping with announcing, Mary Hansen for helping with scores and Dave and the ladies who graciously helped with Closing the Silent Auction.  In addition, Jay Butterfield and his friends, who quickly set up a second arena and ran the speed classes on the fly, when we were quickly losing daylight.

Believe me the Fun Day would not have been as successful as it was without all the help of the volunteers, donated items and of course, our guests.  All proceeds from this event go to improving horse trails in Nebraska.  Well done, everyone.  Thanks again for supporting Nebraska horse trails.

Welcome to the NEW NHC Website!

We have been busily planning this site to provide the Nebraska horse community with the best tools available today.  Please take some time and look around the site.  If you have any suggestions for future improvements, we are all ears!  Please submit them to .

There will be plenty of new features coming online in the coming days and weeks, so check back often!

Beginning January 1, 2010 we will have in place $1,000,000 equine liability insurance automatically covering anyone who joins the Nebraska Horse Council. The insurance is through Equisure, Inc. This insurance protects you from the actions of any horses that you own, anywhere your horse is, whether on your property or not.

The Nebraska Horse Council has been studying the advantages of this liability insurance for several years. Most of the horse councils in the surrounding states already have this type of policy in place and found it beneficial to their members.

Frequently Asked Questions about the new NHC Member Insurance:

When does my personal excess liability insurance with Equisure start and end? Coverage starts when your member-ship is approved and the premium is paid to Equisure. Coverage ends December 31st of each year.

What if I join in June? The premium and coverage are the same should you join in January or June. You would have coverage for 7 months if you joined in June and coverage for 12 months if you joined in January. In both cases the coverage will end January 1st of the following year.

How would this insurance apply if I have homeowners insurance? This policy is excess over any other valid and collectible insurance. If you have primary insurance coverage this policy would be excess over that insurance. If you have no insurance, this policy would become primary.

If my horse is boarded away from my residence do I have coverage? Yes, you are covered equine related incidences away from your residence.

If I lend my horse to someone to ride am I covered? Yes. You are covered for bodily injury and/or property damage for an equine related incident you are held legally liable for.

Is my horse covered if it dies? No, this policy does not provide animal mortality coverage for horses you own (though you can purchase this type of policy separately from Equisure).

I am a trainer or run a horse breeding operation, does this insurance cover me? No, coverage for businesses and business related activities are excluded.

My spouse doesn’t have anything to do with my horses. Is he/she covered? It depends on the membership you have purchased. The Individual membership includes the member and permanent residents of the household under the age of 18. The Family membership includes the member and spouse plus permanent members of the house-hold under the age of 18.

I fell off my horse and broke my arm, what kind of coverage do I have for this? None. This is not a medical insurance policy. You would have to have your own health/medical insurance.

The coverage limits provided by this policy are $1,000,000 aggregate limit and $1,000,000 per occurrence limit.

The limit provided under this policy is a per-household limit and is shared by all members of the same residence

Thank you to Strode’s Welding & Sales for donating two corrals to the Branched Oak Lake equestrian campground. The NHTC has worked with the Nebraska Game and Parks and received a grant toward this campground and donated 12 corrals for the project. Strode’s Welding and Sales built the corrals for us and added two extra.

Watch next spring when work begins on this new campground which will include camping pads, electrical hookups, day use parking, water, vault toilet, handicap mounting block and of course, 14 corrals. The equestrian campsite will be located on the south side of the lake at Area 2.

Strode’s Welding & Sales
1829 W. McKelvie
Lincoln NE 68531
402-470-3112 or 402-499-1569

Thanks to the following businesses for donating items for NHTC Game Day and silent auction which will be held Saturday, November 21,2009 at 3V Stables in Ashland. Their support of Nebraska horse trails is very much appreciated. Please thank them for supporting our activity by frequenting their businesses!

Bronco Billy’s Arena & Tack
www.broncobillys.org
19918 205th St
Council Bluffs, IA 51503-8050

Bomgaars
www.bomgaars.com
1538 S 15th St
Plattsmouth, NE 68048-2380

Ameritas Life Insurance Corp.
5900 O Street
Lincoln, NE.

Fort Western Outfitters
56th & Hwy 2
Lincoln, NE 68516

Lincoln Orthopaedic Center
Sports Medicine
6900 A Street
Lincoln, NE 68510

3V Stables
920 County Rd 4
Ashland, NE 68003

Kirk & Vicki Fraser
Formerly of Springfield