18/ FEBRUARY 2021 THE RIDER CQHA honors Dr. Mark Smith as a 2021


Canadian Quarter Horses Association Q Horse Hero.


Lois Aggett


Q Horse Heroes National Recognition Honoree L o i s


Denise Turner


Q Horse Heroes National Recognition Honoree Denise Turner’s four children know her as


Q Horse Heroes Community Support Recognition Program


January 2021 Heroes


“super mom”. Denise volunteered hundreds of hours to the breakfast club, after school craft club, Brownie and Girl Guides not to mention coaching the baseball teams all four of her children were on. Even though this part of Denise’s life has slowed down, she has turned her volunteerism to Ontario Mounted Special Service Unit for trail patrol on her horse Trooper. Trooper is a Spotted Saddle Horse. Denise also has put in many volunteer hours with DESAR Search and Rescue. Denise is employed full time as a Dietary Aid/Cook at a Long Term Care Retirement Home, in the Province of Ontario. A Dietary Aid is respon- sible for preparing healthy meals while following dietary restrictions, allergies and special concerns. Dietary Aide’s are trained to work with a Dietitian creating the diet plans for residences. Denise loves her job and helping the senior residents in their time of need. CQHA honors Denise Turner as a 2021


Canadian Quarter Horses Association Q Horse Hero.


Katie Marshall


Q Horse Heroes National Recognition Honoree Katie is a long time Quarter Horse owner,


breeder, barrel racer and former Eastern Ontario Quarter Horse Association Youth Team member. Currently Katie is a Director with Ontario Barrel Racing Association (OBRA) Katie is employed as a Security Guard for


the past 4 years at the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre. The Royal Victoria Regional Health Center is an advanced level II facility with stroke designation serving the City of Barrie and sur- rounding area. Barrel racing is a passion for Katie, she rides


a Quarter Horse named, Oakies Foxy Chick or fondly known as “Chicklet”. Katie stated, “We were sidelined with an injury for 2019 but came back strong in the 2020 season. Of course with the pandemic and working in health care I did have to miss out on several shows due to the high demand for my team. Fortunately OBRA was able to work alongside Public Health to make a majority of our 2020 shows successful and safe we hope to make 2021 the same.” Katie’s passion for the horses and her dedi-


cation to keeping Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre safe keeps her smiling. CQHA honors Katie Marshall as a 2021 Canadian Quarter Horse Association Q Hero.


Aggett is a won- derful neighbor, community sup- porter and best gr andmothe r ever! Actively involved in church activi- ties, community functions and taking extra good care of her family is high on Lois’s prior- ity list.


As if the


pandemic did not put enough strain on com- munities, the Aggetts were faced with a sudden family illness. Lois did not blink an eye, wearing the hats of grandmother, mother, wife and mother- in- law Lois went into action. Lois drove many times an hour and half drive one direction to spend a few days with family taking care of meals, shopping and helping with the horses. As Lois stated, “This is what families do for each other.” On Christmas Eve Lois and her husband


Earl packed up an entire Christmas dinner drove the hour an half so Christmas could still be cele- brated in the manner it has for the past 50 years with the family. Lois has spent many hours as show secre-


tary for the local saddle club where her son, daugh- ter-in-law and grand children barrel race. For Lois all of the above is in a day’s work for a loving grandmother. CQHA honors Lois Aggett as a 2021 Cana- dian Quarter Horses Association Q Horse Hero.


Sergeant K. McCarthy & Training Constable J. Houston Betsy McFarlane


Q Horse Heroes National Recognition Honoree Betsy MacFarlane is a certified Paramedic


and Education Coordinator at the County of Sim- coe Paramedic Services, involving long term and Paramedic Services In Betsy’s off hours she is a Western Riding


Coach specializing in Pole Bending & Barrel Rac- ing. In 2020 she did a series for Canadian Quarter Horse Association (CQHA) on the benefit of Yoga for Equestrians, she is also a past director for On- tario Barrel Racing Association (OBRA) and a cur- rent member of CQHA Media Team. Betsy is a concussion awareness spokesperson within the equine community using both her professional and personal experiences to teach the benefit of helmet wearing. Betsy has been an active equestrian since she


was a youth, exhibiting in National Barrel Horse Association ( NBHA), and OBRA circuits. She is a three time All American Quarter Horse Congress Winner in Pole Bending riding Cody’s Curiosity aka “Sugar Bear”, a horse Betsy raised. “Sugar Bear” and Betsy at the All American Quarter Horse Congress in 2007 won Jr. Poles, returning to win Youth 14-18 and Novice Youth 14-18. All Ameri- can Quarter Horse Congress is held in Columbus, Ohio, Worlds largest Quarter Horse Show attract- ing over 6,000 horses. Betsy is a past member of the Eastern Ontario Youth Team and volunteered her time to raise money for the youth team. She was top 3 in the NYATT Barrels. The All American Quarter Horse Congress hosts the largest National Youth Team Tournament (NYATT) competition in the world. It brings together many youth from state and regional Quarter Horse associations across the U.S. and Canada. Currently Betsy is riding an Off Track Quar-


ter Horse by the name of Zoom In Special Angel at OBRA. In 2020 Betsy and Angel walked away as the 2D OBRA Champion Futurity Winners and the Super Series 2D Champions. CQHA honors Betsy MacFarlane as a 2021


Canadian Quarter Horses Association Q Horse Hero.


Q Horse Heroes National Recognition Honorees Sergeant McCarthy & Training Constable Houston are both individuals that command respect


and dedication. Sergeant McCarthy is currently in his 21st year as an Officer with Toronto Police, Mounted Di-


vision. Toronto’s Mounted Unit is part of the municipal Toronto Police Service, based out of the Horse Palace at the Exhibition Place grounds. Toronto Mounted is the longest-running unit in the Toronto Police Service dating back to 1886. Training Constable Houston is currently in his 17th year as an Officer with Toronto Police,


Mounted Division. Tr. Constable Houston shares the task of purchasing and training prospective mounts for the Toronto Police Service with Sgt. McCarthy. Training a Police horse can take up to a year of dedicated work to prepare the mount for working in the streets. Sergeant McCarthy & Tr. Constable Houston received their Instructor of Beginner Certification,


Dr. Mark Smith


Q Horse Heroes National Recognition Honoree Dr. Mark Smith is a family physician at


Hants Community Hospital in Windsor, Nova Sco- tia. Hants Community Hospital serves the commu- nities of Windsor, Hantsport, the Municipality of West Hants and portions of the Municipality of East Hants. Mark Smith’s family is very supportive and


proud of his dedication to the medical field. In Mark’s wife Nadine’s words, “My husband Mark and I own 2 quarter horses and typically use our horse trailer for horse shows, but 2020 was a dif- ferent story! Mark is a family physician and he also works in inpatient care. In the past year, he has spent a week out of almost every month staying in the living quarters of our horse trailer while he spends his 7 day week working on call at a hospital that is too far from where we live to be able to come home at night. Throughout all of the Covid related scares and restrictions he continued to work and see patients whenever necessary. It also came as no surprise that he didn’t hesitate to be deployed to work wherever he may be needed, during the pandemic. I’m so proud of the physician, husband and father that he is and he truly deserves the recognition. I just hope that in 2021 we’ll spend more nights at horse shows and less at hospitals! Mark is well known for his past volunteer


duties at the Ronald MacDonald House as well as a volunteer Firefighter. Dr. Mark Smith, a physician and family man is truly a QHorse Hero.


a program that was administered by the Ontario Equestrian Federation, now known as Ontario Eques- trian, a program which establishes foundational riding skills stressing horse and rider safety. Currently under Sergeant McCarthy’s watch are 26 horses and


40 Officers. This de- mands true dedication to ensure all Officer’s have the equitation skills they need to succeed in the various situations which they may encounter. Sergeant McCarthy & Tr. Constable Houston are commu- nity driven and al- ways willing to help those who need assis- tance. The City of Toronto is privileged to have both these dedicated, hardwork- ing Officers as mem- bers of the Toronto Police, Mounted Divi- sion.


CQHA honors Ser-


geant McCarthy & Training Constable Houston as 2021 Canadian Quarter Horse Association Q Horse Heroes.


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