For acquiring customers and building brand engagement, advertising is a time-tested essential. The following strategies will help you write better, more effective copy for print and online advertising, and increase the response to your advertising message. Several inspired and award-winning ad examples are included to start your creative juices flowing.

With the start of the new year, many of us are thinking about setting goals and making changes for the coming year. As a horse industry business owner, you may have some major resolutions in mind for the year ahead. Perhaps you need to invest in technology to improve efficiency, develop and market a new product or service, or improve your social media marketing.

The Environment and Climate Change Canada website lists the top ten weather stories of 2021. Topping the list is the extreme heat (Record Heat Under the Dome) that hit the province of British Columbia in June and is described as the deadliest weather event in Canadian history. Second on the list is BC’s Flood of Floods in November. These two climate events were also ranked among the world’s most devastating this year.

Is Your Business Missing Out? I am going to share some good information from an interesting article I found in Entrepreneur.com, describing the benefits of print media and how many business owners are missing out when not utilizing print. Although some marketers dismiss print as obsolete and unnecessary, it just could be the most powerful marketing medium in your toolbox.

Researchers and engineers in Saskatchewan hope a robotic lift system will help to improve the odds for horses recovering from limb fractures and other traumatic injuries. The scientists, who are all from the University of Saskatchewan (U of S), have teamed up with RMD Engineering, a local Saskatoon engineering and manufacturing company, to design and build the unique technology. The lift will help rehabilitate horses suffering from acute injuries and other musculoskeletal problems by providing mobility, weight distribution, and support.

2012 Readers' Choice Award Winner - Not many horses are fondly remembered for their ability to dump a rider in the dirt. But whether you’re for rodeo or against it, there’s no denying that Grated Coconut, one of the greatest bucking horses of all time, was a superstar.

2012 Readers' Choice Award Winner - In early September 2001, Karen Brain was one of Canada’s most promising eventing riders, with Olympic aspirations, until she fell from her horse, sustaining injuries that left her an incomplete paraplegic. Just three years later Karen represented Canada in the 2004 Paralympics in Athens, winning Individual and Team Bronze Medals. Her dedication and determination are truly remarkable.

2012 Readers' Choice Award Winner - The word “Remarkable” nicely sums up Somebeachsomehwere, a whirlwind dynamo who took the Canadian harness racing world by storm in 2007 and 2008, and who now looks to pass on his talent to the next generation of Standardbreds. Trainer and part-owner, Brent MacGrath, of Truro, Nova Scotia, calls him simply “the horse of a lifetime.”

Numbers help us put information in context and are an easy way to convey specific details. We need to know if that horse’s price is $2,000 or $20,000, whether he stands 15 hands or 16.3, or if he’s 3 years old or 12. Those numbers are details which help create a mental picture, and help us understand. A 25% discount is better than 10% off. And McDonald’s signs, which used to state the ever-increasing number served, now simply read: “Billions and billions served.”