A beautiful thing about advertising in the Horsetrader is that by simply placing an ad in the popular glossy magazine, the ad also appears online (on Horsetrader.com, which gets about 2,000 unique visitors daily) and on Facebook®, as each ad is totally integrated into the social media network. Now you also can add video to any type of ad – at no charge! Simply click on the YouTube® link when you order your ads online, and the video will play right next to your ad. If you’d like guidance, just call our helpful sales and customer service staff, and we’ll set you up.

When you attend the great line-up of activities at the Horse Expo Pomona Jan. 31-Feb 2 at Fairplex, be sure to visit the Horsetrader.com and California Horsetrader booths — #7207 and #7209 in Building 7. We’d love to meet you and also share the most exciting launch EVER of Horsetrader.com. (Horsey reviewers who were asked for a pre-launch response are calling it “the Google® of the horse industry!”) We’re very excited to put it to work for you, starting at Expo Pomona, so please stop by. We’ll also have “Horsetrader Dollars” you can use to place you own ads on the new website – plus, meet and greet our popular columnists!

Now that winter is here — don’t get caught in the cold! Take advantage of great discounts and savings from our $tore$aver Coupon advertisers and make sure your horses and pets stay healthy, well fed and warm and dry. Broken Horn in Baldwin Park (ad on page 42-43) and Norco Ranch Outfitters in Norco (ad on page 31) are both offering savings on your winter and stable blanket needs; Armstrong Feed in Valley Center (ad on page 58) has specials on dog and horse feed; and don’t miss Big Horse Feed and Mercantile in Temecula (ad on page 60) for their huge January Clearance Sale on Saturday, Jan. 12th! You can clip out the $tore$aver Coupons on page 56, or get them online at www.horsetrader.com.

With a new show season just around the corner, it’s a great time for clubs and show organizations to take advantage of special services the California Horsetrader and Horsetrader.com are launching just for those hard-working, volunteer-run groups. We have a line-up of free services to help promote events and interest, so if you are on the board of a breed or show group, be sure you email publisher Warren Wilson at wilson@horsetrader.com and get the packet for your club.

The producers of the Western States Horse Expo are once again gearing up for the fun and excitement of the second Horse Expo Pomona! Scheduled for Jan. 31-Feb. 2 at the Pomona Fairplex, this great event offers education, entertainment, shopping and horses galore! Learn from renowned professionals such as Chris Cox, Carmi Weininger, Raye Lochert, Peggy Cummings, John Bozanich and many more! Enjoy breed demonstrations, the Young Rider Park, the Great American Truck display, the Career Fair, the Trail Symposium, the Equine Art Gallery, the Book Corral — along with tons of shopping! Call (800) 352-2411 or see the ad on page 91 for discount tickets, schedules and a complete list of clinicians.

Don’t let this Holiday be another gift-giving disaster! Shop at Big Horse Feed and Mercantile in Temecula for a great selection of gifts, feed, tack, apparel, horse equipment and more. And don’t forget about Ladies Night! For one night only, Tuesday, Dec. 4 from 6 to 8 p.m., come shop early and receive 20 percent off on your Christmas shopping! Plus, sign up at the Big Horse Gift Registry and receive 15 percent off any purchase* listed on your gift registry or the registry of your loved ones or friends! (*Cannot combine with already discounted or discontinued items. Does not include feed, saddles, Brighton Jewelry, wormers, vaccines and dog or cat food.) Avoid a gift-giving tragedy — be a hero and shop Big Horse – they’ll even gift wrap it for you! Call (951) 676-2544 and see the ad on page 7.

Here’s a special gift idea for someone on your list looking to improve their dressage score or move up a level: Eventer Gina Miles, Olympic individual silver medalist, is currently offering a Winter Training Special to one of the region’s top training programs. Send your horse to college — a luxury stay at the beautiful Templeton Farms, featuring a 32,000 square foot arena, miles of perimeter trails, irrigated turnouts and much more. Gold Medal Equestrian is the premier training program on the central coast of California. Gina and assistant trainer Rebecca Braitling tailor each training program to the horse and rider’s individual needs. Call (805) 610-0879 for more details and info, or see the ad on page 42.

All we can say about the new Deer Springs Equestrian Center and adjacent Deer Springs Feed and Supply in San Marcos is “WOW!”. This jewel of a complex in the beautiful Twin Oaks Valley has the look of a champion from top to bottom, and Saturday, Oct. 27, will be the much-awaited Grand Opening Celebration featuring facility tours, raffles, special offers and free samples. The newly opened feed and supply carries a full line of horse and animal feed and supplies, including brands you look for like Purina, Triple Crown, Nutrena, Natural Balance, Canidae and much more. The spacious equestrian center features the largest, new indoor arena in the county (220′ x 140′) plus a 220′ by 145′ outdoor arena, two dressage courts, jumping arena, and more with superior footing and amenities. Be sure to stop by, and for more info, call (760) 744-9600 – and see the ad on pages 38-39.

World Cup-qualifiers meet the zombies this month at the Del Mar Fairgrounds where the Del Mar Fall Festival Horse Show will combine top hunter-jumper competition with a great time. Excitement is building on both counts. The $55,000 Villas at Rancho Valencia World Cup Grand Prix of Del Mar on Oct. 27 –- presented by California Horsetrader — is also a qualifying event for the new HITS Thermal Million Grand Prix League, and it’s expected to attract the top caliber equestrian athletes – and a large crowd! During the Grand Prix, exhibitors and the public can enjoy the Del Mar Halloween Party and take their best shot at $2,500 in cash prizes for the best costumes. There will also be a thrilling surprise performance featuring…oh, we can’t say! Before all the nighttime excitement, spectators can enjoy clinics by world-class clinicians Rich Fellers, Bernie Traurig, Mandy Porter and Will Simpson. Mark your calendars! The Fall Equestrian Festival runs Oct. 17-28. For additional information, see the ad on page 81.

Entries are up and the crop of 3-year-olds is immensely talented for the 2012 National Reined Cow Horse Association Snaffle Bit Futurity in Reno this month, but the biggest buzz among spectators may be the innovations in this year’s World Championship Show. NRCHA Board Member and Marketing Chair Jim Vangelos is particularly excited about the Finals moving from the traditional Sunday to Saturday night, Sept. 29, which is expected to raise the roof ever further on an event that already ranked as perhaps the most exciting in horse sports. After the final go and judges have determined the winner of the $100,000 first-place Open Futurity prize, the Reno Livestock Events Center arena will transform into a celebration of another great Futurity year. Also, for the first time Clinton Anderson will conduct a clinic at the NRCHA event on Friday, Sept. 28, in the outdoor rodeo arena, and there will be a Jumbotron for spectators’ enjoyment, showing interviews with top trainers and non-pros throughout the competition. Of course, traditional favorite components of the 10-day show will stay intact, including a “Best of the West” trade show, the Hall of Fame Dinner and Auction on Thursday, Sept. Sept. 27th, and a wine-tasting hosted by the NRCHA during the Finals on Sept. 28 and 29 — with special NRCHA wine from Alan Needles of Tucalota Creek Winery in Temecula. Vangelos says the NRCHA Board is honored to bring along these exciting changes, and he welcomes feedback. For more info, see the ad on page 21.