My name is Shannon Henderson and I am a registered insurance broker at Intercity Insurance.  I’ve been here for three years now although it feels like just a few months. It’s been said that if you do what you love, you’ll never have to work a day in your life.  I have been lucky enough to combine my love for horses with an exciting career in the industry.

A little bit about me to start: my love for horses began when I was seven years old.  It was the summer of camps: drama, art and horse back riding camp. On the first day of riding camp I was terrified to mount or even go near the horse -- which was actually a 13 hh pony and at least 20 years old. My mother arrived that afternoon to the camp counsellor suggesting that perhaps I should try another activity.  They agreed that I would attend for the balance of the week since it had already been paid for.  Little did my mother know that I was quickly bitten by the ‘horse bug’ and became a horse crazy little girl.  That one week at camp would be relatively cheap in comparison to the tens of thousands of dollars spent on lessons, horse shows, equipment, and leasing of the perfect horse over the next ten years.

When I graduated high school at 17, I moved over an hour and a half away from home to attend university.  The distance from home meant there was very little opportunity to spend time with horses. After my first two years of immersing myself in my studies, I realized that grooming on the “A” circuit during the summer was not enough to satisfy my soul.  I really missed having horses in my life all of the time. I had a thought that I might not be the only one who felt this way.  After a few posts on a couple of horse message boards I found a couple of other people who felt the same way. We went back to school that fall and with the help of the campus clubs department I was the founding member of the Laurier Equestrian Club (at Wilfrid Laurier University). I graduated university with degrees in English and Communications and began interview after interview in the quest for a job/any job.  Little did I know then that I would have my dream job:  going to work to talk about horses all day and everyday.  It was the start of my very exciting career.

That being said, they say that each day you should learn one new thing, and I intend to use this blog to not only educate on insurance but also on topics in the industry that may be of interest to you, my fellow horse enthusiasts. I am planning on making simple, easy to read and straightforward posts at least 2 times per month. And sometimes, like this one, they’ll be a little personal.

As for the one thing you will learn from this post today is that the cost to insure your horse is based on its age, use and purchase price or fair market value.

I want to encourage any comments or feedback as I am always interested in new ideas and your thoughts through this website or email me directly: shannon@intercityinsurance.com