All posts by Associate Editor

Competitions, Dressage, Events

Equestrian Sport Productions to Host Dressage at Holiday and Horses Competition

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Wellington, FL – November 4, 2011 – Equestrian Sport Productions (ESP) is pleased to announce the addition of dressage to this year’s Fall Circuit at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC). Dressage at Holiday and Horses will be held November 18-20, 2011, at the main show grounds of the PBIEC.

Dressage at Holiday and Horses will be a USEF/USDF Level Two competition. The show will be a Great American Insurance Group/USDF Regional Qualifier and will host classes for the USDF/Dover Adult Amateur Medal Program.

Judges will include William Solynjes ‘S’ and Marlene Schneider ‘S’ with Technical Delegate Linda Lester ‘r’.

“Entries are now open and we look forward to welcoming our dressage friends back to the PBIEC,” said ESP President Michael Stone.

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Competitions, Eventing/H.T., Events, Pan American Games, USEF

Land Rover Competition and Training Grants Send Pan American Games Athletes to Galway Downs CCI

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Lexington, KY – Two members of the Gold-medal winning 2011 Pan American Games Eventing Team, Buck Davidson and Michael Pollard, and the alternate, Kristin Schmolze, were awarded Land Rover Competition and Training Grants to travel to Temecula, CA and compete at the Galway Downs CCI, November 4-6.

Davidson and Pollard were each awarded $8,000 grant to contest the CCI3*, while Schmolze was awarded a $6,000 grant to compete in the CCI2*.

Because of logistical and timing conflicts due to being part of the Pan American Games squad, Davidson, Pollard were unable to compete at Fair Hill International CCI3* in early October – the only CCI3* on the East Coast.  The Pan Am horses flew to Guadalajara on the cross country day of Fair Hill.  The athletes couldn’t be in two places at once. Schmolze was part of the Pan American equation with Ballylaffin Bracken until the horses departed – she is also riding her CCI3* horse at Galway.

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Community/Charity, Conferences, FEI

FEI President Celebrates Equine Vets at 2011 WEVA Conference

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FEI President HRH Princess Haya who gave the opening address at the 2011 WEVA Conference in India on 2 November.

Lausanne (SUI), 3 November 2011 – FEI President HRH Princess Haya celebrated the 250th anniversary of the first veterinary school in Lyons (FRA) and the birth of the modern veterinary profession in her opening address at the 2011 World Equine Veterinary Association (WEVA) Conference in India yesterday (2 November).

The FEI President was addressing 600 delegates, including key members of the world’s equine industry, breeders and leading equine veterinarians, at the conference in the historic city of Hyderabad.

“The events organised around the world to mark World Veterinary Year have demonstrated the crucial role veterinarians play in improving animal health, pushing the boundaries of biomedical research and protecting the environment,” HRH Princess Haya said.

“The challenge is to better serve the wider equestrian community by leading and taking courageous and sometimes difficult decisions while ensuring that our horses, our industry, our sport, our food supplies and the future scientific breakthroughs needed by the world over are protected in all ways.”

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Community/Charity

Horse Tales Literacy Project

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Horse Tales Literacy Project (formerly The Black Stallion Literacy Foundation) helps children discover the joys of reading and the excitement of learning through the wonders of live horses and the Black Stallion books by Walter Farley, as well as other classic horse literature.

Our goals are to spark the imagination of first grade students so they will want to learn to read, and to motivate fourth and fifth graders so they will experience the joy of reading.

This event at the Jacksonville Equestrian Center will focus on fourth and fifth graders. The fourth-fifth grade program continues the legacy of reading by providing all the children with their own copy of The Black Stallion, a universally recognized children’s classic. Children are also introduced to the critically acclaimed 1979 movie of the same name. The program concludes with an interactive experience with live horses!

Event Date
Thursday, November 17, 2011
10:30 a.m.
Jacksonville Equestrian Center

More Info

Rescue/Protection Sources

President Obama Urged to Keep Campaign Promise

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November 2, 2011 – Chicago (EWA) – During his 2008 campaign, President Obama promised his unequivocal support for a ban on horse slaughter. “Now is the time for you to keep that promise, Mr. President,” says John Holland, president of Equine Welfare Alliance.

Calling it “paramount to public health”, the Equine Welfare Alliance (EWA) and Animal Law Coalition sent a letter to President Obama, urging him to support a ban on equine slaughter for human consumption.  The groups also presented the president with more than 6,000 signatures on a White House petition calling for an end to equine slaughter for human consumption.

At the time the petition was created, the White House indicated the administration would consider any issue with at least 5,000 signatures. The equine slaughter ban petition easily gathered more signatures, more quickly than a petition created to reinstate equine slaughter for human consumption in the U.S. The opposition petition was lacking 2,750 signatures when the petition to ban horse slaughter reached 5,000.

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Community/Charity, Phelps Media Group

The Wellington Equestrian Preservation Alliance Resumes Its Mission to Protect the Equestrian Lifestyle

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Wellington, FL – November 2, 2011 – The newly focused Wellington Equestrian Preservation Alliance is working to protect and enhance the Wellington Equestrian Preserve and the Wellington equestrian industry. The former Wellington Equestrian Alliance began as a crucial asset to the city in 1997, but eventually lost focus and dissolved around 2010. The new Alliance President Lou Jacobs is working to refocus the small group of concerned citizens to preserve the delicate equestrian lifestyle that has evolved in the Wellington Preserve.

The primary goal of the Alliance is to support and preserve the equestrian community of the Village of Wellington. The corporation will work hard to encourage and promote cooperation among the equestrian community by staying focused to the rural equestrian lifestyle that has made Wellington a success.

“We all have created a world class equestrian community here,” Lou Jacobs explained. “I think by working together we can continue to balance commercial development with a rural equestrian lifestyle.”

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Auctions, Breeds, Community/Charity, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Racing

“Hats Off to the Horses: The Road to The Derby” Online Auction of Couture Kentucky Derby Hats Returns for Third Year

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Proceeds to Benefit Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement

GEORGETOWN, KY – OCTOBER 31, 2011 – Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Facility in Georgetown, KY, is happy to announce the launch of the third annual “Hats Off to the Horses: The Road to the Derby,” an online auction of exclusive Kentucky Derby hats.

The first of six hats exclusive Derby chapeaus will go on the virtual block November 1st and bidding will be open for 10 days. The first hat will commemorate Hall of Fame Champion Noor.

Interested bidders can visit www.oldfriendsequine.org and follow the link.

In the past two years this the six-month-long charity auction, featuring beautiful hats handcrafted by milliner Sally Faith Steinman, has raised nearly $9,000 for the more than 100 retired racehorses cared for by Old Friends.

Continue reading “Hats Off to the Horses: The Road to The Derby” Online Auction of Couture Kentucky Derby Hats Returns for Third Year →

*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Events, Hunter/Equitation, National Horse Show, Phelps Media Group, Show Jumping

Todd Minikus and Sweetheart Blaze to Victory in Sasco Creek Farm $50,000 Welcome Stake at the Alltech National Horse Show

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Todd Minikus and Sweetheart won the Sasco Creek Farm International Open Jumper $50,000 Welcome Stake at the Alltech National Horse Show. Photo By: Shawn McMillen.

Lexington, KY – November 2, 2011 – It was a thrilling night of competition in the Alltech Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park as the Alltech National Horse Show, 128th Edition, made its debut at its new home. The top horses and riders from around the world showed up tonight to compete during the Sasco Creek Farm International Open Jumpers $50,000 Welcome Stake, benefiting the Alltech Sustainable Haiti Project. Riders raced over the technical track set by Richard Jeffery, and with a blazing pace of 57.93 seconds the winning honors went to Todd Minikus riding Sweetheart, owned by Candy Tribble and the Windsor Show Stables of East Windsor, CT. McLain Ward and Pjotter Van De Zonnehoeve, owned by Louisburg Farm of Boston, MA, followed in second with a clear time of 58.02, while Laura Kraut and Teirra, owned by Stars and Stripes of Middleburg, VA picked up the third place honors with a time of 60.56 seconds.

Jeffery built an excellent course for tonight’s event, big but inviting. It included multiple inside options, as well as striding options and a technical oxer-vertical-oxer triple combination. Fourteen horse and rider combinations managed to complete clear efforts.

Continue reading Todd Minikus and Sweetheart Blaze to Victory in Sasco Creek Farm $50,000 Welcome Stake at the Alltech National Horse Show →

*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Events, Hunter/Equitation, National Horse Show, Phelps Media Group, Show Jumping

Sweetheart Lives Up to His Name for Minikus

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Todd Minikus and Sweetheart galloped to victory in the Sasco Creek Farm International Welcome Stakes on the opening night of the Alltech National Horse Show 2011. Photo: Shawn McMillan Photography.

Kentucky, USA, 2 November 2011 — Floridian Todd Minikus stormed to victory in the Sasco Creek Farm International Welcome Stakes on the opening night of the Alltech National Horse Show at the Horse Park in Kentucky, USA tonight riding the aptly-named Sweetheart.

With a sparkling field of 43 starters from six nations all vying for a cut of the $50,000 prize-fund this was never going to be an easy one to win.  And, sixth to go, fellow-American and newly-crowned Pan-American team champion McLain Ward made sure of that when setting a super-fast early target with Pjotter van de Zonnehoeve.

Ward’s dare-devil ride saw him race through the finish in 58.02 seconds to put it up to the rest of them.  And, in the final analysis, only Minikus found a faster route home when leaving all the fences up with a great ride on his handsome 12 year old gelding.

Continue reading Sweetheart Lives Up to His Name for Minikus →

*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Events, Hunter/Equitation, National Horse Show, Phelps Media Group, Show Jumping

Multiple Hunter Wins for Scott Stewart on Opening Day at the Alltech National Horse Show

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Scott Stewart and Garfield won the Pony Lane Farm High Performance Hunter Handy Class at the Alltech National Horse Show, 128th Edition. Photo By: Rebecca Walton/PMG.

[Lexington, KY] – November 2, 2011 – It was a historic day in Lexington, KY, as the Alltech National Horse Show, 128th Edition got underway at its new home in the Alltech Arena of the Kentucky Horse Park. The top horses and riders from around the world have gathered to take part in this exciting event. The professional hunter divisions were the first to take place, and it proved to be Scott Stewart’s day as he won over half of the blue ribbons with his talented mounts.

The 14 Hands Winery Regular Conformation Hunters kicked off the first day of competition at the Alltech Arena. The winner of the first class over fences was Sambalino, ridden by Scott Stewart and owned by Becky Gochman of New York, NY. Taking home the blue ribbon honors in the handy round was Elizabeth Boyd and Casallo, owned by Erin McGuire of Cornelius, NC.

“The management here did an amazing job, it feels different, and it feels like the National Horse Show,” commented Boyd. “They dressed it up and the courses are amazing. Richard Jeffery did a great job and the handy was really fun to ride. It’s exciting to have the horse show here.”

Continue reading Multiple Hunter Wins for Scott Stewart on Opening Day at the Alltech National Horse Show →