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Rescue/Protection Sources

Senator Kirk Introduces Bill to End Inhumane Transport of Horses on Double Deck Trailers

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Washington, D.C. (June 28, 2011) – Late Monday night, Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) introduced The Horse Transportation Safety Act of 2011 (S. 1281) to ban double deck trailer transportation of horses in the United States. Senator Kirk has worked to end the use of double deck transports for hauling horses since serving in the House of Representatives, following a horrific double deck trailer accident that took place in his state.

“Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) is elated that Senator Kirk has chosen to reassert his strong commitment to the issue since his election to the Senate last year,” said Christine Sequenzia, federal policy advisor at AWI. “Humane horse transportation is one of our top priorities and we felt that committee passage of a standalone bill during the 111th Congress was an important step forward.  We now look forward to seeing the Horse Transportation Safety Act of 2011 signed into law.”

Double deck livestock trailers on the road today were built to meet the specific design and engineering requirements of short-necked livestock species, like cattle, sheep, and swine.  Unfortunately, a few irresponsible haulers have used these trailers against manufacturer intent to transport horses, leading to inhumane travel conditions for equines and unsafe roadways for drivers.  The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) and the National Agriculture Safety Database (NASD) have recommended ceiling heights no lower than 7’-8’ to transport horses safely, while average double deck trailer ceiling heights range from 4’7”-5‘11”.  The U.S. Department of Transportation only requires bridges to have a vertical clearance of 14′ in both rural and urban areas, making it impractical to build or modify a trailer large enough to transport equines on two levels.

“Besides being an inhumane way to transport horses, double-deck trailers pose a major safety threat to the drivers of the imbalanced, oversized vehicles, as well as to other motorists,” said Senator Kirk. “Unfortunately, crashes due to these factors have occurred, and the results of the accidents are devastating. Following an accident in 2007 in Wadsworth, Ill., authorities worked for five hours before they were able to free the horses from the wreckage.”

Continue reading Senator Kirk Introduces Bill to End Inhumane Transport of Horses on Double Deck Trailers →

Community/Charity, Contributors/Press, Diana de Rosa, Products/Services

Healthy Horse Tip – Equine Experts Send Us Your Best Tip

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Win $750 Worth of KAM’s Healthy Horse Products and More

KAM’s Equine Learning Circle, a division of KAM Animal Services, has been providing healthy horse tips weekly for over a year now.  Their “Tips of the Week” have been so well received that they now want to offer other equine experts the opportunity to be credited for their best healthy horse tip.  Everyone who sends in a tip will be a winner so read on!

If you are a veterinarian, a farrier, an equine dentist, a nutritionist, or a specialist in some area related to horses then send us your best tip for a chance to win prizes.  First place will win $750 worth of KAM Animal Services products, second place $500 worth of product and third place $250 worth of product.

Do you have a tip on the best way to deal with lameness, keep your horse free from flies or to give your friendly critter a shiny coat?  Or maybe your tip is about cleaning your tack or quick and easy grooming tips, loading your horse into a trailer, or preparing your horse for the vet.  Perhaps your tip is about teaching the adult or child rider or how to photograph your horse.  If you feel you are an expert in some area and have a tip to offer, then we want to hear from you.  Let your mind be your guide and in 250-350 words write down your tip and email it to diana@presslinkpr.com.

While there will be product prizes for first, second and third place, that doesn’t mean you won’t also be a winner.  If we like what you have to say, you could also have your very own tip be included in KAM’s Equine Learning Circle’s Tip of the Week.  Each tip will have a cartoon crafted to match the theme of your tip and you will be credited for your submission at the end of the tip.  In addition KAM is creating a Healthy Horse Holiday e-Book of all its tips and yours could be included.

Continue reading Healthy Horse Tip – Equine Experts Send Us Your Best Tip →

Competitions, Events, Hunter/Equitation, Jennifer Wood, Show Jumping

Plymouth Rock Hunter Jumper Classic Wrap-Up: June 21-25, 2011

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Halifax, MA – June 28, 2011 – The Plymouth Rock Hunter Jumper Classic was held on June 21-25, 2011, at Fieldstone Equestrian in Halifax, Massachusetts.

Wednesday’s highlights were the well-attended derby classes held on the scenic grass grand prix field. There were 50 entries in the $2,500 2’9″ Hunter Derby, and it was Jennifer Tate of Bourne, MA, riding Cavallino owned by Barbara Kravetz of Sharon, MA, who took home the top prize. Ericka Koscinski and Touchdown came in first place in the $2,500 Pony Hunter Derby Classic.

Professional rider Jennifer Tate has ridden Cavallino, who is called “Eagle” in the barn, many times, but their win on the grass field was special. Kravetz trains with Tate and has owned Eagle, a 13-year-old Hanoverian gelding, since he was four years old. Kravetz expressed, “This was his first derby class. He’s mostly been doing modified Adults with me over the past few years. We knew he was capable of doing it and we thought he would enjoy it. It was exhilarating and I was moved to tears. It was very exciting.”

The winner in the $2,500 Pony Hunter Derby Classic was Ericka Koscinski of Center Moriches, NY, who rode Touchdown for Salt River Farm to victory. Touchdown is a 16-year-old homebred pony from her family and she has ridden him in the pony hunters for four years. This was the first time she has competed in a derby and while she enjoyed, she also thought her pony liked it too.

Continue reading Plymouth Rock Hunter Jumper Classic Wrap-Up: June 21-25, 2011 →

Competitions, Dressage, Events, Hunter/Equitation, Maclay, National Horse Show, Phelps Media Group, Show Jumping

VIP Tables Now On Sale for Alltech National Horse Show

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PHOTO ©Alltech. The Entrance to the famed Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky.

Lexington, Kentucky – June 28, 2011 – The Alltech National Horse Show, 128th edition, announced today that VIP tables for the debut event, to be held from November 2-6, 2011, at the beautiful, new Alltech Indoor Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, are now on sale.

This CSI-W 4* event will attract the nation’s finest equestrians and large crowds are expected for every session, and without a doubt, the best place to watch all of the action will be from a ringside table at the exclusive Taylor Harris Club at the Alltech Arena.

The club is sponsored by Taylor Harris Insurance Services, the Official Equine Insurance Agency for the Alltech National Horse Show. Taylor Harris Insurance Services (THIS) was founded in 1987 to provide specialized insurance for all types of equine risk.

Table service includes a complimentary continental breakfast, a delicious light buffet lunch and a wonderful dinner buffet, with beverage service included. The price is all inclusive.

One of Lexington’s finest caterers and party planners, Dupree Catering and Events, will be providing the service for the Taylor Harris Club.  The company was started nearly twenty-five years ago by Harriet Dupree Bradley, a Lexington native whose love for feeding people with gracious service came from her family’s Southern roots. Eileen McCormick, another important part of the Dupree team, owned the successful restaurant, “The Inn Between,” and has also been the executive chef at the Kentucky Governor’s Mansion. Tony Yalnazov is the Dupree head chef and leads a team of fabulous cooks who produce the very best food in the Bluegrass.

Continue reading VIP Tables Now On Sale for Alltech National Horse Show →

Competitions, Dressage, Driving, Show Jumping, USEF, Vaulting

USEF Names Riders, Drivers and Vaulters for CHIO Aachen

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Lexington, KY – The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) will be represented in four disciplines at CHIO Aachen, which runs July 8-17, 2011 in Aachen, Germany. Please click on any athlete or team name for more information about them.

The following horse/rider combinations have been named in ranked order to represent the U.S. in Dressage:

Steffen Peters (San Diego, CA) will ride Four Winds Farm and Akiko Yamazaki’s Ravel
Ravel is a 13-year-old KWPN gelding

Jan Ebeling (Moorpark, CA) will ride Ann Romney and Amy Roberts Ebeling Rafalca
Rafalca is a 14-year-old Oldenburg mare

Guenter Seidel (Cardiff, CA) will ride Dick and Jane Brown’s UII
UII is a 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood

Todd Flettrich (Royal Palm Beach, FL) will ride Cherry Knoll Farm’s Otto
Otto is a 15-year-old Danish Warmblood gelding

Catherine Haddad-Staller (Vectha, Germany) and Winyamaro have been named as the first ranked substitute.

Continue reading USEF Names Riders, Drivers and Vaulters for CHIO Aachen →

Contributors/Press, Equine Assisted Therapy, Publications/Media

Resolution of Hyper-Vigilance, by Claire Dorotik

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While we know that horses are tremendously hypervigilant animals, much less is known about how it is this state of heightened awareness is resolved.

It is actually through fleeing — often the very thing that scares humans — that the horse keeps himself safe, serving as not only as an adaptive survival response but also as a way to continuously regulate his physiological system, keeping him well prepared to signal future danger.

In matching their behavior to their physiological responses, horses not only regulate their physiological system, but also find resolutions for threats in their environment.  This fleeing, in response to a heightening in the physiological system is not only the horse’s first response in enacting his defense system, but is also a way to resolve the threat.  In thinking about what resolution is, it is helpful to think about the purpose of a heightening response in the physiological system.  A heightened response in the physiological system alerts the horse to a threat in his environment.  Should the horse remain in this state, alerted to a threat nearby, he would continue looking for the source of the threat, in an effort to resolve the danger.

Clearly this would not be a comfortable state for the horse to remain in for an extended period of time.  The horse would not only remain frightened and hyper vigilant, but it would not be adaptive to his survival.  Because a horse’s defense system overrides all other physiological systems, to remain in this heightened state, would be to the detriment of all other necessary tasks of survival, such as finding food, shelter, remaining with the herd, reproducing, and tending to young.  Therefore, in order to survive, the horse needs to find resolutions for threats in his environment.  Resolving the threat means first engaging the defense system, by fleeing or fighting, and then disengaging the defense system.  This disengagement, or resetting allows the defense system to regulate, therefore remaining balanced.

Continue reading Resolution of Hyper-Vigilance, by Claire Dorotik →

Community/Charity, Contributors/Press, Publications/Media

NO SECRET SO CLOSE excerpt #25, by Claire Dorotik

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NO SECRET SO CLOSE is the story of a the most unthinkable betrayal humanly possible — at only 24 years old, Claire Dorotik’s father has been murdered, her mother arrested, and now, in a sinister twist of fate, Claire’s mother points the finger at Claire, accusing her of killing her own father. Battling the feelings of loss, abandonment, terror, and dissociation, and also learning about them, Claire struggles to stay in her master’s program for psychotherapy. However, when Claire’s brothers also betray her and side with her mother, Claire is left all alone to care for the 18 horses she and her mother owned. As the story unfolds, what is revealed is the horses’ amazing capacity for empathy in the face of human trauma, and the almost psychic ability to provide the author with what had been taken from her. Arising from these horrifying circumstances, the most unthinkable heroes — the horses — show Claire that life is still worth living.

Excerpt #25 from NO SECRET SO CLOSE:

“Hi Claire”, she said, in her bubbly, if somewhat tense voice.

Trying to disguise my shock, I replied, “Oh hi Debbie.” It was a big horse show, and as far as I knew, she had only been showing at the smaller shows.

“I heard about your mom,” she stood back and crossed her arms.

“Yeah”, I responded. This again, I thought to myself.

“So what happened?” she asked, her eyes glaring at me.

“Don’t know,” I replied, looking away.

She stepped closer, “Well did she do it?”

Continue reading NO SECRET SO CLOSE excerpt #25, by Claire Dorotik →

Breeds, Community/Charity, Dressage, Phelps Media Group

Sons of the Wind Farm Performs Classical Quadrille and Showcases Aires above Ground at PVDA’s “Ride for Life”

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Sons of the Wind performed Aires above the Ground for a captive audience during the PVDA's Ride for Life. Photo By: Rebecca Walton/Ride for Life.

Upper Marlboro, MD – June 28, 2011 – On June 25, 2011, Sons of the Wind School of Equestrian Arts joined the talented performers during the PVDA’s Ride for Life at the Prince George’s Equestrian Center in Upper Marlboro, MD. Sons of the Wind showcased the versatility of the Lusitano breed with athletic airs above the ground and a traditional quadrille during the 2011 Dancing Horse Challenge. This annual event is a premier dressage show and breast cancer benefit where all proceeds fund quality of life and breast cancer research at the Johns Hopkins Avon Foundation Breast Center.

Sons of the Wind kicked off the evening with a Haute Ecole/Longline Performance. Vitor Silva led his Lusitano partner through the dressage movements of the piaffe and the passage. They then demonstrated the incredible aires above the ground with the levade and the capriole for the captivated audience.

Later in the night, Sons of the Wind entered the ring with four new Lusitano mounts that arrived from Brazil just one month ago for the Portuguese Riding School Quadrille. The horses and riders wore traditional Portuguese costumes during the quadrille, and easily made their way through the movements after a successful exhibition at the Pride of Portugal Lusitano Festival on June 4, 2011.

“I think both of the performances went very well, especially since the horses we were riding are so young,” commented Silva at the end of the night. “This event is fantastic because it shows the diversity of the sport and the breeds, and it is an excellent opportunity for the spectators to see the different disciplines. There is not one that is easier than the other; they all require a great deal of hard work and dedication.”

Continue reading Sons of the Wind Farm Performs Classical Quadrille and Showcases Aires above Ground at PVDA’s “Ride for Life” →

Breeds, Championships, Competitions, Driving, Events

Combined Driver Shelly Temple Raising Funds to Represent US in World Driving Championships

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June 27, 2011 – Getting to Europe for humans isn’t as hard as it seems — passport, airplane ticket, maps, and some spending money and you’re ready to go.

However, an equestrian athlete traveling to Europe to complete for one’s nation is a tougher.  Shelly Temple, 3 time US National Champion Combined Driver and member of the 2007 bronze medal team, is seeking to travel to Slovenia to compete in the World Pony Driving Championships.  Her Morgan pony, Cooper, is a top form in 2011 where Temple hopes to improve upon her second place in dressage in 2007.

Getting to Europe has been Temple’s goal since 2010; however, she states, “Shipping the horse and carriages is very expensive.” The cost for Team Catalyst to compete at the World Championships is estimated to be around $50,000.  Traditionally, the drivers have had to raise the majority of funds to get there and to compete. “We have worked very hard to get ready and now ask for your help to get there and hopefully win a medal for the US,” exclaims Temple.

To learn how you can support Temple, Cooper, and Team Catalyst visit www.catalystdriving.com or call 804-837-4888.

Community/Charity, Competitions, Events, Hunter/Equitation, Phelps Media Group, Show Jumping

2011 $25,000 Franktown Meadows Hunter Derby to Benefit ALS of Nevada

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Reno, NV – June 27, 2011 – The 2011 $25,000 Franktown Meadows USHJA International Hunter Derby is pleased to announce that this year’s prestigious event will benefit ALS of Nevada. The Franktown Meadows Hunter Derby will take place at the Franktown Meadows Equestrian Facility in Carson City, Nevada, on September 5, 2011. The event will showcase the best horse and rider combinations in the country as they compete for the winning title over the beautiful derby course in front of an eager crowd.

ALS of Nevada is an independent, not-for-profit organization that serves to improve the lives of those living with and fighting ALS throughout Nevada. The organization was founded in 1998, and its goal is to help patients and families live as normal a life as possible. ALS of Nevada conducts support group meetings for patients, caregivers, and family members. They also aid patients through the loan of equipment and free clinics. ALS of Nevada is an advocate and supports scientific research for the prevention, alleviation, care, treatment, and cure of ALS. ALS of Nevada works to increase awareness of ALS throughout the government in an effort to expand support of research and elicit programs that will make treatments and care accessible and affordable to all patients.

ALS is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, which is also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, and is always fatal. It can happen to anyone, without warning and with or without family history. ALS affects voluntary action, and patients in later stages are often totally paralyzed. The financial burden to families with ALS can be over $200,000 a year and much of the needed assistance is not covered by standard medical plans or Medicare.

Executive Director of ALS of Nevada, Megan Testa, has been working with ALS of Nevada for ten years. She has fulfilled the role as Executive Director for five years and will be attending the event for the first time this year.

Continue reading 2011 $25,000 Franktown Meadows Hunter Derby to Benefit ALS of Nevada →