All posts by Associate Editor

Ted Turner Signs on with Saving America’s Mustangs

We are pleased to announce that Saving America’s Mustangs has a new Advisory Board member, Mr. Ted Turner!

Since the early 1970s, Ted Turner has stepped into the international spotlight with one accomplishment after another. Whether in billboard advertisement, cable television, sports team ownership, sailing, environmental initiatives or philanthropy – Turner’s vision, determination, generosity and forthrightness have consistently given the world reason to take notice.

Turner now dedicates his time and resources to making the world a better, safer place for future generations. His current philanthropic interests include: the Turner Foundation, the United Nations Foundation, the Nuclear Threat Initiative, the Captain Planet Foundation, and the Turner Endangered Species Fund.

www.tedturner.com

“The Turner Foundation looks at the earth as a precious asset that has been lent to us. As a family, we believe it is our job to do whatever we can to leave it better than we found it.” R. E. Turner, Chairman

Continue reading Ted Turner Signs on with Saving America’s Mustangs

NO SECRET SO CLOSE excerpt #13, by Claire Dorotik

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 #13 from NO SECRET SO CLOSE:

In the end, it was she who made the first move. Stepping up to the car, she handed me a piece of paper. “Claire, your dad’s not back from his run,” she said, her voice trembling. “You need to call the police sergeant right away. Ok? He wants to know Bob’s running routes.” On the paper, she had scribbled the name, Sergeant Brady, and a phone number.

I had run with my dad enough to know there could only be one reason he hadn’t returned. He’d been hurt. My body went numb with the thought of what, or who, might have overtaken him. I had felt that strangeness in the area any number of times while running, and knew he had too. We’d never exactly spoken about our fears. But we had all kinds of names for the strange types we’d see while running.

It could have been me, was all I could think. Why him and not me? I would have been an easier target, certainly.

Continue reading NO SECRET SO CLOSE excerpt #13, by Claire Dorotik

Equine Therapy and ADHD: How It Works, by Claire Dorotik MA

For as long as the diagnosis of ADHD has been recognized, there have been experiential methods to treat it. From wilderness excursions to ropes courses, therapists have looked for ways to help those children burdened with high anxiety, short attention span, inability to focus and complete tasks, and heightened excitability, learn to understand and manage their condition. However, one of the difficulties that has been encountered repeatedly in working with ADHD children is a way to teach them the necessary social skills to develop effective relationships. As often those around ADSHD children will complain about their apparent lack of interest, difficulty in carrying on a meaningful conversation, and maintaining accountability, relationships are often strained. And while they may be able to learn to use goal and completion charts to organize and complete their own tasks, children with ADHD may continue to struggle with face to face interactions. While verbal reminders have fallen short, therapists have turned to non-verbal methods to help these children identify how they present and the impact that it has on those around them. This is where equine therapy has, of recent, been utilized quite intently.

So how is it that being around a horse can effectively help a child who has trouble focusing in the first place? To answer this question, we must first understand that ADHD is expressed as a hypervigilance to the environment. While the attention of those not affected by ADHD can be held quite sufficiently by one component of their environment, ADHD children are constantly switching their focus from one thing to another, and digesting little feedback from the world around them in the process. This hypervigilance is very similar to the physiology of a nervous horse. However, the difference is that for a horse experiencing this kind of heightened arousal, the pertinent response would be to run. After all, fear initiates flight. And in fleeing, the physiological components of arousal would be actualized and the system reset — essentially, the horse would calm back down.

Continue reading Equine Therapy and ADHD: How It Works, by Claire Dorotik MA

The Dressage on the First Coast Spring 2011 show program “Thank You” ad from Jerry Rehkopf

Click for larger image

My Northeast Florida Dressage Association (NFDA) club’s Dressage on the First Coast Spring 2011 show is coming up this weekend (April 9-10th) and boy has there been a flurry of work to do to get everything ready for it. Everything else has had to be put on hold, even getting my newsletter out before the end of March. My attempt to get it out the week before that was thwarted by a frustrating technical issue of my ESP not ‘talking’ to my ISP which took me 4 days to finally get resolved.  Hence my March newsletter has become my Spring newsletter or a March/April newsletter.

My wonderful husband offered to do an advertisement for the show program as the EVP of HorsesintheSouth.com. We were trying to decide what he would say in the program ad as I already have an ad for HorsesintheSouth.com in it, so we decided that we would just thank all of our current clients, banner advertisers and affiliates. My graphic designer, Beth Webb, who also did the show program for us on a last minute notice just told me to write up some text and she would make an ad out of it. Well, 3-4 hours later, I came up with this huge text-heavy ad that feels like I am thanking everyone for an academy award or something, it is so long!  I didn’t know where to stop, I am so lucky to have such wonderful clients and advertisers.  And, these are just the current ones!  So I figured this would also be a good editorial so that all of the HorsesintheSouth.com readers and AHorseBlog.com readers will see these accolades instead of it just being confined to a horse show program.

 

It reads like this, but the layout that Beth did is gorgeous, as is the show program that she did for the Dressage on the First Coast.

Jerry Rehkopf, husband to Teri Rehkopf the website developer of DressageontheFirstCoast.com and CEO/Owner/Producer of HorsesintheSouth.com and AHorseBlog.com, SurvivalPrepperSupply.com and GoldenSurvivalist.com wants to wish the NFDA, Northeast Florida Dressage Association, nfladressage.org, host to the Dressage on the First Coast, USDF/USEF recognized show, and the competitors the best of luck for this show and to thank all of Teri’s clients, current advertisers and website she supports.

The list of her clients in alphabetical order, many of which have been her clients since the early 2000’s, are:

Website Clients:

ASmallCleverness.com – Rubber stamp store for people who love to create with stamps.

EquineSportsTrainer.net – Ashley Davis, Equine Sports Trainer and Performance Consultant.

ALGGraphics.com – Flexo and Screen printer of specialty labels.

DogwoodSportHorses.com – Breeders of excellent bloodline European cross warmblood sport horses for sale; featuring the branded Westfalen, and approved RPSI breeding stallion, Freedom Hall.

DressageontheFirstCoast.com – The website for the twice yearly recognized show; started for the 2005 Region 3 Championships held at the Jacksonville Equestrian Center.

Feedin’ Time – Animal feed & supply store. See the store link on HorsesintheSouth.com/feedintime

FloridaMaritimeLawyers.com – Florida-based law firm which concentrates in trial litigation in the field of admiralty, cruise line and maritime law.

James “Shea” Walsh – HorsesintheSouth.com/sheawalsh; 1988 Olympian represented Ireland. Instruction and clinics locally and abroad.

KDEquine.com – Kathy Daly — Classical Dressage trainer, clinician. USEF “r” Dressage judge; my first website started in 1997. I wanted to give back to Kathy for all of the wonderful training she had and has done for me and my horses. We still get many “phone” training lessons and I used to get “Kitchen Table” lessons when she would stay with me when I lived in Jacksonville and she would get to my place too late for a lesson. One day I am going to write a book for her on these lessons, she is that good at explaining what to do!

PostHillFarm.com – Breeders and sales of show ponies.

Sundance Farm – HorsesintheSouth.com/sundancefarm; Featuring Swedish Warmblood, AWS approved stallion, Synchronicity; Lupe Guarderas, owner, competitor, trainer and Dressage judge.

SuncoastBedding.com – Premium ultra-compressed pine shavings animal bedding.

TripleKBarC.com – Preserving the “Last Chance” naturally-gaited, old-time Albert Dement foundation line of Tennessee Walking Horses. Dement mares for sale to selected breeding homes.

Current Banner Advertisers and Others that we Support:

CanterburyShowPlace.com – Central Florida’s nicest equestrian showplace with an indoor covered and lighted arena, and 3 outdoor rings, 5 show barns, clubhouse and more!

ClassicCompany.com – Show management that we support; production of multiple shows throughout the South.

EquineColicReliefAmerica.com – Amazing product that we have personally used to stop colic.

FlashpointMediaServices.com and FlashPointPhotography.com – Robbie and Greg Meisel who we love and support, specialize in performance and event portrait photography, and press releases for Classic Company, LLC show management.

JaneHeart.com – Gorgeous equestrian and dog lines of jewelry including Secretariat™ and Barbaro™ licensed jewelry.

KAMAnimalServices.com – KAM’s Equine Learning Circle offers FREE webinars every month and we list weekly tips each Monday and support them with a banner link.

MahanFarm.com – 113 acre boarding, show and clinic facility in Tallahassee, FL. Summer camp held in conjunction with Feather Oaks Farm. Brett Barteld, Owner

NagHorseRanch.com – Home of the Nose Shade, formerly called Nag Nose Shade to stop sunburned horses’ muzzles.

NFHJA.com/ North Florida Hunter Jumper Association – We support them, especially during the Jacksonville Winter Series.

Fleet Footing International – Supreme arena footing distributed and used by Canterbury Showplace

RavenwoodFarm.net – Ravenwood Farm Foundation non-profit rescue corporation

SouthernFarrier.com – Brett Barteld; 2nd Generation Farrier; 1990 Oklahoma Horseshoeing School -Certificate Graduate Professional Horseshoeing; Brotherhood of Working Farriers Association Certified; American Farrier’s Association Member

SunHorseTack.com – Fancy and custom-made horse halters and stuff!

USET.org/United States Equestrian Team Foundation – We support them with a non-profit banner advertisement.

YouMightAsWellJump.com – Rob Bowman – amazing artistic photographer

And, we have too many blog contributors to list here, so please see the Contributor category on AHorseBlog.com as these keep growing every day.

Jerry and Teri also wish to thank Sheila Van Dusen, honorary EVP, for all of the assistance she has provided since our beginnings in 2000, plus Jason Ellerbee, for his assistance as our Associate Editor and analyst, Chris Dunn and Linda Bourdow for their accounting assistance, Rob Bowman for his amazing photography, Charles Bryant for his amazing programming work on our website and blog, and Beth Webb for her amazing graphic design skills and assistance. Without their help, we would not have been able to keep this monster of a website and blog, plus our client sites and advertisers functioning.

Healthy Horse Tip – Be Proactive against Radioactive Fallout and Environmental Toxicity

We don’t know if we will be physically affected by the after effects of the tsunami that hit Japan.  But let’s face it; the world is talking about radiation.  Radioactive fallout is a buzz phrase these days.  Hopefully, it won’t be something we ever have to worry about but there are steps that can be taken to help protect our horses.  It’s called KAM DTX-Formula, a new product recently created by KAM Animal Services.

Even before the radioactive fallout buzz began, KAM Animal Services was often approached by clients asking if the company could create a product that would protect horses against environmental toxins.  The combination of man-made pollutants, contaminated feeds and water, and natural stress, such as storms or draught, result in their bodies becoming toxic.  So, it’s not just radiation that can create toxicity in horses but so many other environmental situations.

KAM felt there was some merit to those requests and so the staff began research to find the right combination of ingredients to detoxify toxic horses.  As important as that product was, it kept taking a back seat to other projects until now.   Since KAM has been inundated with emails and phone calls recently asking if it has such a product, KAM DTX-Formula became the priority.

Continue reading Healthy Horse Tip – Be Proactive against Radioactive Fallout and Environmental Toxicity

Strong Entries in Principle Inaugural FEI Reining World Final

Malmö, Sweden – The Organizing Committee of the FEI Reining World Final announced today that Entries in Principle for the 2011 event will be the strongest in the sport’s history. With intended participation from 20 nations, the WRF will be held at the renowned equestrian facility of Bökeberg, just outside of Malmö, Sweden, offering several days of FEI Reining classes and the $100,000 FEI World Reining Final on May 21, 2011.

The FEI Reining World Final is a reinvention of the old FEI World Reining Masters. Each National Federation may send athletes to compete on behalf of their country in the annual championship with national pride, prize money and the individual title of World Reining Champion at stake. “Malmö 2011” will represent the first time that the annual individual final has been held outside North America since 2005.

Continue reading Strong Entries in Principle Inaugural FEI Reining World Final

Robert Dover Hosts Open Forum for Listeners on Tonight’s Show

Robert Dover. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Client

Wellington, FL – April 5, 2011 – Six-time Olympian Robert Dover will host an evening to remember on his Dover’s World radio show, discussing anything his listeners are interested in.  At 7p.m. Dover will open the listener phone lines to anyone with questions. Dover’s World airs tonight, Tuesday April 5, 2011, beginning at 6pm on WBZT (AM 1230) from Palm Beach to Miami, Florida. The program can also be found at DoversWorld.com, and will be streamed live for listeners around the world. Joining Dover in the evening’s line up is the voice of Welly World, Mason Phelps, Jr.

Phelps, another former Olympian, will update listeners on the final week of the Winter Equestrian Festival, along with other tidbits from what’s been happening in Wellington.

Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=13543

Riders4Helmets Campaign to Be Promoted at IOC International Federations’ Medical Commission Chairpersons Meeting

USEF CEO John Long with Craig Ferrell, M.D. Photo by Riders4Helmets.

Lexington, KY – U.S. Equestrian Team Physician and Chair of the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) Medical Council, Craig Ferrell M.D, will be attending the International Olympic Committee International Federations’ Medical Commission Chairpersons Meeting in Monaco April 6, 2011. The meeting is for international sport federation national chairmen, and is sponsored by the IOC.

Dr. Ferrell intends to provide updates during the meeting on the recent United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) helmet rule changes and progress of the riders4helmets campaign in educating equestrians on the benefits of wearing helmets. Dr Ferrell was the co-host of the Riders4Helmets Helmet Safety Symposium held January 8th, 2011 in Wellington, FL. “I think that one of the responsibilities of International Federation medical committees is to advocate for changes that make sports safer. I appreciate the website campaign of riders4helmets in the efforts to promote safety awareness. Wearing a helmet just makes good horse sense,” said Ferrell.

The IOC International Federations’ Medical Commission Chairpersons Meeting is being held in conjunction with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) World Conference On Prevention Of Injury & Illness In Sport (April 7-9th) which will bring together scientists and practitioners to investigate and develop new concepts to enhance safety in sport through a beneficial cooperation.

Continue reading Riders4Helmets Campaign to Be Promoted at IOC International Federations’ Medical Commission Chairpersons Meeting

Atlanta Spring Classic II and Updates

First I want to thank you for a wonder set of winter circuits.  We started in January in Green Cove Springs, followed by a week off and then Gulfport followed by another week off and Conyers.  A great 12 weeks all over the corners of the southeast.  Thanks for making this a great winter of horse shows.

Second, I want to thank all the sponsors who help to make the circuits possible along with Equestrian Travel who make our housing simple and cost effective.

We had lots of fun this winter and we still have lots in store for you in our summer shows that are listed at the bottom of this message.  We have made some giant changes to our summer shows in Atlanta and Charleston due to requests from our exhibitors and trainers.

This week in Atlanta ends our 12 weeks together and it was a wonderful week.  I do want to thank Southern States for the donation of 500 lbs of Southern States Feed.  It was won by Leah Heithold of Denver, NC.  Congrats.  I also want to thank Southern States for the Dipin Dots they brought to the show last week too.

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Festival of the Horse CDI-W/Y/J – Day Three

Steffen Peters and Weltino's Magic. Photo by Jennifer M. Keeler.

Burbank, CA – California’s Jan Ebeling and Rafalca displayed not only their difficult grand prix freestyle routine during the final day of the Festival of the Horse CDI-W/Y/J in but also their readiness for the Reem Acra/FEI World Cup Dressage Final in Leipzig later this month. Earning a solid 73.025% and a ticket to the World Cup as one of two North American League representatives, Ebeling and the 14-year-old Oldenburg mare (Argentinius x Ratine by Rubinstein I, owned by Amy Ebeling) seemed very confident. “She’s gotten so much stronger and better this year, and she’s taken it to a whole new level,” said Ebeling. “She felt awesome! She’s finally come into her own now.”

Debuting their Intermediaire I freestyle, Steffen Peters completed his sweep of the small tour with Jen Hlavacek’s Weltino’s Magic (Weltino x Diva by Diamond Boy) by scoring a huge score of 79.417%. “The first word that comes to mind is ‘fun’,” said Peters. “I rode the freestyle a bit conservatively today since it was the first time, but he was right on.”

Meanwhile, Jamie Pestana rode her own Hanoverian gelding Winzalot (Wokenstein II x Frazisco) to a freestyle victory with a score of 67.250% to close out the Young Rider division.

Complete results are available at: http://www.cornerstonedressage.com/show_results.asp.