FarmVet would like to congratulate Joe Fargis, one of our Sponsored Riders, for the honor he received in December from the United States Hunter Jumper Association. Last month Fargis and fellow equestrian, Larry Langer, were awarded with the USHJA Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2009 Evening of Equestrians Dinner during. Recipients of this award have dedicated their lives to promoting the disciplines of hunters and jumpers on a national level.
Olympian Joe Fargis certainly has an impressive list of accomplishments. He has represented the United States for more than 40 years and continues to be a force to reckon with today. Fargis is probably best known for his double Gold Medal wins at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games with Touch of Class. Then in 1988 at the Olympic Games in Seoul, Korea, Fargis and his mount, Mill Pearl, helped the U.S. team win the Silver Medal.
Today Fargis continues to compete in Grand Prix events around the country and has recent wins at such events as the American Gold Cup in Devon, the USET Wellington Cup, the Hampton Classic Grand Prix, and the I Love New York Grand Prix. Fargis also gives back to the equestrian community by serving on the USHJA Horse Welfare Committee and by teaching clinics all over the country.
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Ravel and Steffen Peters winning the 2009 FEI World Cup Dressage Final.
January 15 2010 Louisville, KY – Annually, five of the USEF’s 130,000 registered horses achieve so much in a year that they are named USEF Horses of Honor and enter the running for the title of Farnam/Platform Horse of the Year.
In 2009 all five of these horses were nothing short of remarkable.
But one forever changed the face of his sport, and with that, Ravel was voted the 2009 USEF Farnam/Platform Horse of the Year.
It began in April at the FEI World Cup Dressage Final when, with the weight of a nation on his 11-year-old shoulders, Ravel trotted back into Las Vegas’ Thomas & Mack Arena after winning the Grand Prix to perform his Freestyle.
Peter Pletcher and HH London Dominate the Western Hay & Suncoast Bedding First Year Green Working Hunter Championship at the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival.
Wellington, FL – January 14, 2010 – Today the first championships of the 2010 FTI Wellington Equestrian Festival were awarded in the professional hunter divisions. The Green Working hunters, sponsored by Western Hay & Suncoast Bedding, took center stage in the Rost Arena this afternoon.
The season’s inaugural First Year Green Hunter Championship was awarded to Peter Pletcher of Magnolia, TX, with Double H Farm’s HH London. Pletcher describes HH London, a 7-year-old Dutch bred gelding by London Times and Voltaire, as “fantastic.”
Double H farm bought the bay gelding in the middle of the summer, and Pletcher sat on him for the first time in October 2009. Pletcher and the team from Double H Farm knew immediately that this would be a great match. “I tried him and I thought that he was really nice, easy, and straight forward,” Pletcher commented. This was only the second show for HH London, and his first time competing at the 3’6″ height. Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=9815
Can you feel when your horse’s hind legs are on the ground? This is an important skill to develop because you want to time your leg aid so that you give it when your horse’s corresponding hind leg is on the ground.
In fact, the exact moment to influence a particular hind leg is just as it’s getting ready to push off the ground.
You can learn to feel where the hind legs are by feeling your horse’s hips. When a particular hind foot is on the ground, your horse’s hip is higher on that side. It feels like your corresponding seatbone is being pushed forward.
The North Florida Hunter Jumper Association five week 2010 Jacksonville Winter Series will run from January 6th – February 7th, 2010. This will be the 16th year of the annual Winter Series, which has donated over $900,000 to local charities over the years, including the Clay County 4-H and has an annual economic impact of over $16 million to the surrounding community.
The first week of competition, the Jacksonville Kick-Off, runs from January 6-10, 2010. It is an “AA” nationally rated horse show and will feature a $10,000 Jumper Classic.
Perhaps the most exciting of the weeks is the second week of competition. The Jacksonville International will be held from January 13-17, 2010. It is an “AA” nationally rated horse show that also boasts the $125,000 Green Cove Springs CSI-W. The $25,000 Welcome Class will be held on Friday, January 15th and the $100,000 World Cup Qualifier Class will be held on Saturday, January 16th. These two classes will draw a large and very exciting field of national and international Olympic riders and their mounts. A children’s carnival, rides, pony rides and a petting zoo will be offered to entertain the young and young at heart during the day. Admission is free with a $5 donation for parking. All proceeds from the day’s events will benefit the Clay County 4-H Foundation.
The Jacksonville Mid-Winter, January 20-24, 2010 follows with its own attractions, including “AA” nationally rated hunters and jumpers. The highlight of the weekend will be the $5,000 Welcome Class to be held on the afternoon of Friday, January 22nd in addition to the $25,000 Marco Family Foundation Grand Prix on Saturday, January 23rd that will benefit Horses for Heroes and the Wounded Warriors Programs. Cedar River Seafood will cater a reception for Exhibitors and Sponsors prior to the event. A string of pearls generously donated by Beard’s Jewelry and cufflinks generously donated will be auctioned off to raise money for the worthy causes. The $10,000 Jerry Parks Hunter Classic will be held the evening of Friday, January 22nd. This Hunter Derby type class is always spectacular to watch in the big covered ring under the lights!
The Jacksonville Winter A to Z ~ January 27 – 31, 2010 features “AA” nationally rated hunters and jumpers, a $5,000 Welcome Classes to be held on the afternoon of Friday January 29th in addition to a $25,000 Grand Prix to be held the evening of Saturday, January 30th. Exhibitors and sponsors will be treated to an Exhibitor Party on Saturday evening preceding the Grand Prix in addition to a Pizza Party Luncheon on Saturday during the day at the rings.
The series concludes with the fifth week, the Jacksonville National that runs from February 3 – 7, 2010. It also features “AA” rated hunters and jumpers. The final $5,000 Welcome Class will be held on the afternoon of Friday, February 5th and the final Grand Prix will be held on the evening of Saturday, February 6th.
All events are held at the Clay County Fairgrounds on SR 16 W in Green Cove Springs, FL. Each week of competition draws approximately 550 to 600 horses, which is the full capacity of the show grounds. Our exhibitor base draws heavily from North Florida and South Georgia and the entire East Coast. It includes international riders from approximately 25 states, three provinces of Canada, New Zealand, Brazil, Columbia, Ireland and Mexico. We are very proud to be chosen one of the only 12 shows in America to host a World Cup Qualifier.
Sponsors are in front of a very qualified audience for each of the five weeks and are in very good company. Some of our sponsors include, but are not limited to the following: Glen Kernan Golf & Country Club, Hodges Boulevard Development Group, Inc., Ring Power, John Deere, Mac Paper Company, Greene Hazel & Associates, the Marco Family, SKANSKA USA Building, Inc., Arlington Toyota, Auld & White Constructors, Inc., The Gift Horse, Pat’s Nursery, Ronnie’s Wings, Top of the Reef, Rick Baker’s RV Sales, Clay County Tourist Development Council, The Bruning Foundation, SunBelt Springs Water, Woody’s BBQ, Bridlebourne Stables, Baptist Primary Care, James D. Hinson Electrical Company, Jerry Parks Insurance, Diamond D Trailer Sales, Corrigan Trailer Sales, Canadian National Railroad, Six Mile Marina, Club Continental & Cedar River Seafood.
Lexington, KY (December 21, 2009) – The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) would like to congratulate the eleven-year-old, 16.3 hand, Dutch Warmblood gelding, Ravel, owned by Akiko Yamazaki of Woodside, California, and ridden by Steffen Peters of San Diego, California, for being named 2009 Adequan/USDF Grand Prix Horse of the Year. Ravel’s median score of 75.574 percent made him the top horse in the United States competing at this level and the recipient of USDF’s highest honor.
Ravel was recognized at the 2009 Adequan/USDF Salute Gala and Annual Awards Banquet with a certificate, a commemorative personalized plaque, an embroidered cooler and $400 gift certificate provided by Dressage Extensions, and a gift certificate for Adequan joint therapy. Also, Ravel is the recipient of the Colonel Thackeray Award and will have his name engraved on a silver trophy to be on permanent display in the Roemer Foundation/USDF Hall of Fame housed at the USDF National Education Center, located at the Kentucky Horse Park.
“We are thrilled to be able to recognize this extraordinary horse for his many accomplishments this competition season, and look forward to his future successes,” stated USDF Executive Director Stephan Hienzsch.
For more information about the Adequan/USDF Horse of the Year awards or to access a list of past and current recipients, visit the USDF Web site at www.usdf.org, or contact the USDF office at usdressage@usdf.org.
My New Years resolution is to improve my riding. If you share a similar goal or resolution, I can recommend an incredible tool that I have been using, Program Your Position. This is an amazingly effective “program”, and I can honestly say it has helped my position immensely.
The program, developed by Ruth Hogan-Poulsen and Jane Savoie, has three components. These include 5 DVDs, 3 audio CDs and an illustrated pocket guide.
No matter how you absorb information most effectively, Program Your Position has you covered. Personally, I like all the audios and illustrated pocket guide the best. But I must add that the DVD segments are like attending a clinic.
For me, Program Your Position is better than a clinic because the series teaches you to use a simple set of buzz words to “program” your position corrections. I ride around saying the buzzwords and correct my riding position almost effortlessly. The buzzwords are easy to remember and effective and the program also encourages you to add your personal buzzwords too. Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=9632
16th November, 2009 – Fierce winds and testing going challenged entries at Cheltenham’s Open meeting, reputedly the most important venue in the first half the National Hunt season in England. Each of the 3 days presented a feature race, the highlight being the highly competitive ‘Paddy Power Gold Cup’ which has been a high point in the racing calendar since 1960.
SURPRISINGLY, the Irish, with their impressive winning record at the Cheltenham Festival in March, had not won the Paddy Power Gold Cup or its equivalent for almost three decades but this year the Edward O’Grady trained ‘Tranquil Sea’ cast adrift his 15 rivals before the home straight to the sheer delight of the crowd. Jubilant jockey Andrew McNamara couldn’t hide his joy when the well backed 11-2 favourite came home four and a half lengths in front of ‘Poquelin’, with ‘Hold Em’ third and ‘Ballyfitz’ fourth. The seven year old bay travelled comfortably throughout the two and a half mile race to scoop the lion’s share of the £150,000 prize fund. More reasons to celebrate followed when two hundred people in the Club Enclosure took advantage of a full £30 ticket refund, promised to them if the Irish won the big race.
Friday’s hugely popular Countryside Raceday with its traditional country fair atmosphere featured the unique Glenfarclas Cross Country Steeplechase – a course combining hedges, banks and timber rails over a distance just short of four miles. Irish horses have dominated this race in recent times, this running being no exception. Favourite ‘Garde Champetre’ powered home to an outstanding success when given a confident ride by jockey Nina Carberry, beating stablemate ‘Headsontheground’. Sporting the well known green and gold colours of legendary gambler JP McManus and trained by Enda Bolger, ‘Garde Champetre’ follows in the footsteps of four times winner (2004 – 07) ‘Spotthedifference’, owned and trained by the same duo. Although ‘Garde Champetre’ may now return to Cheltenham for the cross-country race next month, he is not expected to run in the Grand National in April. Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=8878
Jamaica, the 2008 USEF Farnam Platform Horse of the Year, spent his year as an ambassador for the United States Equestrian Federation.
Ocala, FL (November 16, 2009) – Jamaica, Chester Weber’s combined driving horse, captured the nation’s attention last year when he won the most prestigious horse title in the country and became the 2008 USEF Farnam Platform Horse of the Year. As the Horse of the Year, Jamaica served as an ambassador for the USEF, making public appearances, promoting rescue organizations and horse adoption and taking part in a variety of charities.
Jamaica’s rags to riches story began in Belgium when he was rescued from a slaughterhouse. He then famously became part of Weber’s record-breaking international Four-In-Hand Combined Driving team. Now 18 years old, Jamaica has been a member of all seven of Weber’s National Four-In-Hand Combined Driving National Championship teams.
While Jamaica’s story captivated the nation, his role as USEF ambassador also earned him a fan following. “Jamaica’s story really meant a lot to a lot of people, and whether we were at shows or at home, fans would bring him presents and carrots and place them in front of his stall and ask to pose for photos with him,” Weber said. “His journey has been pretty unbelievable and I am certainly glad to have been part of it.” Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=8874
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