Team Orian Conquered the Bull in the Second Preliminary “Buck Off” and Teams Gear Up for This Week’s Competition at New Equestrian Village

Megan Martin was a member of Team Orian, the winners of the Second Preliminary "Buck Off" held at the White Horse Tavern January 26, 2012. Photo Courtesy of Kerri Salter

Loxahatchee, FL – January 31, 2012 – The Vinceremos Therapeutic Riding Center (VTRC) held its second preliminary “Buck Off” last Thursday at the White Horse Tavern’s Patio. The fundraiser benefits the VTRC, an organization that witnesses countless miracles on a daily basis and truly lives up to its meaning, “to overcome.”

The “Buck Off” consists of three preliminary rounds in which teams of four compete on a mechanical bull to earn the highest score. The winning team will move on to the final event held on February 10, 2012. The buzz about the event has been nothing but positive. “The conversations about the ‘Buck Off’ have been simply amazing,” said Bobbi Rottman, with Equine Solutions. “The energy here is about double what it was last year, and that’s impressive considering that the winners from last year said it was the talk of the town all year.”

As Rottman’s “brain-child,” its success means the world to her. She had wanted to help the VTRC reach out to the younger generations and hold an event where everyone could come together and have a great time. The first time the event was held was at the annual dinner and auction three years ago. The response was so immense that the committee had to turn people away. Soon after, it was decided to make the “Buck Off” its own fundraising event for the VTRC leading up to the annual benefit. They have received overwhelming support from sponsors throughout the years, and this year Floridian Community Bank, Palm Beach Equine Clinic and White Horse Tavern Catering are to thank.

Continue reading Team Orian Conquered the Bull in the Second Preliminary “Buck Off” and Teams Gear Up for This Week’s Competition at New Equestrian Village

A New Horse Breed Reference at FindTheBest.com

In the technological age many turn to the Internet to find information on horses as well as their products and services, but it can be difficult with the amount of sources and the uncertainty of bias in ratings and reviews.  A great resource for information on horse breeds has just been released from FindTheBest.  This is a great reference on 258 different horse breeds, comparing a number of qualities including breed groups and origins, as well as physical features like size, coat and color.  FindTheBest presents the facts in easy to use tables and allows for side-by-side comparisons of different breeds and consumer products so that you can find the best.

This is also a great resource for horse lovers to come, share and exchange information on what they are most passionate about.  My youngest sister is 13 years old and has been able to use this site to research some of the horses she has.  She is largely interested in the Rodeo style of horseback riding so things like barrel and pole racing as well as various roping events.  Each horse is trained and used almost exclusively for that one event.  Information on horse breeds can give insight into their success or failures in various rodeo events.  This is a call to action for horse lovers to come and connect.

Grayson Nance
Business Development Associate
FindTheBest

Motivation from Moshi 89, by Jane Savoie

I was thinking about how slippery it is out on the wet grass, and sure enough, I slipped. I was thinking about how angry that gelding at the end of my stall row makes me, and sure enough I became angry. I was thinking about how I sometimes get a headache when a storm comes, and sure enough, I got a headache.

I keep saying that what you think about expands. Over and over and in many different ways I share my belief that we attract whatever we concentrate on. And yet, I still find myself putting my own attention on things I don’t want. Why do I do that when I KNOW that’s going to create the very things I do not want? Oops, I just gave my attention to getting what I don’t want by seeing that I get what I don’t want by thinking about what I don’t want! ARG! It’s crazy making!

Continue reading Motivation from Moshi 89, by Jane Savoie

“Hats Off to the Horses: The Road to The Derby” – An Online Auction of Kentucky Derby Hats Continues with a Chapeau Inspired by Florida Favorite Fortunate Prospect

Proceeds to Benefit Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement

GEORGETOWN, KY – JANUARY 31, 2012 – The 3rd Annual “Hats Off to the Horses: The Road to the Derby,” an online auction of exclusive handcrafted Kentucky Derby Hats, continues February 1st with a hat inspired by the great sire Fortunate Prospect.

This is the fourth hat in a series of six magnificent chapeaus to be auctioned by Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Center in Georgetown, KY.  Each hat has been custom crafted by milliner Sally Faith Steinmann of Maggie Mae Designs and 100 percent of the proceeds will benefit Old Friends, the 501(c) (3) non-profit organization that is dedicated to the dignified retirement of former racehorses.

Continue reading “Hats Off to the Horses: The Road to The Derby” – An Online Auction of Kentucky Derby Hats Continues with a Chapeau Inspired by Florida Favorite Fortunate Prospect

Jacksonville Winter Series Week 3

Jersey Boy & Jennifer Alfano

The Jacksonville Winter Series has come and gone.  We enjoyed a fantastic three weeks of shows that were marked with great exhibitor parties, superb competition, camaraderie, perfect weather and a touching & successful benefit dinner.  Thank you to all of our exhibitors who supported not only the series, but the Wounded Warrior Project & the Clay County 4-H as well.  In excess of $14,000 was raised for these very worthy causes.

Congratulations to the following Circuit Champions:
Adult Amateur Hunter – Cezanne & Carrie Ettinger
Adult Amateur Jumper – Leroy Brown 17 & Kelly Maloney
Amateur Owner Jumper – Thoughtful & Keri Guanciale
Children’s Hunter – Unlimited & Madison Maners
Children’s Jumper – 2 The Nines & Sophia Bertot
Green Pony Hunter – Blue Ridge Sweet Dreams & Devin Seek
High Performance Hunter – MJ & Mary Eufemia
Junior Hunter – Felicci & Caroline Kellog
Junior/Amateur Owner Jumper – Tanimara & Anne Bingler
Short/Long Stirrup Hunter – Barrington’s Brew of Magic & Samantha Palermo
Pony Hunter – Tuscany & Ashton Alexander
Pre-Children’s/Adult Hunter – Summer Daze & Patricia Simpson Zeh
Pre-Green Hunter – Summer Daze & Patricia Simpson Zeh

Continue reading Jacksonville Winter Series Week 3

The Horse’s Mouth TV: Amazing Stories of Horses and Their People, by Monica Culic, B.CS.

From left: Shaw Cable 10 camerawoman Robyn Gallant shoots footage of The Horse's Mouth TV for episode #5, while Host/Producer Monica Culic and Bear Valley Rescue Clydesdale look on. Photo: Mike Wellwood

The Horse’s Mouth TV, Canada’s horse-focussed TV show, completes its first season of 13 episodes, airing on Shaw Cable 10 in Calgary, Alberta and at www.thehorsesmouthtv.com.  Telling “amazing stories of horses and their people” is the show’s mandate and my inspiration as its volunteer host and producer.

Eight minutes long (save for episode #8 which is a full 28 minute segment), the Horse’s Mouth TV captures the dedication and love of horses our guest stars have. Our guest stars run the gamut of horse industry professionals: some acclaimed and some unsung heroes, but each one dedicated to sharing their lives with horses in a significant way. It is their stories I want to tell and use my gift as an equine journalist to do so.

The idea for a horse-focussed TV show came about during a dinner conversation with friends. With the success of melodramatic reality TV that brought the worst of mankind to the screen, I was concerned at how quickly urban dwelling people had lost touch with horses, on whose back most North American cities were built. What if I could act as a conduit for the horse community and create a horse based TV show, I wondered?

Continue reading The Horse’s Mouth TV: Amazing Stories of Horses and Their People, by Monica Culic, B.CS.

FEI World Cup Vaulting Comes to Thrilling Climax in Bordeaux

Switzerland’s Simone Jaïser (SUI) heads to this weekend’s FEI World Cup Vaulting Final in Bordeaux after scoring the highest points tally in the first full FEI World Cup Vaulting series. Photo: Karl-Heinz Freiler/FEI.

Lausanne (SUI), 1 February 2012 – The first full FEI World Cup Vaulting season will culminate in a hotly contested Final in Bordeaux (FRA) this weekend (4-5 February), when the sport’s top male and female vaulters will compete to secure the World Cup title.

The series has been hard fought with 10 male and 10 female vaulters competing in five qualifiers in Kiel (GER), Munich (GER), Salzburg (AUT), Paris (FRA) and Leipzig (GER).

Six male and six female vaulters will now battle it out for the honours at the FEI World Cup Vaulting 2011/2012 Final in the Bordeaux Exhibition Centre.

World number one Patric Looser (SUI), who has announced his retirement after Bordeaux, heads to the Final after securing a six-point lead over Viktor Brüsewitz (GER). They will be joined by Lukas Klouda (CZE), Yvan Nousse (FRA), Lukas Heppler (SUI) and Remy Hombecq (FRA).

Continue reading FEI World Cup Vaulting Comes to Thrilling Climax in Bordeaux

Jennifer Alfano and Jersey Boy Take Jacksonville Winter A to Z by Storm

Jennifer Alfano and Jersey Boy won the $25,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby during the last week of the Jacksonville Winter Series A to Z. Photo By: Flashpoint Photography

Buffalo, NY – January 31, 2012 – As 2012 kicks off for SBS Farms, Inc., it is apparent that nothing is going to stand in their way. Professional rider and trainer Jennifer Alfano rode Jersey Boy to a spectacular win in the Jacksonville Winter Series $25,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby last week. She and her mounts have earned numerous distinctions in the hunter rings, riding to the top scores with ease and consistency.

Alfano rode Jersey Boy to the reserve championship in the High Performance Hunters earlier in the week, earning the first and second place ribbons over fences as well as the blue ribbon for their efforts in the handy course. The team was only getting started for the week.

“Jersey Boy was awesome this week; he did great in the High Performance Hunters and then was spectacular for the derby,” Alfano described. “The first round he went around really lightly and skillfully but in the handy he was really just beautiful.”

Continue reading Jennifer Alfano and Jersey Boy Take Jacksonville Winter A to Z by Storm

NRHA Derby Added Money More Than Doubles to $615,000

Nomination Program brings nearly $375,000 more to the Derby!

Oklahoma City, Okla. – The National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Board of Directors recently discussed major changes to the 2012 NRHA Derby (June 25-30 in Oklahoma City, Okla.). These changes and enhancements for 2012 include massive increases in added money due to the NRHA Nomination Program, an increase in the number of Level 4 and Level 3 Non Pro finalists and granting five- and six-year-olds the ability to compete for Nomination Program added money (excluding Nominator Incentives). Find more details on these and other items below.

March 1 Entry Deadline Approaching

The entry deadline for the NRHA Derby is March 1. Conditions and entry forms can be found at nrhaderby.com.

Continue reading NRHA Derby Added Money More Than Doubles to $615,000

USEF Dressage Kicks Off 2012 with USET/USEF Pre-Olympic Games Clinics and USEF Developing Dressage Clinic

Heather Blitz, Betsy Juliano, Anne Gribbons, James Kofford on Pharaoh and Steffen Peters (USEF Archive)

Lexington, KY – Continuing with preparations for the 2012 Olympic Games, the United States Equestrian Team Foundation (USET) and United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) kicked off 2012 with two training sessions for Dressage Olympic hopefuls. Betsy Juliano graciously opened the doors of her Havensafe Farm South to riders in Wellington, FL, January 6-8. The following weekend, Steffen Peters hosted a session for West coast riders at his Arroyo Del Mar farm in San Diego, CA. Also taking place in California, the first USEF Developing Dressage Clinic of 2012 was held at Epona Farms, owned by Michael and Linda Fowler in Thousand Oaks, CA.

The USET/USEF pre-Olympic Games clinics, made possible by a gift from Betsy Juliano to the USET Foundation, featured instruction from USEF Technical Advisor and Coach Anne Gribbons and Olympian Steffen Peters. At the Florida clinic were seven horses (six riders) including 2011 Pan American Games Team Gold and Individual Silver medalists Heather Blitz and Paragon. Over three days the combinations worked with Peters and Gribbons individually, rode the Olympic Grand Prix Special and reviewed video of the tests with Gribbons.

Continue reading USEF Dressage Kicks Off 2012 with USET/USEF Pre-Olympic Games Clinics and USEF Developing Dressage Clinic

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