Category Archives: Breeds

*Featured/Spotlights, Associations/Breeds, Breeds, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Driving, Events, JRPR

American Miniature Horses Shine at Dressage under the Stars Finale

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The Wee Reds performed at the Players Club Dressage under the Stars finale in Wellington. (Photograph courtesy of Linda Kern, Caribbean Dreams Miniature Horses)

Wellington, FL – A four-in-hand team of perfectly matched American Miniature Horses put on a dazzling show at the finale of the Dressage under the Stars competition at the Players Club & Restaurant in Wellington, proving that big things do come in small packages. The Wee Reds, owned by Linda Kern of Caribbean Dreams Miniature Horses in Loxahatchee, Florida, and boasting 10 National Championship and Reserve Championship titles, were the opening act of the finale at the star-studded event.

Combined Driver Chester Weber, the eight-time U.S. National Four-In-Hand Champion and a judge for the evening’s Dressage under the Stars finale, drove the award-winning Wee Reds in a cones course demonstration. Weber, who has driven the talented tiny team at two Wellington Holiday horse shows, also brought the judges in by carriage, much to the delight of the crowd.

Continue reading American Miniature Horses Shine at Dressage under the Stars Finale →

*Featured/Spotlights, Breeds, Contributors/Press, Events, Wild Horse Sources

An International Day of Rallies for America’s Beloved Herds

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DC, LA, London, Las Vegas: March for Mustangs This Thursday!

Dear Supporters,
I just returned from the Arrowheads and after much long distance glassing with binoculars and spotting scope I was able to spot Cloud and his family with his little daughter, Jasmine; Flint and his family including young Jasper, as well as Bolder and his family with his pale buckskin filly, Jewel. All looked great from about a mile away across deep Big Coulee Canyon. I’ll be sending out more details and photos from this winter trip soon.

For now, I’d like to be the first to tell you that this Thursday, March 25th, the March for Mustangs will take place not only by the White House in Washington DC but on the Las Vegas Strip, by the Los Angeles Federal Building and in front of the US Embassy in London! In D.C. we’re honored to have award-winning actress and advocate, Wendie Malick speak to the crowd at the rally. Wendie will be joined by long time advocate and advisor on the original 1971 Wild Horse and Burro Act, Hope Ryden; author RT Fitch, Filmmaker James Kleinert and many, many more! We are especially pleased to announce that country music artist Clay Canfield will be at the rally to sing his incredible song “Wild Horses” and more before we march to the BLM office with signs and banners.

Continue reading An International Day of Rallies for America’s Beloved Herds →

*Featured/Spotlights, Breeds, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Events, JRPR

Gypsy Vanner Horses Take Part in Dressage under the Stars at the Players Club

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Left to right: Dennis Thompson, Founder of the Gypsy Vanner Horse Society, Bo Lofvander, winner of the Breyer Gypsy Vanner Horse Model, Bill Ricci, owner of Esmeralda and Kuchi and President of the Gypsy Vanner Horse Society, and Kuchi being ridden by Dressage under the Stars host Jenna Wyatt. (Photo courtesy of Frederic Roy)
Left to right: Dennis Thompson, Founder of the Gypsy Vanner Horse Society, Bo Lofvander, winner of the Breyer Gypsy Vanner Horse Model, Bill Ricci, owner of Esmeralda and Kuchi and President of the Gypsy Vanner Horse Society, and Kuchi being ridden by Dressage under the Stars host Jenna Wyatt. (Photo courtesy of Frederic Roy)

Wellington, FL (March 18, 2010) – Each week at the Top Shelf Dressage under the Stars competition at the Player’s Club & Restaurant the dressage community is treated to world-class riders, judges and entertainment, including a recent demonstration by the Gypsy Vanner Horse Society. Esmeralda and Kuchi, two Gypsy Vanners owned by Bill and Wendy Ricci of WR Ranch in Oxford, Florida, wowed the crowd with their beauty, color and grace.

Esmeralda, who was born in England, was one of the first Gypsy Vanners imported to the United States. Esmeralda has a long list of accomplishments to her name, including being named the Number One Tandem Driving team in 2001 with her partner Jasmine. Esmeralda and Jasmine continued their winning ways last month, winning the Pair Championship at the Florida Carriage Festival.

Esmeralda, the current centerfold in the March 2010 issue of Horse Illustrated, was driven at Dressage under the Stars by owner Bill Ricci, the current President of the Gypsy Vanner Horse Society. Heather Caudill, of Olympus Sport Horse, rode Kuchi, the first Gypsy Vanner born in America. Kuchi’s sire, The Gypsy King, was immortalized as the first Gypsy Vanner Horse Breyer model. Last year Kuchi, who currently competes at second level in dressage, followed in her sire’s hoof steps to become Breyer’s second Gypsy Vanner Horse model.

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Associations/Breeds, Breeds, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Racing Sources, Training/Clinics, Western/Reining

Slow Down to Go Fast: Part II

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Use Bryan Neubert's colt-starting techniques to get your ranch colt ready for the range.
Use Bryan Neubert's colt-starting techniques to get your ranch colt ready for the range.

Cowboy, clinician and horseman Bryan Neubert shares his insight into starting ranch colts.

By Bryan Neubert with Jim Bret Campbell in The American Quarter Horse Journal

Mount Up
Once the horse has softened and accepted the lessons from Part 1, he’s ready for me to prepare him to carry a rider. Remember to stay soft and quiet as you get on. I’ll slowly introduce my weight in the stirrup and just let him get used to the feel before I proceed. (See the photo gallery.) I’m also ready to step back down, draw his head toward me and move his hindquarters away from me to prevent him from pulling away or kicking me. After he accepts my weight in one stirrup, I lean over and rub him on the shoulder and hip on the right side. I might also move the fender of the offside stirrup a little to get him used to the movement. When he’s handling this well, I step into the saddle, remembering to stay soft and quiet.

Once I’m there, I don’t worry about trying to guide him much. I’ll let him adjust to the extra weight. I have a Cheyenne roll on the back of my saddle, and I’ll hold on to that in case he bucks. They almost never do if they are prepared up to this point.

Continue reading Slow Down to Go Fast: Part II →

Breeds, Contributors/Press, Wild Horse Sources

They Named Him FREEDOM

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IDA-15023It lasted only minutes, but his life changed forever. His ordeal was horrific but he had no choice, he was motivated to risk everything in his escape to freedom. Freedom’s story needs to be told, so we don’t forget what it means to be FREE!

In January, Freedom and his family were among hundreds of America’s wild horses mercilessly chased by helicopters over dangerous terrain toward capture pens, where uncertain futures and sometimes death awaited them.

Most were terrorized – frozen with fear.

But Freedom fought back!

With dramatic determination, he regained his freedom by jumping a 6-foot fence, then breaking through barbed wire, as it painfully tore his flesh, in his successful effort to regain his liberty.

Today, IDA is fighting for all the wild horses who are threatened by man’s inhumanity. And we need your help! Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=10353

Associations/Breeds, Breeds, Community/Charity, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Racing Sources

AQHA Welcomes Dressage

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honey_bright_dreamDressage becomes an official AQHA class.

Dressage is now an official AQHA class — one in which you can earn AQHA points, qualify for AQHA Incentive Fund earnings and compete for year-end awards. Beginning at Training Level Test 4, AQHA dressage classes will be held within existing classes at competitions recognized by the United States Dressage Federation or licensed by the United States Equestrian Federation.

The same USDF-USEF judges will preside over the AQHA classes; the only additional requirement is that the judges must be AQHA members. Exhibitors must also be current members of AQHA, and the horse must be a registered American Quarter Horse. A competition license fee of $85, good for the lifetime of the horse, is also required. The shows must be approved by AQHA at least 60 days in advance.

Horses competing in dressage are given scores, expressed in percentages. The Quarter Horse show industry has always been a point-driven system, so AQHA has created a conversion table to change dressage scores into AQHA points. View the conversion table (click on “frequently asked questions”). Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=10096

Breeds, Contributors/Press

Angie Dickinson Donates Academy Award to Old Friends!

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Photo by Rick Capone
Photo by Rick Capone

Celebs contribute to the retirement of Secretariat’s son

GEORGETOWN, KY – JANUARY 29, 2010 – Academy Award, one of the only surviving sons of Triple Crown winner Secretariat, has arrived at Old Friends, the Thoroughbred Retirement Farm in Georgetown, KY. Michael Blowen, Old Friends founder and president, made the announcement earlier today.

Golden Globe-winning actress Angie Dickinson, a long-time supporter of Old Friends, is sponsoring the retirement of the 24-year-old stallion, along with Secretariat’s owner Penny Chenery and Boston-based TV producer Barbara Bowen.

“Michael and I have been friends for a long time and I adore the horses,” said Dickinson, the star of TV’s Police Woman and such films as Point Blank, Rio Bravo, and Dressed to Kill. “Now, I finally have an Academy Award, and I can’t wait to see him.” Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=10043

Breeds, Community/Charity, Contributors/Press, Wild Horse Sources

Sheryl Crow & Willie Nelson Shout Out for Wild Horses – Take Action!

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Calico Horses, sweaty in the cold
Calico Horses, sweaty in the cold

Read the new People Magazine Article & then call for immediate Congressional hearings on BLM

Dear Supporters, the excellent People Magazine article by Helin Jung starts out: Willie Nelson wants to know: “Why are there more horse’s asses than there are horses?” The country legend’s gripe comes from his concern for the American West’s wild horses and burros, which are being rounded up by the thousands and placed into holding corrals by the federal government’s Bureau of Land Management. The capture of 2,500 horses started in the Calico Mountains of Nevada last month, but the agency expects to round up a total of 12,000 of the estimated 37,000 horses on BLM land by the end of this year.

Read the whole article here on the People Magazine website, and then take action!

Protests continue: join the New York City protest on Sunday, the Reno protest on Monday and/or the Sacramento protest on Thursday the 21st! Click here for details.

Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=9819

Breeds, Contributors/Press, Events

That Was Then… This Is Now: Palomino Horses in the Tournament of Roses Parade

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Long Beach Mounted Police all-Palomino troup, Tournament of Roses Parade, 2009
Long Beach Mounted Police all-Palomino troup, Tournament of Roses Parade, 2009. Photo: "Courtesy of the Tournament of Roses Archives".

What horse lover hasn’t marveled over the all-Palomino horse troupe in the annual Tournament of Roses Parade? Prancing golden horses in shining silver-encrusted saddles, their riders bedecked in colorful costumes and waving red, white, and blue American flags; it’s a sight to stir anyone’s patriotic sentiments. Me, I just drooled over the horses, trying to decide which would be the fanciest mount for my own dream parade.

The stuff of horsey dreams for decades, the Long Beach Mounted Police’s (LBMP) all-Palomino troupe rode in their first Tournament of Roses (ToR) Parade in 1948; they’re still going strong in their 62nd year of parading,

Their first year, 1948. Photo: "Courtesy of the Tournament of Roses Archives"
Their first year, 1948. Photo: "Courtesy of the Tournament of Roses Archives"

 with the LBMP celebrating their 75th anniversary in 2010.

Carla Routt, granddaughter of troupe co-founder Jack Turner and the first female member and female president

of the LBMP, says the all-volunteer riders are really ambassadors for the LBMP and the city of Long Beach.

“We often travel to different events, presenting gifts from the Long Beach Police to various governments. We’ve been in the Eisenhower and Nixon Inaugural Parades, and have traveled extensively throughout North and South America,” she says. The troupe also provides an average of 8,000 hours of annual service at charitable events and functions, and has a scholarship program for deserving young equine-science candidates. Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=9600

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Breeds

Arabian Horse Lover Patrick Swayze Dies at 57

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AHA_Patrick-SwayzeSeptember 15, 2009 — Patrick Swayze, a passionate and valued member of the Arabian horse community, died from pancreatic cancer complications at the age of 57.

Swayze was known to most as a dancer and actor in films such as “Dirty Dancing,” “Roadhouse” and “Ghost.” To the Arabian horse community he was an accomplished and giving horseman. An active participant at Arabian shows throughout the late ’80s and early ’90s, Swayze’s star power helped bring attention to the Arabian breed. Swayze’s true passion for the horse earned him utmost respect in the horse community.

Although Swayze’s bond with horses started as a child, he claimed he did not fully realize the potential relationship with a horse until later. “When you get a bond happening with a horse, it’s interesting. I was raised a cowboy and did some rodeo and stuff and thought I was a horseman. Found out I knew nothing. As I have gotten into these horses [Arabians], I have realized how far you can go with them,” said Swayze in a 1994 video interview. Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=8033