October 2024 - The Ultimate Test of Horse and Rider Returns for the fourth annual MARS Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill, October 17-20 The MARS Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill, presented by Brown Advisory, returns to the picturesque Fair Hill Special Event Zone in Elkton (Cecil County), Maryland, October 17-20, 2024, as the storied tradition of Eventing - the ultimate test of horse and rider - continues. Read full article >>
October 2024 - Rowan University to Open Shreiber School of Veterinary Medicine Horse owners as well as other large animal and pet owners have probably noticed a shortage of veterinarians. As long-established professionals retire, and the need for animal medical care grows there are a very limited number of veterinary medicine school graduates coming into the field. There are only 33 veterinary schools in the United States and only five of those are on the East Coast. Read full article >>
October 2024 - Fundraising to Replace Iconic Barn at Beebe Ranch Begins Each year, fans of Marguerite Henry’s book “Misty of Chincoteague” flock to the islands of Chincoteague and Assateague in Virginia, and many make their way to the iconic Beebe Ranch to see where Misty of Chincoteague once lived. In 2023, the Beebe family found they needed to sell the ranch. Read full article >>
September 2024 - Kingsview Partners Dressage at Devon, September 24-29: The Magic Returns, with New Twists! USEF Heritage Competition, Kingsview Partners Dressage at Devon, inches closer and closer to a milestone achievement of 50 years running, returning for the 49th installment of Kingsview Partners’ Dressage at Devon this fall. From Tuesday, September 24th to Sunday, September 29th, exhibitors can expect to see the return of the Kingsview Partners Dressage at Devon “magic” with some exciting new twists. Read full article >>
September 2024 - Campground Plans for Big Elk Creek State Park Put on Hold—For Now When horsemen and their neighbors come together on local issues their input can make a difference. Public outcry, complete with petitions, packed public meetings and protest lawn signs lining almost every street in the area have saved the Big Elk Creek State Park from construction of a campground – at least for the time being. The rolling fields and woodlands now known as the Big Elk Creek Park are adjacent to and a part of the White Clay Creek Preserve. The 1,700-acre tract is located in Elk and Franklin townships, Pennsylvania and borders Maryland’s Fair Hill Natural Resource Management Area. Read full article >>
September 2024 - USEF Rule Change Expands Scope of Abuse Reporting A video of Britain’s most successful dressage rider, Charlotte Dujardin, repeatedly whipping a horse during a lesson she was teaching, released shortly before the Paris Olympics began, shocked the world. There were immediate calls to end dressage in the Olympics and to eliminate equestrian competition in the games altogether. Dujardin, the odds-on favorite to bring home the gold for the UK, withdrew from competition and apologized, saying she was “deeply ashamed” about her behavior. Read full article >>
September 2024 - Pony Penning 2024 Sets Record for Foal Sale Pony Penning 2024 is in the books. As auctioneer Tim Jennings says when taking a winning bid at the foal sale, “All in, all done.” The 99th Annual Pony Penning Roundup on Chincoteague Island in Virginia was held July 20-27 and what a week it was! Approximately 40,000 people attended the pony swim. The fire company set an all-time record for foal sales, bringing in a whopping $547,300 with a record number of foals sold. Read full article >>
September 2024 - Law to Reduce Horse Racing Injuries Repeatedly Stymied by Courts The Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) lumbered across the finish line in late December 2020. On its back it carried the hopes of racing industry leaders, as well as many stakeholder groups. They bet on the premise that the precipitous decline in the popularity and revenue of horseracing could be reversed by the law, which aimed to develop and implement safety regulations for racetracks and an anti-doping and medication control program. Read full article >>
July/August 2024 - In Encounters with Police, One Horse Lives, Another Dies Before daybreak on February 20, Philadelphia Police got a frantic call from one of their officers. “Yes, I need help. There's a horse on 95 Northbound ramp and they are requesting help, help to catch this horse.” The dispatcher asks, incredulously, “Catch a horse?” “That's correct sir." With that, the race was on. Rush hour was beginning, and both the escaped horse and drivers on the highway were in danger. Read full article >>
July/August 2024 - Wildfire, Treasured Misty of Chincoteague Descendent, is Lost But Her Filly Lives On Every year a few ponies on the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge pass on, but efforts in early May to save a Misty descendent named Wildfire were nothing short of heroic. In the process, two unsuspecting visitors from Louisianna were drawn into the adventure of a lifetime. Wildfire was one of four Misty descendant mares who arrived in March 2018, that were placed on the island to bring back the Misty of Chincoteague lineage, which no longer existed in the wild herds. These mares joined a stallion who had been donated back in 2015. All five Misty descendants thrived on the island. Read full article >>
July/August 2024 - Potomac Horse Center’s Closure Leaves Riders Bereft For more than 60 years Potomac Horse Center outside Washington, D.C. gave thousands of people their first equine experience. From five-year-olds with roomfuls of Breyer horses to bold senior citizens, the center was known for its warm, family atmosphere. But today the farm in North Potomac, Maryland is nearly empty, its fields overgrown and its stables silent after the property owner declined to renew its lease, despite an outpouring of support from the community. Read full article >>
July/August 2024 - State Funding for Penn Vet Continues to Go Missing Global events often reverberate into unexpected arenas. After the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, a deep vein of hatred burst open. From Europe to Africa to the Unites States, antisemitism and racism and xenophobia bloomed like fungus on rotting wood. As protests and counter-protests erupted on college campuses and in the world’s capitals, the global horror became personal and another war broke out on college campuses, where demonstrations supporting Palestinians, and others supporting Israel, unnerved students. Read full article >>
July/August 2024 - Remembering Accomplished Western Horseman, Terry Helder On May 25, 2024, the equine industry lost a horseman of immense impact. Terry Helder, owner of Evergreen Farm, passed away; taken too soon. There is no question that his dedication and contribution for almost six decades to the equine world has left a void. Terry and his wife of 51 years, Peg, have left a legacy imprinted in numerous disciplines and countless venues. They managed to promote and become a constant force in their profession, from breeding, training, and showing to plain horsing around – especially over years of ever-changing climates in the industry. Read full article >>
May/June 2024 - Devon Horse Show, “Where Champions Meet” Returns for 128th Year Known as the place “Where Champions Meet,” the Devon Horse Show and Country Fair heralds in its 128th year of world class competition, May 22nd to June 2nd, 2024, at the historic Devon Show Grounds. The oldest and largest outdoor multi-breed horse show in North America, this year once again brings together elite equestrians from varied disciplines in one extraordinary 12-day event. Hunters, Equitation, Jumpers, Saddlebreds, Roadsters, Carriage Driving and Coaching alike will all have their chance to compete for a spot in the famed winner’s circle in the Dixon Oval. Read full article >>
May/June 2024 - Sanctioned Endurance Competition Coming to Fair Hill, MD in June What’s the fastest-growing equestrian sport outside the US? Holly Corcoran of Stroudsburg, PA says it’s endurance. And a lot of equestrian organizations around the world agree with her. Corcoran has been competing in endurance since 2003, after years in the show ring. “I really prefer being on the trails,” she says, and points out that endurance is much more than a really long trail ride. Read full article >>
May/June 2024 - PTK Racing Supports Its Horses for Life; Horses & Kids Benefit When non-profit organizations work together, there can be great outcomes for both horses and kids. Work To Ride is taking on a horse from PTK Racing’s partner Pastured Place, a non-profit retirement and rehoming organization for former racehorses, to take part in the Retired Racehorse Project’s Thoroughbred Makeover competition this fall. Read full article >>
May/June 2024 - Wells Sets Record with 14 National Girls Polo Championship Wins Kelly Wells of Marlan Farm in Freeland, MD says she “dabbled a bit with polo as a teenager.” She grew up immersed in polo but pursued equestrian glory in the show ring. “My dad played polo and my uncles played too. I did a lot of showing and focused on that.” Until she went to Cornell, where she “broke out of the show ring,” and went wholeheartedly into polo. Read full article >>
May/June 2024 - Group Celebrates History of Black Cowboys Long before Buffalo Bill and the Wild West shows and John Wayne and Hollywood popularized the idea of the rough-and-tumble horsemen, riding the range and protecting their herds and families, enslaved men of African and Spanish descent were working cattle in Mexico and the Caribbean. Read full article >>
May/June 2024 - Chasing Season Starts with Brandywine Hills and Cheshire Two of the longest standing point to point race meets in the Delaware Valley Point to Point Association are the Cheshire Races, and the Brandywine Hills Point to Point Races. The 77th running of the Cheshire Races was held on Easter Sunday, March 31 at the Plantation Field property near Unionville, PA. Read full article >>
March/April 2024 - Horse World Expo Celebrates 21 Years in Harrisburg, PA with World Class Shopping, Exciting Competitions, Family Entertainment, Top Clinicians & Theatre Equus The world of all things horses returns to the 25-acre climate-controlled Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center in Harrisburg, PA February 29 to March 3. Horse World Expo, the east coast’s largest and best attended equestrian expo, features four days of non-stop education, entertainment and shopping. Read full article >>
March/April 2024 - Returning to Riding, She Found the Perfect Warmblood in a Kill Pen You never know where you will find the horse that is perfect for you. For Janine Guido, the horse that fills all her needs came out of a kill pen in Alabama. Janine has been riding since she was five years old, but injuries kept her out of the saddle for more than a decade. She remained vitally entwined with animals, running Speranza Animal Rescue at her family’s 17-acre farm near Mechanicsburg, PA. Read full article >>
March/April 2024 - Chincoteague Swamp Cancer Research Benefits Horses and Humans As test subjects for a new Pythiosis vaccine and immunotherapeutic, the wild Chincoteague Ponies of Assateague Island in Virginia have helped researchers save equine lives. Pythiosis – commonly known as swamp cancer – once affected animals living in tropical temperatures. It has worked its way up the coast, now affecting horses in colder temperatures, too. Caused by a fungus-like germ called Pythium insidiosum, it infects plants, mammals and birds. Read full article >>
March/April 2024 - Saddle Up Scholars - Tutoring Riders from Low Income Communities There are programs that help young people from low-income communities learn to ride and there are programs to help those same students achieve success in the classroom. Now a new non-profit organization in Maryland is marrying the two initiatives. Read full article >>
March/April 2024 - Brook Ledge Founder, 91, Enjoys Success with his $20,000 Stakes Winner Everyone calls him “Poppy,” a sobriquet that only suggests 91-year-old Bill Gotwals’ spirit. He could also be called “savvy,“ and “kindly.” And whatever you might call someone who doesn’t like the word “no.” “His dad died when he was young, and the way things worked back then, he went to live with one of his older sisters,” his granddaughter Andrea Gotwals Boone says. At some point, his mother remarried, and the family was reunited. Read full article >>
March/April 2024 - Patrick McMurtrie Earns Silver at the 2023 Saddlebred Equitation Championships Patrick McMurtie of Orefield, PA has completed his junior years as a rider by earning top awards in Saddle Seat Equitation. A UPHA National Challenge Cup top 10 finalist in 2022 and 2023, he was the World Champion for his age group at 16. Now 18, Patrick topped off his equitation honors with a Reserve Championship in the 2023 Good Hands and Silver Medal in the USEF National Medal Finals. Read full article >>
Winter 2023/2024 - Lancaster City Police Department Will Disband Mounted Unit The Lancaster City Police Bureau will disband its mounted police unit as of Jan. 1. The mounted police unit was established in 1979 and was proposed by former mayor Albert Wohlsen. The unit consists of three full time and one part time officer and three police horses. The horses are draft and draft crosses Angus, Jake and King. They are stabled at Long’s Park in the city and cared for by city staff. Read full article >>
Winter 2023/2024 - Farm’s Goodbye is a Fundraiser for Zimbabwean Therapeutic Riding Program Callie Rae King is a taking a major turn in her career with horses and using that moment to benefit disabled children and rescued horses in Zimbabwe. King’s family farm in Honey Brook, PA has been sold and will be transitioned from a horse farm to food production. King will be continuing her Horse Class online education program, but equine operations at the farm will cease. Read full article >>
Winter 2023/2024 - Older Equestrians Experience Great Rewards: Never Let Age Stop the Passion While Nancy practices as an orthodontist, Denise is a senior director of payroll for a global manufacturing firm. Miles away, Mary retired from Millersville University and volunteers in her community. At the same time, Fran authored a book while facing cancer. All are successful in their own right, treading far separate journeys, juggling careers, family, and challenges. Yet these women share a common ground – a passion for horses. Read full article >>
Winter 2023/2024 - Saving Maryland Racing: Becoming Not-For-Profit is One Possibility The parent company of Maryland’s premier racetracks and the group representing owners and trainers made dueling proposals before a state racetrack authority on how to save the nearly $600 million racing industry, including creating a non-for-profit entity to oversee racing. Read full article >>
