December 2010 - Fundraiser Will Aid Injured Jockey Jake Chalfin Jake Chalfin of Unionville, PA was paralyzed from the chest down in a fall at the Blue Ridge Fall Races in Berryville, Va in September. The Jake Chalfin Beneficiary trust has been established to help with all of the expenses associated with his injury. Though he is determined to walk, Jake's current condition has left him with a multitude of hurdles both physical and financial. Read full article >>
December 2010 - Patriot’s Path Wins Pennsylvania Hunt Cup Horse racing is never predictable, especially racing over fences. The 76th running of the Pennsylvania Hunt Cup on Sunday, November 7 was no exception, with plenty of excitement on the four race card. Read full article >>
December 2010 - E-Z Pass Allegedly Overcharges Horse Trailers New Jersey Standardbred trainers shipping their horses across the Commodore Barry Bridge to race in Pennsylvania have been charged $14 a trip more than the going rate, the Newark Star Ledger reported in October. Read full article >>
December 2010 - Shared Account, at 46-1. Snatches Breeders’ Cup Glory Midday entered the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf race as the defending champion and heavy favorite. The classy European champion was thought to be pretty much invincible. Someone forgot to tell Shared Account. Read full article >>
December 2010 - Popular with Eventers, Air Jackets Now Targeting Race Jockeys It was opening day at Turf Paradise, a racetrack surrounded by beautiful mountain ranges north of Phoenix. As the seventh race approached, a riderless lead pony sporting a saddle belonging to jockey Mark Anthony Villa led the field of thoroughbreds to the post. Read full article >>
December 2010 - Cheshire Hunt Hosts Junior North American Field Hunter Championship The eighth annual Junior North American Field Hunter Championship was held at Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Malone’s Doe Run Valley Farm, near Coatesville, PA on November 14. It was the first time that the event has been held in a northern hunt territory, with young riders representing eleven hunts taking part in the event. Read full article >>
December 2010 - Complex Rules, Open To Interpretation, Apply to Drivers of Horse Trailers An ancient warning tells the buyer to beware. This is a story that might be called “Permissum coegi caveo,” or “let the driver beware.” Most horse owners don’t think twice about loading their horses onto trailers and hauling them to shows, trail rides, etc. Everyone assumes they’ve got all the right safety gear, and that they know the rules of the road. But they would probably be wrong. Not knowing Pennsylvania’s rules regarding horse trailers can be very expensive. Read full article >>
November 2010 - Live in PA and own a horse? This new rule will affect you. Pennsylvania farm land and the Chesapeake Bay have a close relationship – the streams from half the state carry whatever is picked up in rainwater and deposit it all in the bay. Not good. So the state is changing its manure management regulations to include EVERY farm that keeps even a single sheep, goat or pony. New regulations are under construction that would require every owner of livestock, including equines, to have and follow a written manure management plan. Read full article >>
November 2010 - Frequent Flyers – Europeans Take Aim at the Breeders Cup When super-mare Goldikova flew across the Atlantic from Paris to Louisville on October 30 for her date with destiny, the five year-old Irish-bred was treated like royalty on the nine-hour flight. Why not? Goldikova’s latest quest: an unprecedented hat trick in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Mile. Last time out, the darling of France earned her record-setting 11th Grade-1 or Group-1 win with a determined half-length score in the Qatar Prix de la Foret (Fr-I) at Longchamp Racecourse outside Paris. Read full article >>
November 2010 - Newtown, PA Trainer Tony Dutrow Sending Quartet of Runners to Breeders’ Cup In horseracing a lot of success is linked to pedigree – both horse and human. Consider Rick Dutrow, Sr. One of the sport’s top claiming trainers, along with King T. Leatherbury, John J. Tammaro, Jr. and Bud Delp, the “Big Four” dominated racing in Maryland during the 1960s and '70s. In 1975, Dutrow topped all U. S. trainers with 352 wins. Read full article >>
November 2010 - Mohegan Sun Hosts Breeder’s Crown – Harness Racing’s Richest Day She was denied a 2009 Breeders Crown triumph when overhauled by Fancy Filly in the lane, but last year’s champion 2-year-old pacing filly Put On A Show captured this year’s edition of the $500,000 3-Year-Old Filly Pace contested at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs on October 9 with relative ease. Read full article >>
November 2010 - Are Horse Farms Agriculture? Berks County Battle May Set Precedent in Pennsylvania Ron Samsel wasn’t thinking about setting precedents when he purchased 46 acres of land in Berks County. He wasn’t thinking about spending years in court fighting to prove that the horse farm he established is an agricultural enterprise. He wasn’t thinking that his 13-year-old son would learn about government and laws by watching how the local government and the state law seem locked in perpetual conflict. Read full article >>
October 2010 - Chester County Paralympic Rider James Dwyer Competes for Ireland at WEG James Dwyer doesn’t remember a time when there were not horses in his life. “My dad always had horses, ponies at home, so I started riding, I suppose I was five or six. I was riding at a pretty early age. We all rode. We went to the gymkhanas and we used to show jump quite a lot.” It was an all-horses-all-the-time childhood in the Irish countryside, idyllic and peaceful. But in 1987, everything changed for Dwyer. Just shy of 17 years old, he was diagnosed with cancer. Read full article >>
October 2010 - Nacho Figueras Adopts Work To Ride Nacho Figueras is not only the world’s most handsome polo player. He’s also the world’s nicest incredibly handsome polo player. Figueras, a 33 year old, six goaler and Ralph Lauren model, has “life missions.” One is to promote polo and spread his enthusiasm for the sport to audiences around the world by demonstrating that polo is not only for the wealthy and well to do. Read full article >>
October 2010 - Clear Cones Round Clinches National Pony Singles Championship at The Laurels at Landhope CDE Four Combined Driving National Championships were awarded Sunday, September 12 after a full weekend of exciting competition at The Laurels At Landhope International Combined Driving Event and Autumn Festival in West Grove, PA. The Pony Singles Championship was possibly the most exciting, with Shelly Temple turning in a rare clear round on the cones course, adding only 9.55 time penalties to earn a three-day total score of 133.57. Read full article >>
August 2010 - The Laurels at Landhope CDE Combines International Competition and Family Fun The Laurels at Landhope International Combined Driving Event, one of the most prestigious events of its kind in the U.S., will be held in West Grove, Chester County, PA September 10-12, 2010. Combining family fun with international equestrian competition in a beautiful country setting just 40 miles from Philadelphia, the event hosts the best drivers from Canada, Mexico and the United States, who compete in a series of three events with combinations from single horses and ponies to four-in-hands. Read full article >>
August 2010 - Agrarian Country Acquires Regal Heir, Star Barn Seven years had passed since the close of the bloody Civil War. In the rich rolling hills of south-central Pennsylvania, the Star Barn was raised. Built by John Motter near Middletown, the gentleman farmer and banker had gained prominence by furnishing the United States Army with thousands of high quality horses and mules. Read full article >>
August 2010 - Barn Full of Kittens? Here’s How to Deal Barn cats. They come in all colors, temperaments, and states of fertility. Often they lead mysterious lives, appearing, leaving for days, only to return again and again. Where do they come from? Where do they go? How do they get back? Or were they there all along, and if not, what was eating their food every night? Read full article >>
August 2010 - Could Canadian Bill End Horse Slaughter Canadian lawmakers recently proposed a bill amending the country’s food safety laws, which, if passed, would terminate all equine slaughter for human consumption. The bill would prohibit both the import and transport of horses bound for slaughter. Read full article >>
August 2010 - PA Native Establishes Star Status on National Rodeo Circuit A hometown hero from Beech Creek, Pa., is making his way to the top of the professional bull riding circuit, as Jeff Askey conquers one ride at a time. Read full article >>
August 2010 - The Real Fix for Retired Racehorses “Racehorse Retirees Face Happier Futures” was a recent headline in the Pennsylvania Equestrian. The report of 200 racehorses saved yearly by this recent effort is a positive rescue direction. The sad truth is that the vast number of raced Thoroughbreds have no future. Read full article >>
August 2010 - Safety First? Standards and Rules on Helmets Vary by Discipline Dr. Debbie Stanitski doesn’t remember the details of her accident in 1999. But she lives with its results. The former orthopedic surgery professor and pediatric orthopedic surgeon had relocated from Michigan to South Carolina to join the faculty of the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. Read full article >>
June 2010 - Business Is Booming at Monmouth’s Elite Summer Meet Call it the minimalist approach. Less is more. Every summer race fans flock to the cozy confines of Saratoga and to Delmar, the seaside track north of San Diego. In the spring and fall in Kentucky, Keeneland is the place to be. Those race meets are truly special events. Read full article >>
June 2010 - 114th Annual Devon Horse Show Delivers Wins for Locals It was a busy 11-day run at Devon, with riders coming from all across the country to compete in the Dixon Oval. While the majority of championships went to out of state riders, there were some Pennsylvanians who earned blues and tri-colors. Read full article >>
June 2010 - Liam’s Dream: Big Success from Small Cochranville Farm On a steamy summer morning nearly four years ago the news spread across Kentucky’s bluegrass country. In a freakish accident, Horse of the Year Saint Liam suffered a fractured hind leg while being led to his paddock. Read full article >>
June 2010 - Show Before a Crowd at the 67th Annual Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show Cap off the final days of summer with a weekend of family fun at the 67th annual Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show and Country Fair. The family event, held Labor Day Weekend, Saturday through Monday, September 4-6, at the Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show Grounds, Glenmoore, PA, has been a Labor Day tradition for generations of Chester County families for more than a half century. Read full article >>
June 2010 - Jennie Brannigan Kicks On to New Heights Despite Losing Long-Time Partner California-turned-Pennsylvania eventer Jennie Brannigan is finding inspiration through personal tragedy and is continuing her path as a rising star in the eventing community. Read full article >>
June 2010 - Local Reiner is the Youngest Finalist for the US World Equestrian Games Team In eastern Pennsylvania, where English horse sports dominate, reiner Matt Palmer is an anomaly. Equally incongruous in the reining world, he is not only competing from a home base in Pennsylvania rather than Texas or Oklahoma, the center of the reining universe, but he's also the youngest competitor at his level. Read full article >>
June 2010 - Starving, Neglected Horses Stress Rescuers, Strain Budgets Animal welfare groups in several states are dealing with the emotional and financial toll of rescuing, rehabilitating and caring for horses that have survived appalling neglect. Even as they respond to the immediate needs of these horses, they wonder how on earth these horses' desperate situations could have persisted over months and years without detection. Read full article >>
May 2010 - Synthetic Surfaces Debate Rages On Back in late March the world's richest horse race was staged on a Tapeta synthetic track. Gloria de Campeao-- owned by a Swede and trained by a Frenchman in England-- captured the $10-million Dubai World Cup in a thrilling three-way photo finish. Read full article >>
May 2010 - Eventer Jane Sleeper Still Aiming for the Top at Age 60 The saying is old but true: Age really is just a number to eventer and Coatesville resident Jane Sleeper, as she made her third run in four years at the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event in April. At 60, not much deters Sleeper from successfully navigating the highest levels of eventing competition in the world, embracing horsemanship, and taking an active role in the equestrian community around her. Read full article >>
May 2010 - Rafter Wins Both Top Prizes at 80th Radnor Hunt Races Whenever you have a winner, you celebrate, and jockey Carl Rafter had plenty to celebrate at the Radnor Hunt Races. Rafter won both of the biggest prizes of the day with Keystone Thoroughbreds' Meet at Eleven in The Radnor Hunt Cup, and then The National Hunt Cup, aboard Country Cousin, owned by Oakwood Stable. That was not quite enough for the rider, who finished out the final race of the day with a win on Chadds Ford Stables' Saluda Sam. Read full article >>
May 2010 - Owners, Jockeys Have Up and Down Day at Willowdale Steeplechases Steeplechasing is full of ups and downs in addition to the jumping. At the Willowdale Steeplechases, held on a cold and windy May 9 in Kennett Square, PA, you could go from the winners' circle to DNF in one race. Read full article >>
April 2010 - Quaremba's Refusal Sacrifices 50 Length Lead at Plumsted Farm Races At the 10th annual running of the Plumsted Farm Races, Sun. April 18 in London Grove, Pa, Quaremba, owned by Donald Cochran and trained by Paddy Neilson, was blowing away his competitors in the Marshall W. Jenney & Richard I G Jones Memorial Cup Heavyweight Race. There were just two other horses in the field, No Cares (owned and ridden by Conrad Somers) and Move Up Stable's Delarun, a late switch from the Novice Race. Read full article >>
April 2010 - Mrs. Hannum: Conscience of the Countryside The news spread like a gusty March wind. It streamed through the rolling countryside of her beloved Unionville where spring was taking a crack at pushing winter away. Nancy Penn Smith Hannum had passed away on Tuesday evening, March 30. Read full article >>
April 2010 - Radnor Races Celebrates 80th Running, Benefits Conservation As long as they race steeplechase horses, stories will be swapped about Joe Aitcheson, Jr. With steely determination, stellar balance and wonderful hands, Aitcheson had an uncanny knack for finding the shortest way home. Read full article >>
April 2010 - Horses at Penn National Now Face Happier Retirement April, it turns out, is not the cruelest month if you happen to be a race horse on the verge of retirement. That's because in late March the owners of Penn National Race Course in Grantville, PA announced a new policy regarding the fates of race horses that can no longer race. Christopher McErlean, Vice President/Racing for Penn National Gaming, the company that operates the Grantville race track, says the policy has been in the works for some time. Read full article >>
April 2010 - Grand Prix Rider Callan Solem Relocates to Chester Springs Grand Prix rider Callan Solem has relocated her show stable to Chester Springs, PA. While Solem will continue to winter in Florida, she is embarking on a new business venture in Chester County, Pennsylvania with property owners Virginia and Collin McNeil. Read full article >>
March 2010 - A Natural Approach Sets Trainer Jonathan Sheppard Apart!
Far from Kentucky's majestic stables, Jonathan Sheppard runs his operation out of a late 19th century dairy barn converted for racehorses.
Inside the main barn, a cluster of thick leather and brass halters hang from an overhead hook. A chestnut filly gets a foot trimming with very little fuss. A veterinarian administers vaccinations. Off in a corner a mash of hot oats is brewing in a steel kettle. Horses poke their heads out of adjoining stalls, while a pair of crescent horned goats wander at will keeping both animals and humans company.
Read full article >>
March 2010 - Willow Lake Farm Leads Horse Farms' Switch to Solar Energy "I just think we use too much stuff. Too much of everything," Ellen Lea says, considering the world's dependence on fossil fuels, and the environmental damage that dependence creates. "There's got to be a bottom to everything, but not solar energy. I really feel like the carbon footprint is important," she explains, "I feel like this is doing my part." Lea is part of a fast-growing contingent of land owners who have made the leap to alternative energy. In a couple of months, engineers from Penn Renewables of Quakertown, PA will begin installation of panels that will convert the house, the barns and the stables to solar energy. Read full article >>
March 2010 - Pennsylvania Cowgirl takes Extreme Cowboy Races by Storm Sally Addington of Polk, Pa., vividly remembers watching Craig Cameron's Extreme Cowboy Races on television. The races' emphasis on horsemanship and speed mesmerized her, and the tricky series of obstacles for horse and rider to navigate only made her more eager try her hand at this up-and-coming discipline. Read full article >>
March 2010 - Be a Hero. Learn to Save Your Horse Ed Childers is the kind of guy you want to have around in an emergency. When he's not working his day job as a manufacturer's representative for Siemens, or hanging out with his horses, he's a volunteer firefighter with the North Strabane Township Fire Department in Canonsburg, near Pittsburgh. But Childers the firefighter and horse lover turned into Childers the teacher after a barn fire at the Meadows Racetrack and Casino. Read full article >>
March 2010 - Penn National Jockeys' Mutiny Sinks Owner Michael Gill Score one for the jockeys. And their sport's image. Controversial owner Michael Gill, who led all North American owners in wins and purse earnings in 2009, is liquidating his stable so that he can leave racing. Again. Gill’s actions were the result of the firestorm that erupted following two breakdowns at Penn National Race Course in late January. Since the early 2000’s Gill has operated out of Elk Creek Ranch, a large training center in Oxford, Pa. Read full article >>
February 2010 - Be a Hero. Learn to Save Your Horse Ed Childers is the kind of guy you want to have around in an emergency. When he’s not working his day job as a manufacturer’s representative for Siemens, or hanging out with his horses, he’s a volunteer firefighter with the North Strabane Township Fire Department in Canonsburg, near Pittsburgh. But Childers the firefighter and horse lover turned into Childers the teacher after a barn fire at the Meadows Racetrack and Casino. Read full article >>
February 2010 - Building Trust Key in Overcoming Starting Gate Issues
If you tuned into the Breeders Cup races last November you saw two days of spectacular racing at Santa Anita Park with a backdrop of the majestic San Gabriel mountains.
You also witnessed the frightening sight of Quality Road refusing to enter the starting gate for the most anticipated race of the weekend, the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic. In the weeks leading up to the Kentucky Derby he was considered the horse to beat, but never made it to Louisville because of foot issues.
Read full article >>
February 2010 - Eighth Annual Pennsylvania Horse World Expo Features Top Clinicians, Theatre Equus The weather outside may be frightful, but inside the 25-acre climate-controlled Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex and Expo Center, tens of thousands of horse enthusiasts will be warm and comfy and dreaming of the warm weather riding season to come. The eighth annual Pennsylvania Horse World Expo will bring the nation's leading equestrian clinicians and entertainers, and tens of thousands of horse owners eager to learn from them, to Harrisburg, PA, for four non-stop days of education, entertainment and shopping, February 25-28.
February 2010 - Jousting Comes to Pennsylvania Jousting is the state sport in Maryland, but so far it has only made small inroads into Pennsylvania. A group of riders based in southern York County would like to see that change and are hoping the sport will grow through the Pennsylvania Jousting Club. Read full article >>
February 2010 - Kate Miller—With Lots of Help--Creates Happy Ending for Keystone Wallis When Kate Miller was just 6 years old, a gray Standardbred named Keystone Wallis was the horse of her dreams. Twenty years later, Miller still remembered her dream horse, and came to the mare’s rescue when she was facing the killers at auction. Read full article >>
February 2010 - A Look Back at Super Sire Storm Cat
Born to greatness, he will be remembered as a special racehorse and a magnificent stallion.
On the southeastern edge of Lexington's blue grass country, there is a dark bay horse strolling his hillside three-acre paddock. His name is Storm Cat. For most of the past 15 years, he had been the most valuable horse in the world.
Read full article >>
February 2010 - Three PA Horses Are Among 2009 Dan Patch Award Winners Three of the twelve winners of the United States Harness Writers’ Association 2009 Dan Patch Awards, announced on December 28, 2009, have Pennsylvania connections. The three, Broadway Schooner, Lucky Jim and Buck I St Pat, will be honored at the organization’s annual awards dinner, to be held February 28 at Yonkers Raceway in New York. Read full article >>
