December 2012 - Bargain PA Stallions Produce Stellar Breeders’ Cup Triumphs They saved the best for last. As the sun began to slip below the majestic San Gabriel Mountains, a pair of colts produced by Pennsylvania-based stallions stole the show on racing’s grandest day. In the performance of his life, Fort Larned grabbed the lead out of the gate and bravely held off Mucho Macho Man in a scintillating stretch drive to prevail in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic by a half-length on November 3. Read full article >>
December 2012 - Farrington Wins Grand Prix at the 67th Pennsylvania National Horse Show Kent Farrington and Uceko, owned by RCG Farm, won the $85,000 Grand Prix de Penn National at the 67th annual Pennsylvania National Horse Show, held October 11-20 in Harrisburg, PA. It was the third Harrisburg Grand Prix win for Farrington, who went early in the line-up and was not convinced that his clear round time of 37.95 seconds would stay on top of the leader board. Read full article >>
December 2012 - North American National Model Horse Championships Come to Harrisburg The Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex will host a different kind of national championship horse show in 2013. The weekend of June 21-23, the North American Nationals (NAN) will take place at the complex, bringing the best model horse showers from across the country to compete in Harrisburg. The NAN is the annual championship show for the North American Model Horse Shows Association (NAMHSA). Read full article >>
December 2012 - Pennsylvania Morgans Win World Titles Every year, Pennsylvania-based Morgan enthusiasts have a strong showing at the Morgan Grand National & World Championship Horse Show. This year, trainers and owners from Pennsylvania Morgan horse farms traveled to Oklahoma City the first two weeks in October, for the 39th Annual show, which attracted more than 1,000 entries from this country, Canada, England and Austria. Read full article >>
December 2012 - Pennsylvania Yearlings Top the World’s Largest Standardbred Sale Hours after dropping her 11th foal on February 24, 2011, Canadian Hall of Fame and United States Trotting Hall of Fame member Cathedra developed colic, which was attributed to complications from the birth, and perished en route to an emergency clinic. Read full article >>
December 2012 - Scarlet on Scarlet Celebrates Cheshire Hunt’s 100th Anniversary Fox hunting has been a part of life in Chester County, Pennsylvania for generations and it remains an important factor in the region to this day. One of the area’s most respected hunts, Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds, is celebrating their centennial year this fall with special meets, events, and a new book recounting the hunt’s first one hundred years. Read full article >>
December 2012 - Unwanted Horse Population Set to Soar as European Union Prepares to Close Door Each year thousands of horses are sold at auctions in the United States and shipped to Canada and Mexico for slaughter. The abattoirs process the horsemeat for consumers in Europe and Japan. The auctions have provided options for people who can no longer afford to keep their horses, or for people whose horses are no longer useful to them. It’s an unfortunate reality. Read full article >>
November 2012 - New Bolton Lecture: New Techniques in Fracture Repair New techniques in equine fracture repairs was the subject of a presentation at Penn Vet New Bolton Center on September 4 by Dean W. Richardson, DVM, professor and chief of large animal surgery at Penn Vet’s New Bolton Center. The lecture was part of the First Tuesday Lecture series at New Bolton Center, offering the public open lectures on equine topics, at no charge, the first Tuesday of each month. Read full article >>
November 2012 - Lancaster County Friends Dominate Dressage at Devon Breed Show Three good friends from Lancaster County, PA went to Dressage at Devon in September. They took several horses, packed lots of hope, and prepared for the unexpected. As the competition unfolded, the friends, Dee Osborne, Victoria Wanner and Brendan Curtis began to realize that the field was narrowing and it was likely that the final showdown would pit two of them against the other. Read full article >>
November 2012 - Hard Spun Emerging as a Top Young Stallion On a visit to Betty Moran’s glorious Brushwood Farm in June 2004, I first met Hard Spun. A spirited five-week old bay colt with a splash of white on his forehead he skittered down a hilly paddock with his dam, Turkish Tryst. Leaning on a paddock fence I watched the colt move effortlessly across the ground. Read full article >>
October 2012 - Conservation Money, Assistance Available for Horse Farms The 2012 Farm Bill is in limbo for the time being, awaiting action from Congress. This massive piece of legislation is not actually a new bill. Rather, it is an aggregation of policies that is passed every five years. It deals with a host of critical issues, from nutrition, to agricultural subsidies, to conservation and development of foreign markets for American agricultural products. Read full article >>
October 2012 - EEE Reported in Luzerne County A Luzerne County horse tested positive for Eastern Equine encephalitis in mid-September. EEE, also known as sleeping sickness, is a zoonotic alphavirus that affects humans, horses and birds and is spread by mosquitoes. Symptoms in horses occur one to three weeks after infection, and begin with a fever that may reach as high as 106°F (41°C). The fever usually lasts for 24–48 hours. Read full article >>
October 2012 - Equine License Plates Available Now in PA A long-time goal of the Pennsylvania Equine Council has come to fruition with the issue of a specialty license plate for horse enthusiasts. While drivers have been able to express their support for colleges, natural resource conservation, state zoos, and much more, horses have never been an option—until now. Read full article >>
October 2012 - Glen Willow CDE Woos Competitors In 2011, when The Laurels at Landhope CDE announced that their 25th annual event was to be their last, area drivers felt the loss of the venerable event was adding to the decline in the number of combined driving events in the mid-Atlantic region. Read full article >>
October 2012 - Market Share Shocks Owner Richard Gutnick by Winning Hambletonian His hands were very nearly shaking as he signed Market Share’s stakes payments for this year, but when it came time for Richard Gutnick to accept the trophy after his colt’s triumph in the $1.5 million Hambletonian on August 4 they were quite steady. This contest for 3-year-old trotters has been the richest of all trotting events since its first running at the Syracuse Fairgrounds in 1926. Read full article >>
October 2012 - Soggy Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show Nevertheless Raises Funds for Community The 69th annual edition of the Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show and Country Fair was subdued by the heavy rains of Labor Day weekend, but the spirits of the competitors, spectators and volunteers who braved the weather stayed high. Winning the featured $7,500 mini-prix on Labor Day, Sept. 3, was Cian McDermott on Glenwood Stables’ Scarpazza. Read full article >>
October 2012 - The New Devon Fall Classic Is a Hit A new horse show came to a venerable location this fall. The first annual Devon Fall Classic jumper show and fall festival was held at the Devon Horse Show grounds September 12 through 16. Project Manager Mimi Killian explained the impetus for the creation of the new show: “We wanted to be an integral part of the community year round. Read full article >>
September 2012 - Standardbred Enthusiasts Learn to Race at USTA Driving School For the last fourteen years he has always been apprehensive about how much precipitation will fall from the sky on a certain weekend in May, and every year Kent ‘Chip’ Hastings realizes his concerns are unfounded. “One thing I can certainly tell you is, every year of the driving school it has rained at least one of the three days,” explained the United States Trotting Association’s (USTA) Liaison Officer, who is also the program’s founder and head. Read full article >>
September 2012 - New Glen Willow CDE Resurrects Laurels Showgrounds September 7-9 While the Brits had seven years to prepare for this year’s 30th Olympiad Games, a hardy band of combined driving enthusiasts had far less time to organize a show which would replace the now defunct Laurels at Landhope International Combined driving Event. Read full article >>
September 2012 - Outloud Finds a Career With Win at Gladstone CDE When York County, PA horsewoman Kathleen Schmitt found she didn’t have anyone to ride the last of the line of foals out of her Paint mare, she thought her daughter would be interested in driving the gelding. But that didn’t happen, which is probably just as well as the Glen Rock woman found herself involved with him. That led to a win for the pair in the training single pony class at this summer’s Gladstone (NJ) Horse Trials. Read full article >>
September 2012 - Trottingbred Club Seeks New Members Twin Maples, Newport, PA, is the region’s sole remaining Trottingbred club, racing every other weekend from May to September at the Perry County fairgrounds and during the Perry County Fair. Trottingbred racing is a do-it-yourself, family oriented sport found in the USA, Canada, Bermuda, and Italy. Read full article >>
September 2012 - First to Ride for Ecuador Local Eventer Ronald Zabala-Goetschel Sacrificed to Achieve Olympic Dream Ronald Zabala-Goetschel became the first rider from his country to compete in eventing at the Olympics when he rode down centerline in London. Originally from Ecuador, Zabala-Goetschel keeps his upper-level horses at Phillip Dutton’s True Prospect Farm in West Grove, Pa., and lives nearby when he isn’t jet setting around the world managing his businesses. Read full article >>
September 2012 - Young Pennsylvanian Vaulters Dominate National Championships Pennsylvanian vaulters made a clean sweep of the Tiny Tot division at the 2012 USEF/AVA National Vaulting Championships held August 1-5 in the Kentucky Horse Park’s Alltech Arena in Lexington. This year’s event featured over 350 competitors from across the country. Tiny Tots compete individually in musical freestyle and compulsories. Read full article >>
September 2012 - Teeth of the Dog, Paynter Targeting $1 Million PA Derby Sixteen years ago Michael Matz’s dogged determination paid off when he earned a silver medal as a member of the U.S. Olympic equestrian team that competed at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. It capped a run of 20 years as a world-class horseman as he won multiple gold, silver and bronze medals at the World Championships and Pan Am Games. Read full article >>
September 2012 - Young Local Dressage Riders Compete for Region 1 at NAJYRDC Dressage has been a hot topic in the news lately, thanks largely to a mare named Rafalca, and the London Olympics. The coverage of the discipline has not always been favorable, and much of it has ignored, misrepresented or otherwise demeaned the actual sport of Dressage and—by extension—the people who compete in it. Read full article >>
August 2012 - Horses Help Returning Veterans Combat PTSD Post traumatic stress is a pandemic in veterans returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, says Kenneth Bennett of Crooked Fence Farm in Rochester Mills, PA. Bennett, a Vietnam veteran who himself suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), says the current generation of veterans is far more affected by PTSD than was his. Read full article >>
August 2012 - 2011 Eclipse Winner Black Jack Blues, Imported Last Fall, Remains Undefeated Black Jack Blues kept alive his American undefeated streak with an authoritative 6 1/4-length romp in the Carolina Cup in Camden, S.C. The Irish-bred horse surged to an early lead and never looked back in the 80th running of the Cup, capturing the $50,000 purse and trademark trophy in late March. Read full article >>
August 2012 - 2012 Dressage at Devon: Better Than Ever The 2012 Dressage at Devon (DAD), taking place at the historic Devon Horse Show Grounds in Devon, PA from September 25 to September 30, promises to be better than ever. One of the highest-rated FEI events outside of Europe, Dressage at Devon attracts world-class riders from North and South America and Europe. Read full article >>
August 2012 - Equine Interests Fare Better than Expected in State Budget Pennsylvania’s horse industry fared better than expected in the 2012-2013 state budget passed just at the July 1 deadline. Horse racing, which was targeted for a $72 million decrease in funding, pared the loss to just $5 million. Read full article >>
August 2012 - Locals Shine at the Brandywine Summer Series in Devon For the second time this year, Louise Serio piloted the five-year-old gelding Corvine to a National Hunter Derby victory. As they did in the Kentucky Spring Horse Show, Serio and Corvine led the Brandywine Valley Summer Series' $5,000 Get Real Get RAW USHJA National Hunter Derby start to finish. Read full article >>
August 2012 - New Bolton’s Ten Tips to Keep Your Horses Cool The heat can play havoc with your horse’s health. It can result in dehydration, lethargy and general malaise. Severe heat stress may result in diarrhea and even colic. Janet Johnston DVM, board-certified in surgery and internal medicine, and an emergency critical care veterinarian at University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine’s New Bolton Center, suggests the following ten tips to keep your horse comfortable and safe in the summer heat. Read full article >>
August 2012 - Equine Emergencies, Part 2: Wounds, Sudden Lameness and Other Trauma What to do in an emergency was the subject of a presentation at Penn Vet New Bolton Center on May 1. Equine emergencies: First aid and emergency stabilization was presented by Dr. Samantha Hart, DACVS, DACVECC and lecturer in Large Animal Emergency and Critical Care at Penn Vet. Read full article >>
August 2012 - The Coach Horn is Preserved by Richard O’Donnell The echoing sound of the coach horn is something that has faded into the past with just a few exceptions. The distinctive road calls can still be heard from a small number of musicians who practice the traditional art as part of four in hand carriage drives. Read full article >>
July 2012 - Boyd Martin Travels Olympic Trail with Three Horses in Contention
One year ago, Neville Bardos’ lungs were black and charred from smoke inhalation. Boyd Martin knew the deadly barn fire that claimed the lives of six horses at True Prospect Farm last Memorial Day weekend had likely ended the four-star event horse’s career.
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July 2012 - Rebecca Hart Will Lead US Paralympic Team
Rebecca Hart, Unionville, PA, topped the Dressage Parlympic Selection Trials in June and earned a chance to represent the U.S. at her second consecutive Paralympic Games, to be held August 30-September 4 at Greenwich Park, following the London Olympics.
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July 2012 - Flettrich, Otto Turn Down Trip to Olympics
After qualifying as the alternate for the US Olympic Dressage team, Todd Fletterich, Coatesville, PA, announced June 16 that his partner, Otto, would not compete and would instead retire. Otto, a 16 year old Danish warmblood, had placed sixth in the US Equestrian Federation Olympic Selection Trials, which were held in conjunction with the Festival of Champions at the US Equestrian Team headquarters in Gladstone, NJ June 8-10 and 13-14.
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July 2012 - More About the London Olympics...
Shortlisted for the Olympic team with Phillip Dutton, Mystery Whisper, a 2000 Australian warmblood, arrived in the US only in late 2011, quickly proved himself. Mystery Whisper won from gate to wire at Jersey Fresh in May with Dutton for his third FEI victory in a row.
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July 2012 - Hay Prices Rise Again – The Reasons Are Many Fields of hay soften the profile of over two million acres of Pennsylvania farmland. The graceful wands ripple in the breezes, the simplicity of the vista obscuring the furtive pests and threats lurking in the air, on the ground, in the skies overhead. From army worms, to spider mites, to the vagaries of climate, hay has a lot to worry about. And when hay sneezes, as the saying might go, horse farms get the flu. Read full article >>
July 2012 - Dave Palone Poised to Break 1971 Record for Most Harness Races Won When he steered Boo’s Boy to triumph in the 10th race on Tuesday, March 26, at The Meadows, Dave Palone was certainly ruminating upon piloting his 15,000th winner. Only one other North American driver has reached that milestone. But rather than reflect on his own accomplishment, the 2010 Harness Hall of Fame inductee honored the man who set the standard. Read full article >>
July 2012 - 69th Annual Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show Will Entertain Families This Labor Day Weekend Cap off the final days of summer with a weekend of family fun at the 69th annual Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show and Country Fair. The family event, held Labor Day Weekend, Saturday through Monday, September 1-3 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 >>
July 2012 - Pennsylvania Equestrian Wins Three Awards for 2011 Pennsylvania Equestrian won three awards at the American Horse Publication’s Annual Awards Competition held in conjunction with the organization’s three day “Ride Into History” conference in Williamsburg, VA May 31-June 2. Read full article >>
June 2012 - Union Rags Triumphs in Thrilling Belmont Stakes It was a reversal of fortune after a hard-luck spring. Under a clever ride from John Velazquez, Union Rags stormed through a slip of a hole and caught pacesetting Paynter in the closing strides of the 144th Belmont Stakes to win by a neck. “It was an awfully small hole for such a big horse (17 hands) to fit through,” said Chester County trainer Michael Matz. “You’ve got to give Union Rags and Johnny credit. They got it done. When I saw the head-on, it wasn’t that big a hole.” Read full article >>
June 2012 - Team Valor Founder Barry Irwin Is Racing’s Syndicate King Born into another era, he might have been a swashbuckling pirate captaining a stealth sailing ship. “I just sit back and wait for something to happen, and then I pounce,” said Barry Irwin with a sly grin. Known for his keen eye for prospecting thoroughbred talent, Irwin tends to listen to his gut and doesn’t shy away from risks. Read full article >>
June 2012 - Radio Flyer Wins the Willowdale Steeplechase Tailgating and chasing go well together. Add a beautiful day in the country and it has become a Mother’s Day tradition in Chester County to spend the day with Mom at the Willowdale Steeplechases. From the horseman’s view, the May 13 races were a great venue for the talent based around the Unionville, PA area. Read full article >>
June 2012 - Pennsylvania Tracks Show Little Interest in NTRA Safety Initiative Safety on the job is a hallmark of many American businesses. Safety audits, employee training programs, operational changes that result in safer workplaces—these are workday routines that have become... well... routine. Workplace safety is a big deal for a number of reasons, presumably because employers care about the people who work for them and want them to be safe. Read full article >>
June 2012 - Congressional Hearing on Race Day Drugs Held in Unionville, PA The witnesses at a US House of Representatives subcommittee hearing held in Unionville, Chester County, PA on April 30 were in total agreement – race day drugs are destroying American horseracing. The question was, is the federal government the right agency to fix it? Read full article >>
June 2012 - Alternative Budget Would Restore Racing Funds On May 11, the Pennsylvania Senate passed an alternate budget that would restore nearly all funding to the state’s horseracing industry. The $27.6 billion plan passed 39-8 by the Senate cuts only $3 million from the subsidies. Read full article >>
June 2012 - Ballet Boy Stars in the $50,000 Hunt Cup at the 82nd Radnor Hunt Races Ballet Boy, owned by Cashel Stables, was the star of the 82nd running of the Radnor Hunt Races, winning the $50,000 National Hunt Cup. The six race card was run on the Radnor Hunt club grounds in Willistown Township, PA on Saturday May 19. Read full article >>
June 2012 - Where Horses Gather, Strangles Can Spread In late March, an outbreak of strangles closed the Saratoga Casino and Raceway in upstate New York for three weeks. As the competition season approaches, it is important to remember that strangles is a highly infectious disease that can have severe consequences for horses. Understanding what it is, how it is spread and treatment options can prove to be a lifesaver for your horse. Read full article >>
June 2012 - Linden Hall Goes to IEA National Finals The Linden Hall School always has a good equestrian team, but this year was special. The 12-member varsity team went undefeated this season, earning a trip to the Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA) finals. The team ultimately placed seventh overall with individual riders also earning top ribbons. Read full article >>
May 2012 - NJ Initiates Program to Help Novice Horse Adopters Succeed When most people think about horses, they probably don’t think—or even know—that tens of thousands of horses are abandoned, surrendered or abused every year in America. The dichotomy between the idyllic vision of beautiful horses peacefully grazing in lush pastures and the horrific reality faced by unwanted horses—starvation, neglect, abandonment along roads, auctioned and sold for meat—is hard to grasp. Read full article >>
May 2012 - RAIDING RACING – “Every Pennsylvanian who owns a horse will feel it” Horsemen were in Harrisburg to make their point – funding for racing can’t be pulled without dire consequences to the state’s horse industry. Act 71, the Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act, passed in 2004, was intended to enhance live racing and breeding programs in Pennsylvania. Read full article >>
May 2012 - A Modest Proposal to (Help) Fix Horse Racing At the 2011 Pennsylvania Horse Conference in Harrisburg March 14, Mike Newlin, the relatively new general manager of the Meadowlands racetrack outside New York City, was a featured speaker. He was there, presumably, to talk to the people most involved in racing in Pennsylvania about how to save racing. Read full article >>
May 2012 - Union Rags Looks to Bounce Back in the Kentucky Derby Great expectations are a tough burden to bear. All of the thoroughbred industry is lusting for a superstar. Union Rags seemingly has the full package: a massive 17-hands colt with a powerful long stride, handsome looks, a solid pedigree, a cool and calm temperament, and the heart-warming story of his owner/breeder Phyllis Wyeth. Read full article >>
May 2012 - Endurance Rider Holly Corcoran Has Her Eye on WEG 2014 It is a long hard road to the top of any sport, but Holly Corcoran of Stroudsburg PA has gotten there in 50 and 100 mile stretches. Corcoran is actively competing and winning in FEI level endurance rides with an eye toward the WEG in 2014 and more. Read full article >>
May 2012 - Professor Maxwell and Darren Nagle Win the 67th Cheshire Point to Point There are three races in the Delaware Valley Point To Point Association season starting with Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds Point to Point, held March 25 in Unionville, PA. It was followed by the Brandywine Hills Point to Point on April 1, and concluded with the Fair Hill Races April 22. Read full article >>
May 2012 - Born on Trailer, Little Brown Jug Winner Returns Home The 1995 Little Brown Jug winner Nick’s Fantasy arrived back home to Pin Oak Lane Farm in New Freedom, Pa., at the end of March. This time, things were a lot less crowded in the trailer. Read full article >>
April 2012 - Union Rags, Animal Kingdom, Havre de Grace Start the Year with Triumphs When a top-class horse returns to the racetrack it can be a glorious revival or a crushing letdown. Both anticipation and anxiety fill the air. Not to worry. Union Rags, Animal Kingdom and Horse of the Year Havre de Grace all delivered triumphant comebacks in their season debuts. Read full article >>
April 2012 - Work To Ride Repeats National Championship The Cowtown/Work to Ride polo team, based out of Philadelphia, Pa., took home the US Polo Association Open National Interscholastic Championship held March 8-11 at the Virginia Polo Center in Charlottesville, Va., for the second year in a row. The competition featured five of the best high school polo programs from across the map and some of the most talented young polo players. Read full article >>
April 2012 - Lauren Eichstadt Wins AQHA All-Around Amateur Title Lauren Eichstadt of Greenville, Pennsylvania, took home over $15,000 in prizes as the 2011 Farnam All-Around Amateur at the 2011 AQHA World Championship Show. Eichstadt, showing Its My Lucky Detail, was one of 64 contenders for the Farnam All-Around Amateur Award at the 2011 American Quarter Horse Association Bank of America Amateur World Championship Show, held November 5-19 at the Oklahoma City State Fair Park. Read full article >>
April 2012 - Meet Olympic Riders at the 20th Annual Willowdale Steeplechase The Willowdale Steeplechase races offer spectators thrills and spills like other Xtreme sports. In every race, these x-equestrians gallop at up to 40 mph towards four to five feet hedges and solid timber fences on a 3.5 mile course, jockeying for position and the opportunity to take the lead and win. Read full article >>
April 2012 - Cantankerous Hugadragon Begins to Show His Speed Obviously he is his own unique individual, yet Hugadragon, like all the immediate members of his family, shares common personality traits or characteristics based on his genetic composition. Some of which have caused the Burke family, his breeder/owner, a considerable amount of consternation. Read full article >>
March 2012 - “Rescuer” Kelsey Lefever Charged with Sending Thoroughbreds Directly to Slaughter Beau Jaques started 37 races in his short life. The son of Straight Man and Beautiful Beau won less than $124,000 in his career. His track record may have been unremarkable. His death last spring at a Canadian slaughterhouse was a moment of truth for Pennsylvania’s horseracing industry. Read full article >>
March 2012 - Looking Ahead to the Derby – Matz Changed the Way Trainers Prep Back then Matz was buried under a mountain of criticism. After all, for the longest time three-year olds raced four or five times prior to the Kentucky Derby. Lack of racing experience would surely compromise the colt in a full field of 20 horses that impersonates a calvary charge. The pundits howled: not a smart plan. The three-year old colt would be running a daunting mile-and-a-quarter coming off a final prep race a lengthy five weeks prior to the Derby. Read full article >>
March 2012 - Ron Samsel Won the Battle But is Losing His Dream Just over a year ago, Ron Samsel emerged from a Philadelphia courtroom victorious. He had fought the good fight. He had won. And in his victory, he had helped establish a precedent for horse farm owners across Pennsylvania. Today Samsel’s story has taken another dramatic turn, as the recession-battered economy and the downward momentum of the real estate market have nearly crushed him. Once again, Samsel is poised at the brink of disaster. And yet... he remains hopeful. Read full article >>
March 2012 - Corbett Budget Proposal Cuts $72 Million from Race Horse Development Fund In laying out his $27.1 billion budget plan February 7, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett stuck to his campaign pledge to rein in spending and increase no taxes. His budget proposal for the 2012/2013 fiscal year, which begins July 1, reduces corporate taxes, slashes aid to colleges, reduces programs for the poor, elderly, and disabled – and impacts agriculture, including the Pennsylvania horse racing industry. Read full article >>
February 2012 - Retired Racehorse Challenge at Horse World Expo Saves Talented OTTBs Retired racehorses need new jobs, and the Retired Racehorse Trainer Challenge is doing its part to help them find them. The Challenge, which teams three off the track thoroughbreds with three experienced trainers, began at the Maryland Horse World Expo January 20-21, and will conclude at the Pennsylvania Horse World Expo February xx. Between the expos, the trainers will have had five weeks to nudge their horse toward a new career. Read full article >>
February 2012 - Township Tries, Fails to Take Ludwig’s Corner Show Grounds by Eminent Domain Resounding support from horsemen and pressure from the community at large helped the Ludwig's Corner Horse Show Association persuade the West Vincent Township Board of Supervisors rescind a motion that would have condemned the Horse Show Grounds. Read full article >>
February 2012 - Local Horses Win Eclipse Awards - Havre de Grace Joins Fillies Rachael Alexandra and Zenyatta as Horse of the Year As rock musician Meat Loaf once sang: “Two out of three ain’t bad.” Havre de Grace beat the boys once again winning Horse of the Year honors and Kentucky Derby champ Animal Kingdom was voted the 3-year old male champion at the 41st annual Eclipse Awards dinner in Beverly Hills, Calif. on Jan. 16. Chadds Ford Stable’s Union Rags was runner-up to Hansen in the 2-year old champion vote. Read full article >>
February 2012 - Economy Terror Is Best Two Year Old Pacing Filly He loved how she looked and her family tree. But when partner Chris Oakes contacted him about purchasing Economy Terror privately as a yearling, Howard Taylor was not a fan of her name and certainly was not thrilled about her price tag. Read full article >>
February 2012 - Foiled by Paperwork, Steven Hay Selected for, Misses Young Rider Endurance Worlds When Steven Hay was just six years old, he knew that he was in love with horses. He rode horses at his grandmother’s farm, and spent several years taking advantage of all the opportunities available to a young rider, such as showing and 4H. But he was hungry for more. “When I was younger I had showed, and I did 4H and it wasn’t my cup of tea. I didn’t feel like going in the show ring and riding around in a circle. It didn’t test us. It wasn’t enough.” Read full article >>
