SCOTTDALE, Ariz. – The Valley of the Sun lived up to its name this year at the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show at Westworld, as show officials and exhibitors alike hailed the 55th annual edition of this event a success.

Except for a stormy final two days, the Scottdale Show basked in spring-like weather compared to the rest of the nation, and participation was warm, too. Entries increased this year to 8,230 in 744 classes, with the number of horses (2,240) about 350 more than two years ago. The horse total may have fallen from last year, but show officials were pleased with the increase in entries, nonetheless.

“It was a great show,” said Executive Director Taryl Pearson, who saw record crowds of 200,000 go through the gates. “A lot of people have said to me that they might cut out a lot of the other shows — the smaller shows that they did throughout the year if their budget is tightened — and just go to one or two shows. Scottsdale is on the roster.”

TULARE – Even with an untimely rain, there were no blues felt Feb. 23-28 at the Second Annual National Stock Horse Association Classic.

But red felt just right.

With his lucky red shirt on his back and the red roan stallion, Smart Boons, under him, Corey Cushing of Scottsdale, Ariz. clinched another big aged event win – the NSHA Open Classic held at the Ag Center.

THERMAL — Competing against world class competition, Joie Gatlin of San Juan Capistrano needed at least a third-place finish March 6 to keep in the hunt for the World Cup Finals. She took a title, instead.

Riding Cameron Hills Quick Dollar in the $50,000 HITS CSI-W Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, Gatlin made sure that this time around the blue ribbon and the first-place check stayed in Southern California. She beat 23 other starters who had challenged designer Steve Stephens’ first-round track, and then she topped the six who had advanced to the jump-off in the featured Saturday night class.

“We came in tonight needing to finish in the top three to stay in the chase for a trip to the World Cup Finals and to earn some much-needed prize money to qualify for the $1 Million Class,” said Gatlin. “It’s hard to keep a horse jumping fresh at one venue for a few weeks in a row, but HITS always seems to make each class special and electric. Thankfully we were able to rise to the occasion tonight.”

LONDON, Ontario — The Friesian Horse Association of North America honored Janna Goldman of Greenbrae with the 2009 FHANA President’s Trophy at the organization’s general meeting Feb 27. The Perpetual Trophy, regarded as the most prestigious FHANA year-end award, went to the northern Californian woman for the promotion of the Friesian horse by competing and winning numerous large classes at USEF rated shows. She used multiple horses to achieve the highest score in North America and was selected as the person who “best demonstrates the versatility of the Friesian horse”

Her name was added to the perpetual Presidential Trophy which remains on display at the FHANA offices in Lexington, KY.

Goldman, who shows her Friesians in a multitude of disciplines, including saddleseat, huntseat, dressage, driving, and western, remembers her first Friesian.

Lexington, KY – Four California horse/rider combinations have made the long list to represent the U.S. show jumpers this fall at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

Nicole Shahanian-Simpson of Thousand Oaks on Tristan along with Richard Spooner of Agua Dulce on Cristallo are listed fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Top 15, while Ashlee Bond of Hidden Hills on Chivas Z and Shahanian-Simpson on Kilkenny Rindo were listed as alternates. The line-up comes at the heels of the USEF Selection Trials for the U.S. Show Jumping Team in Wellington, Fla. The 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games will be held in Lexington Sept. 25-Oct. 10.

The top nine horse/rider combinations were named according to their Final Overall Placing in the Selection Trials. The remaining six horse/rider combinations may be discretionary choices recommended by the Selectors. In this case, the Selectors exercised their option to use three discretionary choices. In addition, the Selectors name and rank up to five substitute horse/rider combinations to the Long List.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz — Cutting cattle and cutting an album are two paths rarely crossed, but Randy Paul has done just that.

The 2010 NRCHA World’s Greatest Horseman and NRHA Million Dollar Rider is fulfilling a long-lasting ambition to record his music, available soon on CD via his website, www.randypaul.com. The album, “The Sky,” has been more than 25 years in the making, and it’s a collaboration with his daughter, vocalist Lynzee, and her husband, Paul Foreman, who produced the collection.

“One song, “sunshine Lady,” was written in 1984 for his wife, Andi.

Next in a series
After taking a look at the fundamental riding skill of using your legs in the last issue, we take a brief look this issue and next at the horse’s mouth.

Here’s a good exercise to remind you of how little rein pressure it takes to send a signal to your horse. To try it, just hang your bridle on a doorknob, like it would hang from a horse’s head. Now stand about five feet away, take one rein in your hand and just lift it until you make contact with the bit and it starts to move. You’ll see that it doesn’t really take a lot of pressure or movement on your part to get movement out of the bit.