TEMECULA – Like so many stories, it all began with a horse.

It was 1956, and a Whittier pediatrician sought the right horse to accompany his new venture, a 120-acre gentleman’s alfalfa farm in Indio. He did his homework and acquired a pair of Crabbet Arabian mares from none other than Herbert H. Reese, who ran the horse unit at Cal Poly Pomona at the time and who took the pediatrician, Dr. Harold West, under his wing and into the horse world.

“That’s how it started,” says Margaret Rich, Dr. West’s then-7-year-old daughter whose passion for horses hasn’t waned a bit at age 60.

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Turning out a horse to pasture is commonly preferred to confinement, but research at Texas A&M University suggests that if grass is the only hay they are fed, horses can still get gastric ulcers.

According the the study, feeding alfalfa to horses that have the potential to be high performers either prevented or was therapeutic in treating stomach ulcers.

THERMAL, Calif. — Last week marked the beginning of the 2010 show jumping season on the West Coast as exhibitors from all over the world are flocking to Southern California and to participate in world-class competition at the HITS Desert Horse Park.

“We are thrilled to return to the desert for another year,” said HITS President and CEO Tom Struzzieri. “This is the 19th year of the HITS Desert Circuit and we are extremely proud of the product that we offer our exhibitors. Entries continue to grow from last year and that is exciting news for the sport.”

The circuit will host 16 Qualifying Grand Prix classes for the historic Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix, which will take place Sept. 12 in Saugerties, N.Y. In addition, HITS Thermal also offers four FEI World Cup Qualifiers during weeks II, III, IV and V, which has been attracting lots of interest from international riders from Mexico and beyond. For the finale, HITS Thermal will close out the season with a monstrous $300,000 Grand Prix of the Desert, presented by Pfizer Animal Health on Sunday, March 14.

BURBANK — Many of California’s reining horses and riders began the new year at California Reining Horse Association’s Winter Madness Reining show, held Jan. 15-17 at Los Angeles Equestrian Center. The show offered exhibitors the chance to school or start showing their horses for the 2010 show season. CRHA also made plans to introduce classes and clinics to encourage new riders to take part in reining.

Good start to the show season
The CRHA Winter Madness show came earlier this year, since it was previously held in February or March. Many exhibitors and show officials said they benefited from the schedule change.

To be effective with your leg cues, you need to be straddling your horse with your weight resting on the bottom of your hip bones. You also want to get to where you can stay balanced in the saddle no matter where your leg is on the horse. As we’ll discuss later, you’re going to need to move your lower leg from the spot just behind the horse’s elbow, to move his shoulder, to a position way back on his barrel, the cue to move his hip. So if you feel like you need to use your legs or the stirrups on a regular basis for balance, you’ve got a long way to go before you have the freedom to use them to effectively cue your horse. Keep just enough weight in your stirrups to keep from losing them.

PASADENA — For many equestrians, one of the highlights of New Year’s Day is watching the Tournament of Roses Parade–and the equestrian groups which take part in the world-famous parade seen by millions of people every year.

The Rose Parade is shown in more than 75 countries, and nearly 1 million spectators line the 5.5-mile parade route. Jon Montgomery, equestrian committee chairman of the Tournament of Roses Parade, shared some suggestions on how to improve your chances of getting into the parade.

For any equestrian group who has ever wanted to take part in the Rose Parade, here are tips to keep in mind.

PASADENA — The Region One Versatile Arabians was formed with hopes of riding in the 2010 Tournament of Roses Parade. They amazingly achieved their goal as a first-time entry into the granddaddy of all parades, while also showcasing the Arabian horse breed.

Every New Year’s Day since she was a girl, Molly Jenks of Norco has raced to the television to watch the elaborate floats and equestrian groups in Pasadena’s Tournament of Roses Parade. So when Jenks learned in July 2009 that she and Rocky, her 21-year-old Arabian horse, had been accepted to participate in the 2010 New Year’s Day parade that she has idolized since childhood, it came as a shock. At her Norco ranch, Jenks, 37, explained how excited she was for her champion horse to walk in the world-famous parade among other first-rate equestrian groups.