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Morgans: America’s first breed

From releases and staff reports - September 1st, 2017

1709A CoverIn 1789, George Washington became the first president of the United States and the U.S. Constitution was signed into law. That same year in Springfield, Mass., a small bay colt named Figure was born. This colt was instrumental in building the new country and founded America’s original equine breed, the Morgan.

The Morgan, the first recognized horse breed in the U.S., is the official state animal of both Vermont and Massachusetts. Other breeds have claimed existence in colonial times, but only the Morgan can trace its bloodlines to a common ancestor. The Morgan has influenced other breeds, including Tennessee Walking Horses, Quarter Horses, Standardbred, and American Saddlebreds.

Next month will provide an opportunity for Californians to become better acquainted with this versatile, handsome breed as a nationwide series of open barns across the U.S. takes place on Oct. 28 — the national on the “Day of the Morgan.”

Cal reiners shine in Reining By the Bay

Special to the Horsetrader - September 1st, 2017
Paige Pastorino and Taylor Made Magnum swept both DRHA Rookie slates and took home her first trophy saddle as DRHA High Point.

Paige Pastorino and Taylor Made Magnum swept both DRHA Rookie slates and took home her first trophy saddle as DRHA High Point.

John O’Hara photo

WOODSIDE — The excitement of Reining by the Bay draws competitors away from scorching temperatures throughout the Country. The San Francisco Peninsula’s coastal fog and ocean breezes are welcomed by all. ‘Uniqueness” is the adjective most used to describe this premier event. The Bay Area’s attractions are incredible. The Horse Park is about 30 minutes south of San Francisco and just 30 minutes to the west is the quaint coast-side town of Half Moon Bay. The Horse Park itself is located next to Stanford University and the Silicon Valley and all of its offerings. With so many fantastic sites close by the Horse Park, many attendees take time to visit San Francisco, view the Golden Gate Bridge and enjoy fantastic seafood dishes at renowned restaurants. One trip to Reining by the Bay cannot cover all that the San Francisco Peninsula has to offer. NRHA Professional Martin Meuhlstaetter from Scottsdale, Arizona states “If this was an AQHA show with no money or prizes we would still attend.”

In its 18th year, paid out in excess of $250,000 in cash and prizes, ensuring its place on the Top 10 of the National Reining Horse Association’s event list.

The Lucas Oil Open Derby is one highlight of the event. The Bay Arena is 150’ wide by 300’ long, and the footing is meticulously prepared and groomed to provide the most optimal footing for tough competition.
This year, a new record for the event was achieved when NRHA 4 Million Dollar professional Andrea Fappani took a clean sweep of the Lucas Oil Level 4 Open Derby winning first, second and third on his three mounts. The palomino mare Wimpys Little Tag, Whiz N Tag Chex x Wimpys Little Chic, showed off her exceptional talent those bloodlines gave her by marking a 227.5 for owner Freddie Brasfield from Tennessee and a paycheck of $12,929.

SoCal Reiners have a friendly saddle battle

From Horsetrader staff reports - September 1st, 2017
Friendly advice at the in-gate was the order of the day at the SCRHA Show Aug. 12-13.

Friendly advice at the in-gate was the order of the day at the SCRHA Show Aug. 12-13.

Horsetrader photo

ESCONDIDO—Hunter Equestrian Center came to life Aug. 12-13 as the Southern California Reining Horse Association held its fourth and final 2017 show in the SCRHA Saddle Series.

The event was well-attended with talent making their way to northern San Diego County from throughout the state, enjoying familiar faces and a well-run event.

Winners took home coveted prizes, including buckles and Tom Balding Bits. The SCRHA Saddle Series started with the club’s spring show on May 20. June 17, July 15 and last month’s two-day fi nale wrapped things up.

The list of sponsors who helped make the show and series a hit is a long one, including Spooks Gott a Whiz (and Michell Anne Kimball), San Diego Chrysler Dodge Jeep, Friends Of Derby, Patt y and Mark Staebler, The Iris, Monica Albair Stables, Secret Hills Stables, Silver Spurs Equine, Hunter Equestrian Center, Professional Choice, Gold Creek (Glenn and Kelly Miller), Granite Hills (Rick and Karen Shepard), Austin Arena Specialists, Jesse N Biscuit, Rancho Los Amigos (Lori Riis and Manuel Campos), Avila Training Stables, Turner Training, Kirsten Kutchuk and The Stablers, Garret Turner and Secret Hills, Markel Insurance, Doug Porcello and Tom Balding.

More online: http://bit.ly/709A_SCRHA

Dori Lowe and Maxi

Dori Lowe and Maxi

Courtesy photo

CANYON LAKE — Two months have passed since a horrific June dog attack incident on Maxi, a 5-year-old half-Arabian, who is still recovering from the mauling.

Owner Dori Lowe described what happened to her and Maxi while riding on a Bureau of Land Management trail in Canyon Lake the morning of June 27. She said she first noticed a woman with a pit bull mix off the leash near the trail. Thirty minutes later, as she was riding to the barn along a trail behind baseball fields, the same dog ran up to her and Maxi and began biting at Lowe’s boots.

“The dog’s owner said her daughter used to have a horse, and the dog loved to play with boots and stirrups,” Lowe said.

Trying to get away from the dog, Lowe said she turned Maxi around.

Medal time

CPHA Foundation Equitation Championships go to Scapa, Morin and Lovingfoss

Special to the Horsetrader - September 1st, 2017
In his first medal final, David Scapa rode like a veteran to earn CPHA Championship in the 22-over section.

In his first medal final, David Scapa rode like a veteran to earn CPHA Championship in the 22-over section.

Capturedmomentphoto.com photo

DEL MAR — The weekend after the California Professional Horsemen’s Association (CPHA) Medal Finals, Blenheim EquiSports moved the equitation action down south to Del Mar Aug. 26-27 to host the CPHA Foundation Equitation Championship Finals. Divided into 22-over, 14-under, and 21-under age groups, riders compete over two days, taking on challenging courses with work-off tests built in.

After two rounds, the riders with the top four scores and those within three points of the leader, or those with scores of 80 or better, all perform a final series of tests at the judges’ discretion. The acclaimed Scott Hofstetter and Tony Sgarlata judged the competitive equitation finals.

David Scapa, who was competing in his first medal final, rode like a veteran to earn the championship title in the 22-over section. Brooke Morin, who earned a close second in the first CPHA final, finished on top in the 14-under section. And last week’s CPHA Junior Medal Final Champion, Kaitlyn Lovingfoss, not only won this week’s 21-under Foundation Championship, but accomplished this feat on a different horse than the week before.

AERC offers fall introductions to endurance riding

From the Horsetrader sales staff - September 1st, 2017

American Endurance Ride Conference Fall Special

When you think of endurance riding, you may conjure up images of 100-mile rides across rocky terrain or multi-day rides across the high desert. In reality, endurance riding careers can begin with a relatively easy 10-mile introductory ride or a 25-mile limited distance ride—not so forbidding for those new to distance riding. The American Endurance Ride Conference (AERC) is making those first steps to endurance riding a little easier with their 2017 Fall Special promotion. Beginning now, new members can join for the remainder of the 2017 ride season and all of the 2018 ride season, which runs through November 30, 2018, for the discounted price of $88.75. Additional adult family members are $57.50; those 17 or younger are $27.

Understanding EPM

By Daniel M. Grove, DVM - September 1st, 2017

AskTheVetEquine Protozoal Myeloenchephalitis (EPM) is a neurologic disease in horses. It can cause a debilitating disease that can lead a horse down a path of changes that can be difficult to diagnose. In this column, let’s discuss what causes it, how we diagnose it, and how we treat it.

EPM is currently known to be caused by one of two protozoans, Sarcocystis neurona and Neosporoa hughesi. A protozoa is a single-celled organism. S. neurona is the most common cause, and we will focus on this particular organism. In the normal life cycle of the organism, the definitive host — or the one where reproduction of the protozoa occurs — is the opossum. The organism also has an intermediate host which can be a variety of animals, such as certain armadillos, racoons and skunks.

Looking for the perfect horse

By Sheryl Lynde / Horsetrader columnist - September 1st, 2017

Trainer TipsWhen looking to purchase a horse, an important point to remember is that someone in the relationship needs to have more experience than the other.

If the rider is green, or a beginner, the horse selected needs to have more experience than the rider. If the horse is green, or young, the rider needs to have more experience than the horse. There is an old equation that has proven itself timeless and is spot-on: Green + Green = Black and Blue.

In addition to taking an accurate inventory of the rider’s skills and ability, another essential component to a successful pairing is to establish the desired use of the horse. Whatever discipline the rider will be pursuing, whether it be a specific competitive sport or trail riding, the chosen horse needs to have had that experience in his riding career.

Collected Stops

Foundation Training for the Performance Horse with Les Vogt

Les Vogt for the Horsetrader - September 1st, 2017

More with LesMore With Les graphiche most important ingredient to a stop is collection, and collection is achieved through weight reversal from the forehand to hindquarters. How does it happen? Something I haven’t talked about yet is that to me, horses have two motors. They have a front motor and a back motor. In other words, their front legs are motivated by one motor system and the back legs by another. That’s why a horse can be loping in front and trotting in back.

Consequently, the front legs can be slowed down, so they are carrying less of the weight, and the back legs sped up—they don’t have to be equal. So to collect a horse, we need to slow the front legs down and rev up the back legs. We might liken that to a cartoon character like Bugs Bunny, whose back legs are trying to pass the front, and the top line is round. We really only get that exaggerated in a sliding stop, but since that’s what we’re looking to achieve, developing the correct form is critical.

I went for years, easily 10 years, where I went to stop a horse by just pulling him. We hammered them. We ran ’em and ran ’em and stopped ’em and stopped ’em and then ran ’em again! And we had no idea that there was a proper form. Nobody talked about it; the bar just wasn’t that high yet, and we didn’t have that much structure in our western performance riding at that point. Now that we do, we can take many horses that would not have made it in that day and time and make them good stoppers, and we have a lot more fun—as do the horses, I’m sure!

So, what is the proper form for the stop? The horse needs to approach the stop with collection and power so that his top line is round and his hind legs are up under him. That way when he goes to stop, his hind legs are already reaching way up, and since he’s soft in the bridle, his back can just fold as he pushes his back legs into the slide.

The approach
So to approach a stop we have to have no resistance in the neck, the front legs have slowed down, we’re riding the back legs up to the front, and we’re getting some lift on top, or rounding of the back. The form has to stay consistent. Soon you will be able to feel the difference when your horse is correct. In fact, you’ll be able to see it in any horse that is approaching a stop. You will be able to tell, as I can, whether or not a stop will happen by the way the horse approaches it and by how he is moving.

And once you’re able to really feel that correct form, you’re going to need to insist on it every time. It’s not a matter of odds. Don’t think that you will get “lucky” and get a nice stop if the approach isn’t perfect. Don’t think you’ll get it again tomorrow just because you got lucky today. That’s the way we used to do it, but with what we know now, there’s no reason for it. You don’t have to just hope for a good stop; you can create it, but to do it, the approach has to be perfect.

Just like with everything else, there is a program for developing great stops on your horse, and the exercise we call the collected stop is the fi rst phase. This stop exercise is critically important because it is where you begin to teach your horse to stop with the correct form.

–Les

Les Vogt has won more than 15 World Championships, including two wins at the NRCHA Snaffle Bit Futurity. Today Les focuses is giving clinics around the world and developing products for the performance horseman. To learn more about Les and to see his clinic schedule, visit www.lesvogt.com.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As members of Congress return to their home states to visit constituents through Labor Day, the American Horse Council urged members to advocate for legislative solutions to the federal government’s beleaguered temporary worker visa program.

The AHC is asking that horse enthusiasts, in order to fix the regulatory chaos that plagues the H-2B application process, tell their elected officials – whether during a town hall meeting or visit to the local farmers’ market to support the measures.