Horsewomen of Temecula Wine Country are pooling passion, talents to bring together their community—and ride down the Rose Parade in January

From Horsetrader staff

TEMECULA—If all goes as planned, a group of horsewomen next Jan. 1 will ride together down Colorado Blvd. in the 131st Tournament of Roses Parade—the culmination of talent, commitment and teamwork. The journey won’t end with the 5.5-mile route, though, because there’s a purpose beyond the campaign: promoting equestrian and rural lifestyles in their community.

$13,000-added Open Derby highlights WCRHA Star Spangled Slide

By Eilene Maxinoski/ for the Horsetrader

ELK GROVE—The Star Spangled Slide slid into action on July 4-7 at the West Coast Reining Horse Association last affiliate show of the year. Red, white, and blue decorated the grounds of the Brookside Show Park, from the U.S. flags that greeted exhibitors as they arrived, to patriotically-colored awards, to the giant U.S. flag that was unfurled in the arena before the derbies.

Many exhibitors use this show as a “showcation” for the family, as there are plenty of after-show activities to keep everyone busy. On-site meals were available every evening, preceded by libations and munchies beforehand at the Wine Down Bar, conveniently located next to the warm-up arena. Many families enjoyed the pool between and after classes.

City of L.A. sought input from its equine advisory council when L.A. Zoo planned expansion near Griffith Park trails.

Special to the Horsetrader

LOS ANGELES—When the Los Angeles Recreation and Parks Department recently wanted a horse person’s perspective on a Los Angeles Zoo expansion plan in Griffith Park, it turned to a familiar voice—Lynn Brown.

Brown’s resume reads like a Who’s Who in equestrian advocacy, having served as National Trail Coordinator for Equestrian Trails, Inc. for 20 years and more recently as a 10-year Vice President of the L.A. Equine Advisory Committee. If you aren’t familiar with the LAEAC but you are a civic-minded equestrian, you might become familiar with it. It’s a model for effective representation in City Hall for horsepeople, created by L.A. City Council in 2009. It was a historic first, as equestrians had never had an official voice to the city. Each city councilperson appoints one member to sit on the LAEAC, which reports directly back to council on the issues.

By Daniel H. Grove, DVM

Every year around this time, I like to remind everyone how important it is to keep an eye on some things to help your horse navigate its way through this time of year.

As with all year round, water is very important. With the added stress of hot weather, it is very important to supply endless cool, fresh and clean water. Things that can decrease water intake are hot water, dirty water, different water or contaminated water. Please, check the water often to make sure it is pristine. If traveling, a trick my assistant likes to use is to give her horse a second water bucket with a sports drink mix in it for about a week prior to going to the event. Then, at your destination, you can add the sports drink mix to the new water to hide the different taste!

Cow horse competition is keen at SCRCHA July Jubilee event

From Horsetrader staff reports

TEMECULA—Mike Berg rode Going For Dough to the high score of the weekend, and Roy Rich kept his hot pace going aboard Soula Shining Star in a pair of Bridle highlights at the Southern California Reined Cow Horse Association’s July Jubilee held July 12-14 at Green Oaks Ranch.

Berg’s 145.5 mark Sunday on Going For Dough, owned by Rudolpf and Irene Petris, was tops and took both the Sunday NRCHA Open Bridle and the AQHA Senior Working Cow Horse classes. Rich, who took Rocking J Ranch’s Soula Shining Star to a 145 on Saturday, took the same two titles that day.

From Horsetrader sales staff

Adoption is a very good option, and Love This Horse Equine Rescue, Inc. is ready to help. This horse rescue specializes in taking in forgotten, neglected and abused Arabian horses from law enforcement seizures, local animal shelters, distressed owners, and low-end horse auctions. The goal is to train all our rescue horses so they are rideable, and also to find them permanent adoptive homes. Love This Horse Equine Rescue brings them into a safe and nurturing environment, where they are brought back to health, gentled and loved.  When the horses are strong enough, they are evaluated, and if possible, started or restarted for a new life as a riding horse.  Every horse deserves a job and permanent adoptive home. Some of Love This Horse Equine Rescue’s horses become great trail, endurance riding, hunter/jumper, dressage or lesson horses. Others are destined to become therapy horses, helping kids and adults healing from their own deep wounds.  The organization works hard to take care of these horses, all the while knowing that the horses are secretly taking care of us. As a Right Horse Initiative Partner, the horse rescue’s goal is to massively increase the number of successful horse adoptions for Arabian horses in transition, by working to reframe the adoption conversation and to shatter the stigma surrounding horses in transition. It believes that through the adoption process, it can help Turn an unfortunate circumstance into a lifelong partnership! Love This Horse Equine Rescue can make your dreams come true. LTH is a GuideStar® Platinum Participant. A GuideStar Seal of Transparency indicates that a nonprofit has provided key information in its non-profit profile. By providing up-to-date information, nonprofits allow potential donors and funders to make educated decisions about the work they do to make the world a better place. Visit the website www.LoveThisHorseArabianRescue.org to learn more about, and be sure to see their ad on page 21.

Ingalls dominates Hunter competition at Summer Festival

Special to the Horsetrader

DEL MAR—From the USHJA National Hunter Derby to the Markel Insurance 1.45m Grand Prix in the indoor on Friday and Saturday evenings, and the hunters galloping in the sunshine on the Grand Prix field, the Showpark Summer Festival proved to be a superb summer event July 19-21.

The expansive grass field hosted a new challenge, presented by USHJA Zone 10, featuring Amateurs in the rated divisions at 3’3″, and 3’6″, and also the 3’0″ Amateur Owner Hunters, presented by Outdoor Outfitters of California. All gathered on Saturday and Sunday for division competition, as well as hunter classics and special awards.

By Sheryl Lynde | Horsetrader columnist

My first initial response to most questions asked that relate to various behavioral issues is, “it depends.”

There is no pat answer that applies for starting colts or resolving issues. The many variables are broad and wide-ranging.

Take this trailer-loading issue:

A young horse has been purchased and loads in the trailer willingly, without any issues. As time progresses under the new ownership, the horse begins to refuse to load. The resistance increases with each attempt. After considerable time and effort, the owner experiences only momentary success after endless coaxing brings forth just enough forward movement to get all four feet inside the trailer. However, relief is short-lived. When reaching to tie the lead rope, the youngster bolts out backward. They return to square one. The owner’s confidence is undermined, and frustration seeps into all further efforts. The plans to be somewhere are derailed.

What’s the fix? Well… it depends.

If the horse keeps trying to go forward once you’ve asked him to start the turnaround, just keep him in the proper bend and keep pushing his pivot foot up underneath him with your legs. He’ll eventually figure out that stepping into the turnaround is the easiest response to the cues that you’re giving him.

If he tries to turn just his head and neck, but not reach across with his outside front leg, I’ll go to back to exercises number three and four for a few minutes to tune up his response to my outside cues. Then try again.