Young Rider Critically Injured in Car Crash

July 2009

Sadie Albright, age 14, who was included on page one photo of Pennsylvania Equestrian's June issue, was critically injured in an automobile accident on June 1. She was being driven to school by family friend Steve Verbeck when a deer, struck first by another vehicle, jumped in front of his truck. This resulted in a head on collision with another vehicle. Sadie was ejected from the vehicle she was riding in. Sadie suffered two broken legs and major facial/skull fractures. All three people involved in the accident were critically injured. Surgery on her legs was performed on June 1. Several days later she underwent 11 hours of surgery for facial and head injuries. She was kept heavily sedated for several weeks to prevent swelling of the brain.

"Sadie is the youngest of four and the daughter of my best friend," Tara Dawn Hazen of Outlaw Stables in New Bloomfield, Perry County, said. "She's a great kid, honor roll student, and a good rider. She is also tough, stubborn and a fighter. Its what will get her through this.

It's West Nile Virus Season -- Budget Woes May Affect State Program

July 2009

With summer comes the threat of West Nile virus, spread by mosquitoes and capable of causing West Nile encephalitis, an infection that can result in an inflammation of the brain, in both horses and people. Horses are particularly susceptible to the disease. A West Nile virus exists for horses, which should be vaccinated before mosquito season starts and receive a yearly booster. Vaccination of horses is not a guarantee of protection against infection, and does not offer any protection for other animals or people.

Cutbacks in state funding for mosquito spraying will likely cause the local mosquito population to increase. The best method of prevention of infection with West Nile Virus for people and animals is to reduce the risk of exposure to the mosquitoes that may carry the virus, said Department of Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger. Hanger said standing water can quickly become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. He asked all Pennsylvanians to follow the simple rule of dump it, drain it and treat it.

"Dump it if it has water in it; drain it if it can be drained; and treat it if it has standing water," said Hanger. "By taking these simple actions in your own backyard, you can eliminate those breeding areas and reduce the threat of contracting the virus." Certain mosquitoes species carry West Nile virus. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, all residents in areas where virus activity has been identified are at risk of getting West Nile encephalitis.

It's Thunderstorm Season -- How to Protect Your Horses in Bad Weather

June 2009
by Suzanne Bush

"Everyone talks about the weather," Mark Twain once said, "but nobody does anything about it." Nearly a century after Twain’s death, we still can’t do anything about the weather. Storms rage. Winds blow. We still talk about it, worry about it, get angry about it, celebrate it. But we can’t change it. If you are not compelled by a job or an avocation to be outside, the weather is likely only an occasional nuisance. But if your life includes horses, weather’s importance rises like the temperature in August. Likewise so does the importance of protecting horses in bad weather. In summer, thunderstorms pack the biggest bag of worries for horse owners. They can be deadly to people and livestock. And they can quickly destroy barns.

Dr. Craig Shultz, Executive Director of Pennsylvania’s Animal Health and Diagnostic Division, is all-too-familiar with the dangers thunderstorms bring. He and his family lost a beloved horse to a lightning strike last year. "You know looking back on our situation we only had four horses at the time, and a big pasture, a hill pasture with lower access. This was a thunderstorm that happened in late March. We had a three-sided metal run-in shed on the top of the hill and they went there."

Shultz said the shed was not grounded. The Haflinger that died was the lowest status horse among the horses in the pasture, and Shultz says that he was not actually inside the shed with the other three horses. The other three horses were unharmed.

Equine Rescue Organizations Face Challenging Times

July 2009
by Suzanne Bush

The recession blah-blah-blah. That seems to be the starting point for virtually every news story coming out of the nation’s capital as well as the 50 state capitals in the nation. The recession has become the leitmotif of our days. Blamed for thousands of problems ranging from the ridiculous ("recession blamed for decreasing number of women willing to go topless on French beaches") to the profound ("recession blamed for increase in shooting sprees"), the recession has morphed into a global public enemy number one. The stories about its victims could fill a library. Because they are so prolific, it’s all too easy to tune out the stories about economic turmoil. Call it compassion overload, or empathy fatigue. Call it more fallout from the…recession.

In the midst of all this sour news, there are stories begging those who love horses for special attention, and they reward us with something rare: an opportunity to actually make a difference. The recession has made certain populations of horses especially vulnerable. These are horses whose owners can no longer afford to keep them, and otherwise healthy horses that are no longer capable of doing their jobs, such as competing as race horses or show horses. In the past two years the cost of virtually every aspect of horse care has spiked. Hay, feed, medicine, veterinary care—costs are all increasing too fast for many horse owners to catch up, and they’re forcing owners who are still interested in competing to make hard choices.

State Budget Cuts Threaten Future of State 4-H Show, KILE

July 2009
by Stephanie Shertzer Lawson

Do you fund a police officer or a horse show?

That's the question state legislators are addressing in this year of financial chaos.

It looks as if Pennsylvania will end the fiscal year on June 30 $3.2 billion in the hole. The state constitution mandates a balanced budget. Approximately 85 percent of state revenue is to be spent on education, corrections and welfare, much of which is for requirements under state or federal law. That leaves a very small chunk for everything else, including agriculture, under which equine projects fall.

It's very possible the Pennsylvania State 4-H Horse Show, which celebrates its 50th run this October, may receive no state funding this year. And funding for the Keystone International Livestock Exposition, which includes more than 1,000 equine exhibitors, may have its funding cut or eliminated as well.

The State 4-H Show draws about 900 horses whose young riders have qualified them for the state finals. KILE draws more than 1,000 horses who compete in breed shows for four draft horse breeds and three light horse breeds, and features Pennsylvania High School Rodeo competition. Both are held at the Farm Show Complex and Expo Center in Harrisburg, and both have long been partially funded through the state budget. The current 08-09 budget contained $52,000 for the 4-H show, down $3,000 from the previous year. KILE received $213,000, down $12,000 from the previous year. The money in those budgets went to produce the 2009 shows last fall.

Keystone Activator, Purchased for His Color, Becomes Hambletonian Contender

July 2009
by Kimberly French

It took co-owner and trainer, Jim Raymer the entire summer and part of last fall to get Keystone Activator on the right track, but once he did, the colt trotted a world record mile, finished second in his Breeders Crown elimination behind champion Muscle Hill. After capturing five of nine starts this year, he is a top contender for this year’s Hambletonian.

"You know how you can pat your head and rub your stomach at the same time?" the 56-year-old New Holland, PA resident asked. "Well being a stallion, he could only do one or the other. He couldn’t trot fast and pay attention to what he was doing with the other horses around him. Also, he was sick on and off. So I put trotting hopples on him and that seemed to do the trick."

Raymer purchased the 3-year-old son of SJ’s Photo and Armbro Blusher as a yearling for $10,000 at the 2007 Harrisburg Sale after his daughter-in-law and co-owner Tammie insisted that she wanted to bring a chestnut back to their barn. During his two years on the track, the colt has won eight races from 22 starts, possesses a lifetime mark of 1:55:2f and has bankrolled more than $160,000.

"Chestnut is not that popular of a color for Standardbreds because they tend to be lamer than most and a bit hotter than most," Raymer explained. "But I told her to find one and shortly after she left the walking ring, she saw him. I looked him over and he was a bit on the small side, but he had a very nice conformation and an excellent pedigree. If he was brown, he probably would have sold for $40,000 or $50,000, so we definitely got a bargain."

Augustin Stable Females On Top Of Their Game

June, 2009
by Terry Conwayne Bush

The name says it all.

Charging five paths wide, Forever Together swept to a convincing victory in her first race of the year, the $200,000 Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland Racecourse. The five-year old gray mare picked up right where she left off. Last October Forever Together captured the $2 million Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf at Santa Anita Park.

Nearly forty-three years after they first joined forces, Chester County trainer Jonathan Sheppard and owner George Strawbridge, Jr. are still taking home the big pots.

Hall of Famer Sheppard notched five wins from nine starters (5-1-1) at the 2009 Keeneland spring meet, including three graded stakes. He also saddled Winter View to a win in the Bewitch Stakes (G-3) and Informed Decision in the Vinery Madison (G-1). You wonder if Sheppard could send out the stable dog and win.

Informed Decision earned her second Grade 1 win in a month on Derby Day at Churchill Downs. Over a sloppy track she rallied from mid-pack late under jockey Julien Leparoux to snatch the lead less than 50 yards from the wire, winning by three-quarters of a length in the Grade I Humana Distaff.

"I was concerned about the wet track because she had never run on it," Sheppard admitted. "But she’s such an aggressive, forward acting filly, I thought she might handle it. If we were going to find out if she could handle it, this was a good race to find out. I wouldn’t have run her if the track wasn’t safe."

It's Been a Tough Year for Equestrian Events: Is the Worst Over?

June, 2009
By Suzanne Bush

Just in case there are still some placid souls who have been unaware of the economic storms raging across the globe, here’s some news. In the world of equestrian sports and equine expositions, the news is…well…not so bad, and okay. Those wishing to decamp in a zone that’s not so squishy might have a problem. This is not so much a case of the glass being either half full or half empty. It’s more like the glass is twice as large as it needs to be; and therein is the story. Because looking at the first months of 2009—and the opportunities for the economy to whack equestrian sports—you will find victims. But you will also find victors.

And you’ll find Vicki O’Hara. She runs the annual Equine Extravaganza in Virginia and North Carolina. She surveyed her vendors after the 2008 show in Virginia, and started doing a lot of soul-searching. "Last year’s show was a really good show. Ironically our show was right after the market tanked. At the end of the day on Sunday our aisles were still packed with buyers. We had good buyers. Vendors were very happy. We had a trailer dealer from Ohio that sold in just three days a lot of trailers. So it was a really good show."

But outside the arena, market forces were reshaping the landscape. And as the market plunge continued, so did the optimism of O’Hara’s key vendors. She said she tried to "take the temperature" of her vendors, who seemed eager to commit to the 2009 show. But when she asked them about making deposits on space for the show, reality intervened.

"I had to go through a process of trying to decide what was best for the show, our vendors and attendees. It would be in everyone’s best interest if we just took a break. I had to make a very difficult decision. The economy had not started to level out." Faced with loyal vendors who were extremely worried about the economy, O’Hara decided to make Equine Extravaganza an every-other-year event, canceling the 2009 shows.

As she considered her options, O’Hara saw that, while the 2008 show had been successful, there was evidence of trouble. "We had a couple of vendors who were already starting to experience the economy. They had paid for their space, but didn’t come to the show," she says. O’Hara recognizes that the Equine Extravaganza is a business, but she built that business on the strength of her commitment and loyalty to her vendors and customers. She doesn’t have any magic window through which to see the future, but she’s ready to adapt to better economic news. "If the show grows more we might go back to an every year format. It gives us more time to put into developing the program."

Showing at the Fair? Prepare to Pony Up to Meet PDA's New Requirements

June, 2009
By Stephanie Shertzer Lawson

Showing at the FEI North American Young Riders Championships at the Kentucky Horse Park, against teams from across the US, Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean? You'll need a Coggins and a 30 day Certificate of Veterinary Inspection.

Showing at Devon, Harrisburg, or The Laurels -- three of the country's most prestigious equestrian events? You'll need a Coggins.

Got a kid showing in the egg and spoon class at the Perry County Fair, or any of Pennsylvania's 116 county and community fairs? You'll need a Coggins, rabies certificate, 30 day Certificate of Veterinary Inspection and an Animal Owner or Caretaker's Verification of Veterinarian-Client-Patient Relationship.

New Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture regulations require more in the way of health certificates and vaccinations from backyard horse owners showing at their local fair than are required by competitions for the nation's top horses. And, for a short time earlier this year, the new regulations were intended to pertain to all horses shown in Pennsylvania in 2009.

Perry County Fair

Tara Dawn Hazen runs the one-day, ship in and out, Perry County Fair Horse Show, held August 22. It's populated by fuzzy, serviceably sound, and much loved horses and ponies, many pulled out of the pasture for their single competitive event of the year. For every clipped, sleek, well trained horse, there's another with a bushy mane, long whiskers and bobbing gaits.

Hazen's students at Outlaw Stables in New Bloomfield like showing at the Perry County Fair. "The fair's different" than showing at the farm's own show series, the only other shows most of them attend. "The horses are different," said Erin McClellan, 18, of New Bloomfield, who doesn't show at rated shows because of the expense. "It's a step up from the schooling shows, it gives you a taste of the bigger shows. I like showing in front of people."

"Everyone in the county knows about the fair horse show," Emily Belmont, 18, of Newport, said. "Our friends and people who don't ride know about it. In a way it's the big time for us."

Longshots Rule the Radnor Hunt Races

June, 2009
By Marcella Peyre-Ferry

There were a few unexpected faces in the winner’s circle at the 79th running of the Radnor Hunt Races, May 16th.

Going into the featured $75,000 National Hunt Cup for Grade II Novice horses, The Price of Love (owned by William Pape) and Dictina’s Boy (Riverdee Stable and Thomas McCarron owners) were expected to be the main rivals for the Cup as they were in the Georgia Cup April 25, where they went head and head to the wire.

Instead, the race was dominated by Darren Nagle on Irvin S. Naylor’s Tax Ruling. Tax Ruling has run twice this year, winning at Strawberry Hill April 11, but falling at the final fence on his last outing April 25.

Nagle took Tax Ruling out front early and ran away from the field throughout the race. He jumped alone all the way, and was never really challenged, finishing the 2 3/8 mile hurdle course in 4:45 with a winning margin of 12 lengths.

Jockey Padge Whelan pulled up Dictina’s Boy after the first lap of the course, while The Price of Love stayed well positioned in the pack and made a strong run in the stretch, moving up to finish third behind Robert Walsh on Terpsichorean.