Read more at the source: California’s Dressage Riders Begin Olympic Journey at This Weekend’s Mid-Winter Dressage Fair CDI-W/Y/J in Burbank

Article excerpt posted on Sidelinesnews.com from What’s Happenin’.

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Article excerpt posted on Sidelinesnews.com from Chasin’.

Ellee Perri

Name: Ellee Perri

Hometown : Joppa, Maryland

Age: 12
Ponies: Mardi Gras and Noelle

Trainers : Patti Fenwick and Dona Ruth

Of all the ponies you’ve ridden which are your favorites: That’s hard to say because all ponies are fun. I am training a young welsh gelding right now to be a steeplechase pony and I am having a blast! He is soooo much fun. He’s fast and can jump like anything.

What pony would you like to ride? A horse named Johnny that my grandmother bred. He is young, green and way too big for me but maybe one day.

How did you get into riding? My family has always bred and raised Shetland ponies. When I was just 10 months old I did my first lead line class on a Shetland pony! That was the start to it all.

What is your favoite horse show? I have two favorites: The Maryland JR Huntcup and Waredaca Horse Trials. I enjoy steeplechasing and eventing.

What was the high point of your riding career? When I got to do a demonstration race at Fair Hill International and ride with Karen Oconnor and Phillip Dutton. I also met Boyd Martin who signed my shirt.

What was the low point? When I broke my arm and couldn’t ride for 6 weeks.

Who are your equestrian idols? Boyd Martin, Phillip Dutton and Karen O’Connor.

Other than riding what do you do? lacrosse and playing with all my animals – my pig, my 3 dogs and my chickens.

What are your plans for the future? Ride at Rolex!

Zachary Pierre

Name: Zachary Pierre

Hometown: Nassau, Bahamas

Age: 11

Ponies:A Spoonful of Sugar, Telynaus Braveheart, and Heartland’s Raisin Cain

Trainers: Jennifer Bieling (in the US) and Erika Adderley (in Nassau)

Of all the ponies you’ve ridden, which is your favorite? Mine!  (A Spoonful of Sugar – she is perfect!)

What pony would you like to ride? Bluetiful

How did you get into riding? Through my mom;  she rides.

What is your favorite horse show?  Pony Finals, of course.

What was the high point in your riding career? Winning a Pony Jumper class – the wall was gigantic!

What was the low point? Falling off in the ring at Venice

Who are your Equestrian Idols? Maclain Ward and Eric Lamaze

Other than riding, what do you do? I am on the track team at my school, I play guitar and am starting a rock band with my friends.

What are your plans for the future? I want to be the first Bahamian rider in the Olympics!

Genay’s family owns Starr Vaughn Equestrian Center in Elk Grove, California, a premier boarding and event facility that offers everything from Pony Club rallies to hunter and jumper shows to USDF dressage shows. “I stopped doing Pony Club about four years ago because I no longer had a horse that I could jump cross country with,” Genay said, adding that she is now focused on dressage.

With her dressage career in front of her, Genay’s family began looking for a new horse and the 17-year-old rider became the proud owner of a gorgeous10-year-old Hanoverian stallion named Donarweiss. The beautiful black stallion spent the past six years under the tutelage of Hilltop Farm Trainer Chris Hickey. During that time he earned the title of 2004 USDF Horse of the Year for Three Year Old Colts & Geldings and was Champion of his 30-day Stallion Performance Test. He debuted at the Grand Prix level in 2011.

“Donarweiss tries his hardest for me every day and is so fun to ride.” Photo ©Tamara Torti

“Donarweiss is amazing and I love everything about him, especially his personality,” Genay said, adding that she believes she loves dressage because she is a perfectionist. “I love that in dressage you become one with the horse and that you never stop learning new things. I love how connected you become with your horse and how you begin to know every feeling and how they know exactly how you are feeling too. It’s almost like you and your horse are becoming one person.”

Genay said she is looking forward to developing her partnership with Donarweiss. “I love Donarweiss! He is one of the sweetest horses I have ever seen. I love that he is the perfect size for me and teaches me new things to use on my other horses. He tries his hardest for me every day and is so fun to ride.”

Genay has trained with her mother her entire life and says that they have a great relationship. “She really understands me, and my horses, and we have so much fun together. She is a great coach and I love having my mom as my coach. She knows me the better than anyone else. I also clinic with Jan Ebeling and he is a great teacher.”

Genay has her sights set on competing in the 2012 FEI North American Junior/Young Rider Championships at the Kentucky Horse Park with Donarweiss. She has experience at NAJYRC, as she was part of the 2010 silver medal team, a win she considers a highlight of her career. She also placed third two years in a row at the Collecting Gaits Farms/USEF Festival of Champions in Gladstone.

Growing up with a farm full of animals has had a big impact on Genay and she hopes to become a veterinarian. “I haven’t decided if I want to be a large animal or small animal vet yet. I grew up with a lot of different animals so it’s hard to pick. I would like to go to UC Davis because it is close to home and is one of the best veterinarian schools in the United States.”

While Genay is a typical teenager that likes to hang out with her friends and go to the movies in her free time, there is one thing she would change about her life if she could. “I would want to be taller since I am only 5’4”. It’s a much prettier picture when you ride and are tall,” she said. Thanks to her beautiful black stallion Donarweiss, and their promising future, the picture is still pretty nice.

Photo ©Tamara Torti

-By Jan Westmark-Allen

Read more at the source: Team FarmVet Does It Again! Second Annual Sidelines Tetrathlon Presented by MeadowView & The Riggio Family a Great Success

Article excerpt posted on Sidelinesnews.com from What’s Happenin’.

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Article excerpt posted on Sidelinesnews.com from What’s Happenin’.

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Article excerpt posted on Sidelinesnews.com from What’s Happenin’.

Susie Hutchison and Cantano - they won 16 grand prix during their time together. Photo by Horsetrader.com

Sidelines:  How do you keep your ‘game’ up after all these years?

SMH:  Good horses – you’re only as good as your mount is.  I just sold two nice ones, Cantano last September and Feng Shui in January.  I started riding Cantano when he was six with the backing of fantastic owners, Pat and Jim Iverson and my ground person at the time, Sandy Aston.  We brought him through the levels and won 16 grand prix. He was sold to Nancy Clarke for Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum.  Feng Shui, owned by SIG International, was my next hopeful for the grand prix ring:  he won the 7-8 year old International Jumper Futurity in California.  He was purchased by Ruth and went east to finish his development with Jill Prieto and help from Joe Fargis, someone I highly admire – a classic rider with classic style, a gentleman – he’s first class.  It’s difficult to let horses like that go but wonderful to know you developed something that can go to that level.  I wish them all the best.

Sidelines:  How do today’s horses compare to 20 years ago?

SMH:  I think we’re going back to Thoroughbred types.  I wouldn’t mind riding a Thoroughbred.  I think they’re the best in the world.  The majority of warmbloods, the good ones, go back to Thoroughbred sires. The mare contributes about 70% to a foal and I like a lot of Thoroughbred type in the foal; look at warmbloods at the top of the line, especially the ones influenced by the Thoroughbred sire Ladykiller. Today’s courses are technical and the horses have to be really careful and extremely well-schooled.  The first time I went to Spruce Meadows (1978), the maximum height was 1.50 meters.  Back then a clunky warmblood could hit those 4 inch deep jump cups and not drop a rail. Now the courses are bigger, 1.60 to 1.65, more technical and jump cups are really shallow; to be competitive, you have to have careful horses.

Sidelines:  What was it like to ride with Jimmy Williams?

SMH:  Magic, every day!  Just to be able to be around him and watch the magic he had with every horse he had anything to do with.  What would take me two weeks would take Jimmy two days.  He taught me to try to think like a horse, to treat them with respect, to give them time and not push them too fast.  I don’t think there are any horsemen like that anymore, except for maybe George…

Sidelines:  Who was your favorite horse?

SMH:  Samsung Woodstock – he had so much heart.  I got him in 1987 before Seoul.  He was just difficult in the stall.  He didn’t like anybody being in his stall and he’d try to kick you.  Woodstock came out of Paul Schockemohle’s.  He was sold out of Paul’s auction in England but the riders didn’t care for him and sent him back to Paul.  We ended up at Paul’s and bought the horse.  I don’t think Woodstock would have been as great as he was if it hadn’t been for Jimmy Williams.  He spent hours and hours, molding Woodstock into a great horse.  We had more than 20 top three grand prix placings.  Woodstock is buried on the farm.

Sidelines:  What isn’t well known about your riding career?

SMH:  I showed hunters and won every West Coast Medal Final.  At age 11, I showed Best Bet in the 1^st Year Green Hunter division and the next year we went east and at Madison Square Garden we had top call in 2^nd Year Green and earned the Reserve Championship in Junior Hunters. Best Bet was the Pacific Coast Regular Working Hunter Champion six consecutive years and retired at the Forum.  A few years ago he was inducted into the National Show Hunter Hall of Fame.

Sidelines:  Do you have any big dreams?

SMH:  I would like to get back into the grand prix ring and be successful. It is my passion.

Since its inception, New Vocations has placed more than 3,700 horses, with 423 adopted in 2011.  The program has expanded from its original venue near Dayton to another facility in Marysville, also in Ohio, plus locations in Lexington (KY), Manchester (MI), Hummelstown (PA) and Monterey (TN).  The horses themselves come from about 40 tracks throughout the country and thanks to the dedicated staff, are placed into experienced, caring homes in 32 states.   “In the past 20 years I have seen people become a lot more concerned with the welfare of horses.  Most people don’t realize what can happen to racehorses after their careers end – my husband and I are trainers and we weren’t aware of it,” says Dot.  “I believed that there were qualified families out there who could take a horse but couldn’t justify paying $3,000 to $4,000 for it.  They needed a liaison.” 

Frazee's Folly raced an amazing 90 times winning over 1/2 million dollars. Folly retired sound and was adopted through New Vocations by Megan Roland who shows him successfully in dressage.

Enter Dot and New Vocations

New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program “believes in the talent and potential of the horses.  It endeavors to stand in the gap providing a transitional haven and skilled hands, loving care and tough love, a future of hope and a brighter tomorrow.”  Dot wears many hats and she’s singularly suited to lead this unusual mission.  Her husband of 40 years is fifth generation trainer-driver Charles Morgan.  They remain active in Standardbred racing and Dot managed their breeding and boarding farm, spending 14 years as a director of the Ohio Harness Horsemen’s Association and 10 years as a 4-H Advisor.  “In the beginning it was a lot easier to place the horses, because feed was cheaper and there were less unwanted horses,” explains Dot. ,“Now, however, with the high cost of feed and a glut of unwanted horses, we have to put a lot more resources into making the Standardbreds and Thoroughbreds more appealing.  We evaluate them for health and soundness, put hours into schooling them and screening adopters and monitoring the homes.  Our adoption fees have dropped steadily over the years and range from about $700 max to an average of $200 per horse.  Fees are refundable within 60 days if the horse does not work out or proves unsuitable.”

Mi Forest Amor: this 6-year-old Thoroughbred, 16 1/2hh, chestnut gelding is waiting for someone to fall in love with him. Adoption fee: $500 Bet he's gone when you visit the New Vocations website - bet you fall in love with another very adoptable ex-racehorse: horseadoption.com

New Vocation’s philosophy is very different from organizations such as the Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation or Standardbred Retirement Foundation, which boards ex-racehorses on farms where they live out their days.  Last year stories in the news talked about how TRF took in so many horses that they filled participating farms to capacity.  They were overwhelmed and there simply wasn’t room to retire any more ex-racehorses.  At New Vocations, however, Dot, her daughter Anna Ford and their volunteers are committed to putting horses into homes where each one receives attention and has a purpose.

Fresh Starts for Ex-Race Horses

“We feel that we’re serving the industry in the best way possible,” explains Dot. “We have a full time person who monitors the adoptions and approves the applications.  We follow up on all horses who are adopted for one year, investing a lot of time, energy and cost; but we want to make sure that these horses are safe and sane for their new owners and also that the people are seeing to the horses’ health and well-being.  Bad things can happen to good people:  they might run into job or financial trouble or the home might break up in divorce.  It’s stated clearly in the adoption contract that we will always take the horse back.  We have as many as 100 graduates of our New Vocations program returned each year; but we have going on 4,000 horses out there.”  Dot is very humble about the scope of New Vocations.  It is the biggest racehorse adoption program in the country.  Because the founder herself comes from a family of horsemen that have raised Standardbreds for more than 100 years, the program is rooted in time-tested horse-keeping and training practices.  “All the people who come to work for us are horse people who have experience at the racetrack and/or the show ring, most of them are college graduates and many have degrees in animal science,” stated Dot, who earned her B.S. in Agriculture from the University of Kentucky.  “We can identify injuries in the horses, we have excellent access to veterinarians and once we sort out a horse’s soundness issues, we can deal with their schooling.  When a horse is ready for adoption, we can offer a high level of confidence that a horse is suited for this or that discipline.  We put our resources into equipping the horses with skills:  we get on them, get them to go through water, get them going well in the ring and out of the ring, and when possible we take them on the trail.”

Call Me Gold (Thoroughbred) ran 37 times and upon retirement came to New Vocations. Anna Harbaugh adopted Gold several years ago and the duo compete successfully in hunters. Shown here on course at the New Vocations Charity Show during the Thoroughbred Hunter Classic

New Vocations receives applications from a few pleasure drivers; but most adopters want to ride their horses.  Dot and her people spend time preparing them for under saddle work and videotaping them being ridden.  Thoroughbreds out number Standardbreds, about 60% to 40% in the New Vocations’ program, but many of the Standardbreds end up becoming successful field hunters, dressage and event horses.  What happens after a horse is adopted depends on the new owner.  The ideal adopter either has the skills or will seek out good trainers so that horse and rider achieve partnership and success in their sport or discipline.

Apples Don’t Fall Far From The Tree

Anna (Morgan) Ford, directs the Thoroughbred side of New Vocations.  Born into a family of horsemen and racehorse trainers, she learned to ride when most toddlers take their first wobbly steps.  At the tender age of 10, Anna was riding a leased gaited horse with a reputation as a “bad actor”:  she was such a strong rider that the duo won the Walk-Trot World Championship in Louisville (KY).

“My daughter is incredible,” says Dot.  “She was 13 when I started New Vocations and she rode the Thoroughbreds for me.  She went to Ohio State University, traveled overseas and spent six months in South Africa.  When she came back in 2001, she told me, “this isn’t my mission, this is your mission; but I’ll help you for a year.”  It wasn’t long before it became Anna’s vision, too, and hers was far bigger than mine.  Anna really is the heart and soul of New Vocations – her passion, her youth, her inspiration – and it is Anna who said, “we’ll open more locations and help more horses.”

In typical mother-daughter dynamics, they have differing versions of how Anna became involved full-time.  Anna got married and the couple lived on the family farm for a few months.  She couldn’t miss seeing how much the New Vocations program had grown.

“It was growing into something much greater than my mom could handle on her own and initially I just wanted to help lighten the load in some way,” recalls Anna.  “But it just sort of all fell together.  I really enjoyed it, especially working with the Thoroughbreds.  I had grown up with horses on a breeding and training farm.  I took a break from it during college – we took only one vacation because of the horses – and when I got back into it, I never turned away again.  I’ve always enjoyed the Thoroughbreds.  Their appearance and their athleticism especially appeal to me.”

Anna is now based in Columbus and works out of the Marysville office.  When she started out, they took in about 10 horses at a time; but the program has grown considerably from one location to six.  On any given day, the New Vocations program will show 60-65 horses on their books.  Because of the staff’s expertise with ex-racers, horses are usually adopted before two months pass and many “disappear” off the website within a few days of being posted.  Adoptions are helped by the reliable reputation associated with New Vocations.

“The need is so great,” emphasizes Anna.  “There are so many horses out there on the track.  I have done everything from schooling horses to promoting New Vocations.  My focus now involves development and fundraising.”  Money – that’s the bottom line.  Horses eat, well, like horses.  Realistically, from training to adoption takes about two months.  Meeting NV’s qualifications to adopt goes beyond money to support the horse:  you need experience and expertise.

Standardbreds are typically more tolerant.  Bred to race in harness as trotters and pacers, most can be easily gaited and offer a smooth ride.  However, they usually require a skilled rider with strong aids to train them to canter. Standardbreds excel as trail horses.  They also make good foxhunters and reenactment mounts.  With the right rider, they can do well in dressage and eventing.  Thoroughbreds arrive at New Vocations a bit more sensitive, sometimes very reactive; but they’ve been pampered like exotic flowers.  They are extremely athletic, tend to be very smart and learn quickly with an experienced and tactful rider.  On the hunt for a new Dobbin?  Check out New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program: www.horseadoption.com 

All Photos Courtesy of New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program

-By Lauren Giannini

Read more at the source: Eye on July

Article excerpt posted on Sidelinesnews.com from Chasin’.