The horse shows and other events are hard to come by in the Roanoke region this weekend — and perhaps just as well as weather forecasters are beginning to utter the “S” word for this weekend in the area. If they are right and you’re left to cuddle up inside this weekend, there is still hope: Online streaming. I can’t even imagine if I would have had such a thing as a horse-crazy kid. With a good connection, you never have to never be very far from an arena filled with sleek show horses.

STREAMING ONLINE

• USEFnetwork will broadcast two Grand Prix live from the HITS Desert Circuit in Thermal, Calif., on Friday and Sunday. Friday’s is the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix. Sunday’s is the $50,000 Go Rentals Grand Prix.
• USEFnetwork also has a huge library of On-Demand videos that include George Morris clinics, the U.S. Dressage Finals, the Washington International Horse Show, the Pennsylvania Horse Show, the U.S. Pony Finals and the Ariat Tulsa Reining Classic just to name a few.
• The Arizona Sun Circuit (AQHA, NRHA, NSBA) is streaming live on Horse Show Global. The show starts Saturday, Jan 24, and runs through Feb. 1.
• FEItv is broadcasting Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping from Zurich. (Requires $15 monthly subscription.)

A LOOK AHEAD

• Stonewall Country Horse Show, Jan. 30-Feb. 1, Virginia Horse Center
• Polar Bear School Show, Feb. 14-15, Virginia Horse Center East Complex
• Green Hill Winter Series II, Feb. 1, Green Hill Equestrian Park, Salem
• Hollins Spring Welcome Horse Show, Feb. 26 – March 1, Virginia Horse Center
• Pennsylvania Horse World Expo, March 5-8, Harrisburg
• Spring Breakout AQHA Show, March 21-22, Virginia Horse Center
• Virginia Horse Festival, March 27-29, The Meadow Event Park, Doswell, Va.
• Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, April 25-26, Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, Ky.

Volunteers from Roanoke Valley Horse Rescue will be at the Bonsack Kroger to collect food donations. If you would like to make a donation to help the horses at the rescue come stop by Saturday, Jan. 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m . They are in need of the following items.

• Corn Oil
• Canned Corn
• Canned Carrots
• Corn Flakes 
• Canned Apples

The rescue is always in need of a variety of items from copy paper and office supplies to horse feeds and lead ropes. You can check their wish list for items to donate. Another great way to support the horses at RVHR is to sponsor a horse. Just $25 per month will feed one younger horse grain for a week. There are also many volunteering opportunities at the rescue. Some of the duties include: feeding, grooming, watering, basic office assistance, landscaping, general grounds upkeep and building maintenance.

The rescue has 47 rescue horses under their care a two facilities. Some of those available horses are below: 

We just had our first messy snowfall and the recent single-digit temperatures here in the Roanoke Valley may have you feeling a bit fuzzy, but that doesn’t mean the horse world has ground to a stop. And now when your own horse activities may have slowed down for the winter is when you just might need that horse fix the most. Here are this weekend’s activities, plus some things to look forward to.

VIRGINIA HORSE CENTER

• The Stonewall Country Horse Show: This show is USEF “A” rated Hunter and Jumper horse show. This event is owned and operated by the VHCF and managed by Leslie Brown and will be held in the Anderson Coliseum and the East Complex arena. Judges are Phoebe Sheets and Downing Nyegard. Find a schedule of classes on the prize list. Note: Braiding is optional in all classes and divisions. The show will open Thursday at 7 a.m. with Working Hunter classes all day in the Coliseum. On Friday, Working Hunters will be in the Coliseum and Jumpers in the East Complex. Saturday will feature Children’s Hunters and Amateur Hunters in the Coliseum for the morning and afternoon with Open and Junior Working Hunters toward the end of the day. The East Complex will host pony hunters and short stirrup classes throughout the day with much the same schedule layout for Sunday as well. This show benefits the VHCF, an facility that has become incredibly important in the Virginia’s horse industry. This show will repeat on Jan. 30-Feb. 1 at the VHC.
• Winter Schooling: If you are simply seeking for a great place to ride during the winter months, the Virginia Horse Center is open for schooling through March 1. Call the Stable Office at 540-464-2966 for reservations.

FARTHER AWAY

• Maryland Horse World Expo: (4 hour drive from Roanoke) The Horse World Expo will return to the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, Maryland, this weekend. (4 hour trip from Roanoke) Daily admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children aged 6-12. Younger than 6 are free. The Expo includes seminars, clinics, demonstrations, stallion avenue and parade of breeds, and of course shopping. This year’s speakers include Roxanne Bowman on saddle fitting, Olympian (Eventing) Stephen Bradley, Dana Bright on Driving,Kenny Harlow on training and AQHA judge and auction manager Mike Jennings on Buying and Selling horses. For a full list of speakers visit www.horseworldexpo.com/MDbios.shtml.
• Kentucky Hunter Jumper Association Clinic featuring Bernie Taurig at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky on Monday. (5 1/2 hours drive from Roanoke)
• Dressage Clinic with Britta Johnston, Understanding, Starting and Perfecting the Flying Change: A lecture discussing the flying change will begin at 12:30 p.m., Saturday at Capriole Farms in Catlett, Va. (3 hours drive from Roanoke) Horses working on flying changes will follow. Rides: $90 for a 45 minute lesson $20 for day stall, limited number. Auditors: $10.

  LOOK AHEAD

• Polar Bear School Show, Feb. 14-15, Virginia Horse Center East Complex
• Stonewall Country Horse Show, Jan. 30-Feb. 1, Virginia Horse Center
• Green Hill Winter Series II, Feb. 1, Green Hill Equestrian Park, Salem
• Hollins Spring Welcome Horse Show, Feb. 26 – March 1, Virginia Horse Center
• Pennsylvania Horse World Expo, March 5-8, Harrisburg
• Spring Breakout AQHA Show, March 21-22, Virginia Horse Center
• Virginia Horse Festival, March 27-29, The Meadow Event Park, Doswell, Va.
• Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, April 25-26, Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, Ky.

ONLINE

•  Watch the 2015 George Morris Horsemaster Session on demand at USEFnetwork.com.

“There’s something about the outside of the horse that’s good for the inside of a man.” 

A Boones Mill nonprofit, Unbridled Change, is using that bit of wisdom to offer equine-assisted mental health services for children, teens, and adults that need support overcoming obstacles in their life such as trauma, anger management, parenting and bullying.

Horses are a great mirror that reflect back a client’s behaviors, the organization says, allowing for awareness and eventually control and change.

Founder and Executive Director Michelle Holling-Brooks is the only Certified Eagala Advanced Equine Specialist in Virginia and one of only 14 in the country. EAP is a collaborative effort between a licensed therapist and a horse professional working with the clients and horses to address treatment goals. Participants learn about themselves and others by participating in activities with the horses and then talking about feelings, behaviors and patterns.

Unbridled Change offers several different programs to their clients:

• A ‘Bit’ of Support – Military Services program works with military personnel, veterans, spouses, and their families to help with transitions, stress relief and mindfulness skills, coping skills, parenting skills, mental health therapy for PTSD & MST and also recreational therapy.
• Take Back the Reins is an equine-assisted psychotherapy program that is designed for children, teens, and adults who were victims or witnesses of abuse or neglect with the aim of breaking the cycle of abuse. 
• Hoof-prints of a Healthy Herd is an equine assisted psychotherapy program that is designed for parenting and family reunification.  The program works with both the children and the parents to help address the core concepts of a healthy family unit: healthy boundary setting and acceptance, respect, communication and healthy relationship skills.
• Wranglers is designed for children, teens, and adults who struggling with anger management issues. 
• “Blazing the Trail of Character” combines hands-on activities with horses and six character development concepts: Trustworthiness, Respect, Responsibility, Fairness, Caring and Citizenship. The program is available to area youth groups and schools.
• Riders Up! is designed for children, teens, and adults who are working on executive functioning skills, fine tuning self-regulation skills, and self-esteem.  

Find a video of Unbridled Change at http://vimeo.com/109596834. 

If you’d like to volunteer.  
Donate.  

Directions to the farm from Roanoke Airport: 
Take I-581 South toward Downtown Roanoke.  I-581 will turn into route 220 South toward Rocky Mount, VA .  (581 will merge from a highway to route 220 there will be a Lowes, HomeDepot, Walmart and other box stores when it first merges down).  Stay on 220 for about 10 miles – cross the county line into Franklin Co and the town of Boones Mill.  Just after the light turn an immediate left over the bridge onto Boones Mill Road (at Jack Garst Agency or Southern States).  At the stop sign turn right to stay on to Boones Mill Road.  Go 2 miles and turn right onto White Oak Road.  Go about 1 mile and turn right into the Unbridled Change’s parking lot at the indoor arena site. 

Silver Charm stands with  Michael Blowen, founder of Old Friends, and Sandy Hatfield, stallion manager at Three Chimneys.

It’s a happy ending for Thoroughbred champion Silver Charm as he has been brought home from Japan to live out his years at Old Friends retirement center. Silver Charm, dual classic winner and oh-so-close Triple Crown near-winner arrived this week in Georgetown, Kentucky, after standing at stud in Japan. The center will hold an open house on Dec. 2 to welcome the 20-year-old champion home before he starts his 21 days in quarantine.

Silver Charm stood his first five stud seasons at Three Chimneys in Midway, Kentucky, before he moved to the JBBA Shizunai Stallion Station for the 2005 breeding season. While his Kentucky-sire offspring included 15 stakes winners, he was not a successful stud in Japan, siring just one stakes winner.

Silver Charm captured the Kentucky Derby by a gutsy head over Captain Bodgit and the Preakness Stakes by a head over Free House, only to lose the Belmont by less than a length in the closing strides to Touch Gold.  In 2007, he was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame. He remains today one of the 10 richest North American-bred and -raced Thoroughbreds of all time.

Trainer Bob Baffert privately acquired Silver Charm, a son of Silver Buck out of Bonnie’s Poker, by Poker, as a 2-year-old in 1996 for $85,000 and trained him throughout his career for the late Bob Lewis and his wife Beverly. The Lewises, who campaigned Silver Cham to win $6,944,369, paid for the horse’s flight from Japan to the United States.

Silver Charm is lucky. Not every Thoroughbred champion comes home. The racing world was shocked to learn that Ferdinand, 1986 Kentucky Derby winner who went on to capture the following year’s Horse of the Year title with a dramatic victory over 1987 Derby hero Alysheba in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, was likely sent to slaughter in Japan after an unsuccessful stud career. His demise was discovered after a member of the Howard Keck family that owned and bred the horse inquired about having him returned to the United States. Because of what happened to Ferdinand, many owners are now safeguarding their stallions before they are sent overseas with a buy-back clause to help bring the champions back home.

Ferdinand and jockey Bill Shoemaker.

Silver Charm joins recently retired multi-millionaire Game On Dude, Gulch, 2002 Belmont Stakes winner Sarava, and special Eclipse Award winner Rapid Redux in retirement at Old Friends.

Silver Charm is led by Sandy Hatfield, stallion manager at Three Chimneys and greeted by Michael Blowen, founder of Old Friends.

Austin OffTrackThoroughbreds.com

After their racing days are through, some lucky Thoroughbreds find a second line of work. Some go on to be hunters or jumpers. Some gallop cross country fences in eventing or trot down the center line of dressage. And of course some stroll along trails with their new owners.

One story recently posted on OffTrackThoroughbreds.com tells the tale of a snow-white gelding who got his second chance after 11 years on the track.Now in his teens he has become the perfect partner for a 13-year-old boy in Salem, Va.

Alisa Gusterer and Scattering Breezes

But Scattering Breeze’s second chance at a new life off the track didn’t come without obstacles. Another story tells of former owner Alisa Gusterer’s journey with the gelding, who she called Apollo.  “The first time I put my foot in the stirrup he reared and ran away,” Gusterere says. “There was another time, when the saddle didn’t fit him properly, that he bucked me off and then bucked all the way around the ring—twice.”
 
By the time Austin had come across Joey, 5 years after he retired from racing, Joey had spent time with experienced trail riders and had gone through extensive training using natural horsemanship techniques. “We went to see him right before Labor Day, and he was such a mellow horse that when I asked my son if he felt comfortable cantering him, he said sure, and cantered him up and down,” Heather Skeens told OffTrackThoroughbred.com. “We took him to this show the weekend after we purchased him. It was really blustery that day, and he didn’t look at anything, or spook.”

Scattering Breezes, aka Joey, and his rider, Austin, can be seen showing around the region. There next show will be this weekend (Nov. 8-9) at the Penmeryl Horse Trials in Greenville, Va.