The Roanoke Valley Horse show kicked off Monday in Salem, Va., and will continue this week at the Salem Civic Center. Featuring hunter, jumpers, some Western classes and gaited classes, the show is a highlight of the summer in Virginia since 1972 and is rated AA — the highest level of competition in the USEF.

Tickets are required after 6 p.m. and cost $16 a night for an adult. A superpass for 3 nights can also be purchased for $17.50. However, the afternoons are free and still feature great competition, although the outdoor arenas feature limited seating. The indoor arena, however, is air conditioned and a great place to escape the June heat for the afternoon. If you can only attend one night, make it Saturday for the $50,000 Grand Prix of Roanoke, and watch out for Aaron Vale who is always one of the top riders in the event.

The show kicked off Monday night with Western pleasure, Barrel Racing and Racking classes, plus a reining demonstration that occurs on several nights. This night is typically light on participants with only a few in each class, yet the crowd is still enthusiastic. The barrel racing captures the speed-lovers’ hearts. However the arena appears to be very slick and it hinders the runners quite a bit and many of the horses struggle for their footing during their runs.

Tuesday night will feature the Welcome Jumper Stake plus more barrel racing and some Saddlebred classes. Arabians will also be featured. For those who want to make a day of it, below is the schedule for the rest of the day, which again is free to attend.

Also, for more, read this story about a RVHS veteran who has made horses his life and TV coverage of the show’s kickoff.

Tuesday 7:30 am – Coliseum

For many, buying a horse at an auction can be a nerve-wracking experience. Each horse is scrutinized by prospective owners trying to determine what may be wrong with that animal. Generally, the lower the price, the more likely something may be wrong. But what about a $2.1 million broodmare?

At the 2011 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale, Love Me Only an unraced half-sister to European Horse of the Year Giant’s Causeway in foal to European Horse of the Year Sea the Stars, was sold. A complaint filed in Kentucky’s Fayette Circuit Court Jan. 27, 2012 claims that her owners and consignor were aware that she may have had laminitis when she entered the sale ring.

The mare was consigned on behalf of a group of owners affiliated with Coolmore, which owns Ashford Stud in Versailles, Ky., where Love Me Only stayed for about six weeks before the sale.

On Nov. 9, 2011, the day after the sale she was shipped to Summer Wind Farm, then “on or about Nov. 10 and 11, 2011, began to exhibit physical problems and was very sore.”

On the morning of Nov. 12, 2011, Summer Wind’s regular veterinarian, Dr. Scott Pierce issued a report stating “X-rays and clinical signs indicated chronic laminitis.” On Nov. 14 the complaint says, a second veterinary report, from Dr. Bryan Fraley said Love Me Only “had an acute episode of laminitis in which (her) coffin bone had significantly sunk.” Fraley’s report expressed “concern about the longevity of Love Me Only as a broodmare.”

Summer Wind immediately notified Keeneland it intended to reject the purchase, but
Keeneland said it would not rescind the sale. According to the Conditions of Sale, buyers must state their intention to reject a sale based on a published limited warranty within 24 hours after the session in which the horse is sold and before it leaves the sale grounds. In the meantime, Summer Wind learned that Love Me Only had been administered the pain killer Butazolidin five times between Nov. 5- 8. A blood sample from Love Me Only was sent to the University of California-Davis and confirmed “large quantities of Bute,” the complaint says.

However, Love Me Only was subsequently inspected on behalf of the defendants by Dr. Ric Redden and found to be “perfectly sound.” Defendants claim veterinary records prior to the sale demonstrate the absence of laminitis.

The mare delivered a 2012 Sea the Stars foal, inspected on behalf of the defendants by Dr. Ben Stivers and found to be healthy. She was bred back to Distorted Humor.

“A springy, rhythmic way of moving forward,similar to a horse’s gait and ideally induced by elation.” That is pracercise, a form of excercise that’s been around since 1989 but just recently caught on and swept the Internet, leaving many a viewer, and there has now been over 2 million, wondering “Is this for real?” 

Yes. Yes it is. At least it is to creator Joanna Rohrback.  Heck, there’s even a book: Prancercise®:The Art of Physical and Spiritual Excellence.” Get it for your Kindle at Amazon. 

Rohrback started prancercising outside, every day, on the “boardwalk” in Hollywood. People asked her about it constantly. “I think I even got it on a news clip,” she said. She quickly realized she shouldn’t keep prancercising to herself.

The video (Find it here at YouTube.) takes viewers through “trotting” to shadow-box “galloping.” Apparently this is why I was so fit as a child.  

“Let them laugh,” Joanna Rohrback told CNBC on Thursday. “Who would pay any attention to a boring, average, everyday video? I am so glad … I have my confidence.”

Equine Chronicle photo via Mike Fester

The arena is dark and empty at the Red Bud Spectacular in Oklahoma City this weekend after the Oklahoma State Fairground was closed because of the tornadoes that hit the Oklahoma City area Friday night, shutting down the AQHA Red Bud Spectacular horse show. The show was to continue through June 9.

During the storm, about 200 people hunkered down in the concrete-reinforced ramp going into the main show arena as the tornadoes passed nearby. No one was hurt at the showgrounds and the site received no damage. However, power is out at the facility and some power lines were downed by the storm. The area also received 6 inches of rain.

 Kate Upton has become a familiar face to many after graving the cover of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit edition this year. But in the horse industry, she’s been a familiar face for a long time as a top competitor on the paint horse circuit.

The 2012 magazine cover is her second time appearing in the annual SI issue that’s the equivalent of the Super Bowl for models. Last year, when Irina Shayk was on the cover, Upton was chosen as rookie of the year.

A 12-year-old Kate was first “discovered” by Trump Model Management in and airport when she was on her way home from the Memorial Day Classic horse show. Her parents decided against allowing her to pursue modeling at that young an age. At 15 she signed with Elite Model Management in Miami.

“I started showing in 4-H when I was eight years old and took my first lessons from Katherine Kope in Melbourne, Florida,” Upton said in the Equine Chronicle in 2010. “A year later I started showing at APHA shows with Cedar Stone Acres and my horse A Tad of Scotch. That’s when we got my second horse, Too Shiny Forya, aka Roanie.”

As an APHA youth exhibitor, Upton and Too Shiny Forya, aka “Roanie,” won three Reserve World Championships (in 13 and under Western Riding, 13 and Under Horsemanship and 14-18 Western Riding). In 2006, she was also named the 13 and Under Reserve All-Around Champion at the APHA World Show. In 2009, Upton and “Zipped From the Heart” won the 14-18 Western Riding. 

Her older sister, Laura Upton still shows on the APHA circuit in the Amateur events and was a recent member of the Georgia Bulldogs equestrian team before graduating. 

Great AQHA show horse, Conclusives Bar Cody, died Wednesday, May 8 from complications due to colic. The 23-year-old brown gelding, “Milton,” had over 3,400 points, 16 superiors, and multiple AQHA World and Reserve World Championships including titles in hunter under saddle, horsemanship (twice), equitation, and western riding.

“I remember one year at the Congress where he won the Western Riding, Hunter Under Saddle Maturity, Hunter Hack, and Horsemanship all in one year,” Charlie Cole remembers. “He was 17 hands but he could spin a hole in the ground and lay down a perfect horsemanship pattern. He made you work for everything. You had to prepare him correctly or he would be too fresh but if we did our job — he did his.”

Conclusives Bar Cody was by Conclusives Dare (Conclusive) and out of a daughter of Ole Bartender (The Ole Man). Pedigree here.

May 8-11 at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, Va., is reserved for the Bonnie Blue National Horse Show, now in it’s 27th year. The United States Equestrian Federation “A” rated horse show features a variety of classes for Saddlebreds, Hackneys and Friesian.

This years show will be judged by Brent Day of Versailles, Ky; James Hale of Columbiana, Ala.; and Micheal Beasom of Borne, Texas.

PDF of Prize List

Sloppy track at Churchhill Downs on Kentucky Derby will no longer carry bad memories for Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. Orb took home the roses Saturday, May 5, easily defeating a field of 19 in the 139th Kentucky Derby.

Easy Goer tries to catch Sunday Silence in the stretch of the 1989 Kentucky Derby.

There will be four special guests on Millionaire’s Row at the Kentucky Derby on Saturday to cheer on 12-1 Normandy Invasion as he takes on 18 other 3-year-olds in the 2013 run for the roses.

“We name a lot of horses after patriotic things. And when I went to Normandy in 1994, which was the 50th anniversary, we spent three days there. I was blown away by everything, and they were memories I’ll never forget,” said owner Rick Porter.
 
Porter, who is a veteran of the Korean War, invited four D-Day veterans to watch his bay Tapit colt. They are:

• Ray Woods, who was a was a Navy chief radar man on the U.S.S. O’Brien, which Woods said shelled the beach defenses, including after the beach landings to assist in the protection and evacuation of the wounded.
• Bill Wilch, 89, who was a private in the Army when he hit the beach in the Fox Green sector of Omaha Beach.
• J.J. Witmeyer Jr., 92, who was an infantry officer. “My job was to lead them ashore. I was in charge of a company of infantry men, Utah Beach,” he said. 
• Alan Reeves, 91, who in 1944, Reeves was involved in civil affairs with the Army and worked in Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Supreme Command. 

Normandy Invasion was fifth in the Grade II Risen Star but followed that with an impressive second to Verrazano in the Wood Memorial. He prefers to run hard late in the race and catch the leaders in the stretch. Jockey Javier Castellano chose to ride Normandy Invasion over Louisiana Derby winner Revolutionary Road.

Normandy Invasion’s training leading up to the Derby has been focused on making the colt a bit quicker earlier in the race. On Thursday, he ran off during training and had an unexpected fast workout just two days before the biggest race of his life. Whether that misstep and his inexperience (he’s only run twice this year with no wins) will hurt his chances is anyone’s guess. For those looking for a price, his 12-1 odds are favorable, but his great backstory is likely to garner him more fans and his price may not be as high by post time.

From left, Ray Woods, Rick Porter  (owner of Normandy Invasion) Ray Woods, Alan Reeves, J. J. Witmeyer, and Chad Brown, trainer of Normandy Invasion stand with the colt at Churchhill Downs on Friday.

New photos of Penn State’s twin quarter horse foals were recently released showing the two bays romping in a field around their dam, PSU Shadows Bonita.

Penn State reports that so far the mare is producing enough milk for both babies and they are growing well.

The smaller of the two foals is a colt and the larger is a filly.

For more photos of their romp outside, see below.

All photos courtesy Penn State.