Unbridled’s Song, the son of 1990 Kentucky Derby winner Unbridled who went on to capture a Breeders’ Cup race and become a prolific sire, died Friday. He was 20.

Taylor Made Stallions, where the horse stood his entire career, said in a statement that the stallion began showing acute neurological symptoms Thursday and was taken to Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky. An MRI showed a large and inoperable mass in his sinus cavities and around the optic nerves. He was euthanized Friday, July 26.

“Unbridled’s Song was one of those great horses,” Taylor Made President and CEO Duncan Taylor said.

“He had it all — looks, pedigree, speed, and presence.
Our team loved him from the beginning.”

Unbridled’s Song was a $200,000 purchase at the 1994 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale by Ernie Paragallo’s Paraneck Stable. He was then sold as a 2-year-old for $1.4 million at the Barretts March sale of 2-year-olds in training, with Taylor Made as agent, only to be bought back by Paragallo when sale buyer Hiroshi Fujita refused the sale after stating that his veterinarian found evidence of ankle bone chips.

As a 2-year-old, Unbridled’s Song won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. The next year, he won the Florida Derby and Wood Memorial. He was the 7-2 favorite in the 1996 Kentucky Derby but finished fifth while another Unbridled colt, Grindstone, took the roses. Unbridled’s Song’s career ended prematurely in 1997, when he suffered a broken cannon bone while training for the Donn Handicap.

Unbridled’s Song earned $1,311,800 before retiring to stud in 1997. He had recently completed the 2013 breeding season. He last stood for an advertised fee of $60,000. He sired 730 winners from more than 1,000 starters, the Taylor Made Stallions said.

His progeny are led by U.S. champion Midshipman, Canadian champion Embur’s Song, Breeders’ Cup Distaff/Ladies’ Classic winners Unrivaled Belle, and Unbridled Elaine. He also sired multiple Grade 1 winners Octave, Splendid Blended, Thorn Song, and Zensational, as well as 2008 Kentucky Derby runner-up Eight Belles and 2009 Belmont Stakes runner-up Dunkirk.

The reining industry lost a legendary performer and sire on July 8 when Colonels Smoking Gun, known worldwide simply as “Gunner,” lost his battle with laminitis. The National Reining Horse Association Hall of Fame inductee and $5 Million Sire was put down after spending a week at Equine Medical Associates in Pilot Point, Texas.

Tim and Colleen McQuay have owned Gunner since 2005. Colleen said, “Gunner was a sweet happy horse, and when I look at all he has given us I can only be grateful for the time we shared with him.  Losing him leaves another hole in our hearts.”

He will be buried next to Hollywood Dun It on the McQuay’s farm.

Watch a video of Gunner performing on YouTube. 

The Roanoke Valley Horse Show in Salem, Va., is often known for the classes that take place after 6 p.m. in the Coliseum that require tickets to get in the door to see. But there’s a lot more going on throughout the day that can be attended for free. Here’s some photos from Tuesday, June 19, as the show kicked into high gear.

Later in the evening on Tuesday, a storm would hit the showgrounds, ripping down one of the stable tents and causing flooding on the grounds. See a story about the damage here.

Some events were postponed after the storm, but things were back underway again Wednesday morning after volunteers worked through the night to get things ready for the next day.

Aaron Vale rides Bromance in a jumper class Tuesday.

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