Jennifer and The Good Witch (Pooh) at Galway Downs *** in November 2011. Photo by Samantha Clark.
On other fronts, some sad news to report:
–Our deepest condolences to the family and friends of show jumper Don Little, who passed away late Wednesday afternoon following injuries sustained while competing at the Winter Equestrian Festival. His horse fell while jumping a fence during the Masters Classic on Sunday. Little was in his late 70s. In a WEF press release, Little’s wife of 57 years, Judith, was quoted as saying, “Don died doing what he loved.” [WEF]
–Davy Jones passed away in Florida as the result of a heart attack at age 66. While most people know Jones as the former lead singer of The Monkees, he was also a keen horseman throughout his life. He was an apprentice jockey before being snatched up by stardom, and he returned to his equestrian roots afterwards, winning his first race at age 50. [Horse Talk]
–Air vest manufacturers Point Two and Hit Air strongly advise against the purchase of cheaper air canisters, designed to be used in air guns, as they don’t have the same effect. They are harder to pierce, making it possible that your vest wouldn’t inflate in the event of a fall, and if it does inflate, it will do so at a significantly reduced speed (1 second as opposed to 0.1 second). [Horse & Hound]
–In case all that world-class competition gets boring, extracurricular activities are already being lined up for Jersey Fresh. These include a craft fair, equine expo, jousting exhibition and a Patriotic Tribute to the Heroes of 9/11, presented by the Delaware Valley Combined Training Association. [USEA]
Best of Horse Nation:
Morning Feed: Tennessee Walking Horse soring, and what we really think about that
Turn ‘n’ Burn: 19-y/o driving wunderkind Jacob Arnold sweeps Little Everglades International CDE
Wednesday Book Review: ‘War Horse.’ Yep, that’s right-just like Harry Potter and the Twilight series, War Horse was a book before it was a movie.
There’s an app for that: 10 smartphone apps designed to help you organize your horse life
Let’s Discuss: How do you get fit for riding?
Soring: A short history of an incredibly stupid practice
Video: Winning ride from the Gothenburg World Cup show-jumping qualifier
Bad people doing bad things: Over 30 malnourished horses were seized from a Thomasville, GA, woman, who now faces up to 35 counts of animal cruelty pending a veterinarian’s complete inspection. [COTH] Two horses died in Tennessee of Rabies, serving as a sobering reminder that vets aren’t kidding when they tell you to vaccinate your horse. [Horse Talk] Another Tennessee man is going to prison for a year on Tennessee Walking Horse soring charges. [HN] The USDA* has announced that it will be hosting meetings around the United States to get feedback on its horse protection program, which aims to stop soring in the walking horse industry. [Horse Talk] *edited from USDF, oops!
Top of the Tweets: Glad to hear that bodily injury has’t slowed Buck Davidson down. From eventer Whitney Weston (@whitneyweston): “Horses were AMAZING in jumps school today with BDJ. He was so awesome teaching us despite his broken collar bone!!
Best of the Blogs: Laura of “Tales from a Bad Eventer” has the worst luck with horse-shopping of anyone I’ve ever known, as explained here.
First-place Facebook: The USEA made a funny today on its Facebook page, illustrating “Happy Leap Year!” with a photo of Katie Hasse and Buster Brown taking a flyer over a novice ditch.
