Be sure to attend the American Saddlebred Museum’s Grand Opening Party tonight at 6:30 pm (6:30-9:00) following Tattersalls. Come casual from the sale or come dressed up – just come to the party! There will be a complimentary Makers Mark bourbon tasting with souvenir glasses, a great dine around and a cash bar. Tour the amazing new and improved Showplace for Saddlebreds and see the 2010 exhibit, This is the American Saddlebred. Shop the expanded Gift Shop, watch the new video/photo montages, try out our new interactive children’s section and be ready for a fun time. For reservations call 859-259-2746 or just buy your tickets at the door. Tickets are $40.00 apiece. We will also be selling raffle tickets to win a hotel stay, parking pass and box seats at the KSF Show for only $10.00 per ticket. Don’t miss this event!!

Biggins Stable, located in Simpsonville, Ky., will be hosting their annual summer riding camp in June. The camp is designed for kids 18 years of age and under. Beginners through advanced are more than welcome. The dates are June 21–26, 2010. There is an option for day or overnight camp and a nonrefundable $100 deposit required upon registration.

Besides the intensive riding instruction of Biggins Summer Camp, the camp is a great atmosphere for learning and having fun. The camp features: all meals, lodging, swimming, trail riding, bareback riding, educational activities (including a field trip), crafts, a daily one-hour lesson, workouts, lunge lessons, the care of one horse, a grooming contest, and a fun show. Educational activities also include a session with farrier and veterinarian, harnessing and driving horses, tail-sets, tail braiding, parts of the horse, equipment, tack cleaning, and a speaker on judging.

Evening activities for overnight campers include a trail ride, barbecue with a special guest speaker, and junior judging at the Shelby County Fair Horse Show, where kids can see a real horse show and place the horses as best they can. Friday we have a big barbecue and swimming. We invite the parents and families for awards night.

Come join us in June if you’re looking for a fun experience and an opportunity to learn new training and riding techniques or just to polish up your show skills. Please call (502) 722-5068 for more information.“This is my favorite week of the year,” said Renee Biggins, “I love having all the overnight campers stay at the house with my family. Please join us. It is sure to be an experience of a lifetime and a way to form lifelong friends.”

I am working on some updates/changes to the site and you may experience some weirdness

December 23, 2009
Hygiene, Colorado

Horses Forever is pleased to announce both our updated web site www.horsesforever.org and our 501 (c) (3) pending non-profit status which allows us to receive donations that are tax deductible for our contributors.

The Colorado facility is our largest location and, as such, has more horses located in a single place than any other of our facilities in the United States. We have been lucky to have foster homes in Iowa, New York and Rhode Island but we are in need of additional safehomes as the need for horses looking for a safe haven increases across our country.

At this holiday season our most dire need is money to pay for additional hay, grains and supplements that are needed for the increase in our equine family and to maintain our excellent equine care through this “El Nino” winter – a winter that seems to be delivering more snow and cold more frequently than in other years.

Please take time to browse through our web site and learn more about our national organization. We are always looking for forever homes for our equine friends as well as volunteers who may be able to assist us in fundraising efforts and, more importantly, our hope of increasing our outreach throughout the country.

If you can spare $1.00 during this holiday season the horses will surely appreciate it – please send donations to Horses Forever, P O Box 256, Hygiene, CO, 80533. You may also look under “Donations” on our web site or contact us directly to see how you can be a continuing supporter of our ongoing activities. If you wish, email us directly at ~ admin@horsesforever.org or call our office ~ AC 303-651-3070 with any questions you may have about our available horses, our adoption program or any other aspects of our foundation.

Happy Holidays to all and a special “Thank You” to those who are foster homes, have recently taken in a horse in need or have helped an equine friend find safety during these tough economic times. The horses need you!

Can’t make it to Kentucky for the big dance?  No problem – you can watch it online from anywhere!

You can find all the details on the webcast and class schedules on the ASHA web site or by clicking here.

Enjoy, and good luck to all the competitors!

Lexington, Kentucky - The richest weeks of the year begin today for American Saddlebreds, with the opening of the World’s Championship Horse Show at the Kentucky State Fair in Louisville, followed by the All American Classic at Indianapolis, Indiana, beginning Tuesday, September 8.

Total premiums and awards at the Kentucky State Fair are estimated to reach approximately $1.2 million over the week of the World’s Championship, culminating Saturday, August 29, with the World’s Grand Championships and the $100,000 Five Gaited Saddlebred “Big Stake.” Purses offered in the American Saddlebred Registry’s (ASR) Kentucky, Amateur, and National Three-Year-Old futurities alone are estimated to exceed $220,000, and begin with in-hand classes on opening night.

The All American Classic to follow has been designated a Regional Championship competition by the American Saddlebred Horse Association (ASHA), and was the United Professional Horsemen’s Association National Honor Show for 2008. Held at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, the All American is the site of the American Saddlebred Registry’s Sweepstakes program, with total estimated purses of over $220,000, an increase of over 5% from a year ago, with an 18% increase in the Four-Year-Old section alone. Total purses in Indianapolis are expected to reach over $700,000, including the American Hackney Horse Society Limited Breeders Stakes, the Indiana Saddlebred and Hackney Futurities, UPHA Classics for Saddlebreds and Hackneys, plus added monies from the Registry’s Grand National program. For further information, including post entries, contact Secretary Judy McNamara, or Manager Claire Panke.

The Indiana spectacular is almost synonymous, however, with the All American Weanling and Three-Year-Old Cups. The latter will award an all-time record in riches of over $172,000 in one American Saddlebred class, exceeding the previous record amount awarded last year, and the champion in that event will leave the ring with over $53,000 on Friday evening, September 11. Of the 115 three-year-olds eligible to compete, only one will claim the largest prize in a single class ever offered in the breed. The All American Cup for weanlings will itself award over $130,000, with over $38,000 going to the champion weanling. For more information on the All American Cup, and to see the 600 Saddlebreds eligible for the All American Cup, visit www.allamericancup.org, or contact Jim Aikman, by email at allamericancup@yahoo.com, or by telephone at (317) 862-4341.

Dave and Dena Lopez, of Double D Ranch LLC, take the slogan of the UPHA to another level as they plan a special fundraising event for the UPHA Dewey Henderson Benevolent Fund. This IRS 501(c) (3) fund was established in memory of long-time horseman, Dewey Henderson, to benefit UPHA members in need because of health issues, fires, theft, injury or accidents. Only two hundred tickets will be sold for the “Kentucky brunch” prepared by Chef Cameron Irvin on Saturday, July 11 from 9:00am to 11:30am. Double D Ranch LLC is generously donating the entire cost of the breakfast for this event.

Guests will be treated to the medieval setting of Castle Post from the moment they walk through the mammoth twelve foot doors and enter the Great Hall with thirty foot ceilings and exquisite chandeliers. The use of the Castle was generously donated by the castle owner, Tom Post who is a graduate of Lexington’s Lafayette High School. The grand staircase will be the setting for the drawing at 11:00 a.m. Each of the holders of the $100 tickets will have a chance to win up to $10,000 with the remaining $10,000 going to the UPHA Dewey Henderson Benevolent Fund. Also included is another drawing for a Beautiful collection of Three Freedman Harness items that are only available through their special Sponsorship program – a Zip Top Leather Belize, a Leather wrapped thermos, and a Leather bankers bag, with a total value of $750. Our thanks to Freedman Harness for this wonderful raffle set! To view the castle, you can go to www.thecastlepost.com. Special room rates are available for those attending the Lexington Junior League Horse Show. To reserve a room, contact Dana Martin at Castle Post (859-879-1000) by July 1st, 2009.

Sponsors who are donating items for the silent auction are still stepping forward to help. Dena has expressed her hope that this event will raise $25,000. Sponsors will be recognized each evening of the Lexington Junior League Horse Show on the JumboTron and in the event brochure, as well as having a banner ad on the UPHA website for one year. The Sponsorship opportunities are outlined below

To be included among those supporting this worthy cause by buying a ticket or joining as a sponsor, please contact Karen Richardson at Uphakgr@aol.com or 859-231-5070 or download a ticket reservation form from the UPHA web site, www.UPHAOnline.com.Please make your check payable to the UPHA Dewey Henderson Benevolent Fund (UPHA DHBF).

If you or anybody you know is looking for a lesson, practice or companion horse check out these horses at Saddlebred Rescue.

Any questions, contact me Pat Johnson pat@saddlebredrescue.com or 908-304-3560

Lexington, Kentucky – In mid-May, the American Saddlebred Horse Association (ASHA) launched the new “My Membership” section of its website. The new section offers such functionality as adding and updating user profile, bio and contact information, as well as adding photo and video media to a user’s registered horses. Any horses with media attached will display that media on their pedigree pages for all members to see.

Since the initial launch, ASHA has been working to improve functionality and optimize performance of the “My Membership” section, generally streamlining and simplifying the entire section. As a result of these efforts, ASHA has now released an improved version of “My Membership.”

Among the new section’s more notable enhancements is the addition of a search utility allowing users to search other horse or member names, in an effort to identify horses owned by the user, but which may be linked to a separate user account.

In addition to the “My Membership” section, ASHA is also planning other enhancements to the website, including new “My Trails,” “My Activities,” and “My Meadows” sections. The “My Trails” section will be a trail riding tracking application, which will provide a utility for users to track their trail riding progress. The “My Activities” section will be a tracking program for an individual’s involvement in all the different activities related to the Saddlebred world. This section will allow users to enroll in a wide variety of activities, track time, and more.  The “My Meadows” section will allow members to offer assistance in caring for retired Saddlebreds (additional details to come).

As always, ASHA relies on member suggestions for improvements. Comments can be emailed to webmaster@asha.net. Additionally, comments can be left under the “Offer Suggestions” link in the new “My Membership” area of the website.

by Brita Barlow-Johnson
Clinics have long been a popular tool for amateur owners and professionals alike to share ideas and learn from instructors that they may not always have easy access to. The past few years has given rise to more and more of these educational events in the Saddlebred world.

The Penn-Ohio Futurity has sponsored a clinic for three consecutive years. In 2007 they put on clinic with Mitch Clark who discussed starting and training a horse to rack, in 2006 Clem Lee was the featured speaker, and this year was the Bret and Suzi Day clinic.

The clinic was conducted on February 28^th at the lovely Champions Center at the Clark County Fairgrounds in Springfield Ohio. Due to a previous engagement, Suzi Day was not able to attend, but that did not put a damper on the day’s events. Prior to the clinic, there was an informal swap meet with about half a dozen tables set up outside the stabling area where people could buy and sell equipment while meeting to catch up on news.

At 12:00, the event kicked off with an informal workshop on tail sets in front of the stalls. This is a subject that perhaps could have gone on all day. Wendy Lewis began by demonstrating how to properly fit and adjust a tail set. Since there were several horses there to participate in the clinic, who were wearing sets, we had no shortage of subject matter. Bret Day chimed in with some very helpful experience. Before we knew it, our allotted time was up. I think the workshop could have gone on all day. There were many good questions which were well answered, and I learned a few new techniques as I am sure did everyone else.

The main clinic kicked off at 1:00. There were many auditors seated on the (rather cold) bleachers. The way the facility is set up, there isn’t a bad seat in the house, and it is easy to ask questions and see what is being demonstrated. Eight horses ranging from three year olds to veterans were brought out one at a time to work with Mr. Day. This year there was a nice mix of long lining and riding. Mr. Day demonstrated how to run the lines and adjust the side check and shared some personal experiences about over bitting and checking that we all learned from. He also brought some bridles from his Grey Ridge Stable, and passed them around as he explained how a to introduce a horse to a curb bit, and how the curb bit functions in the horse’s mouth.

Most of the horses present had only been in a double bridle for a short time. A nice young gaited colt had his curb bit swapped for one that had been brought for demonstration, and we could immediately see the results. Another horse was recently adopted from the Saddlebred Rescue program. There was some discussion about rehabbing a rescue horse, as well as starting an older horse back into the double bridle.
Participants who brought horses were Marcia Belcher, Wendy Lewis, Mary Waickman, Brenda Santenello, Colleen Martin, and Ray & Barbara Blanton.

Before we knew it the afternoon was up. I myself could have gone on listening to Bret Day for awhile longer. I enjoyed his overall philosophy that horse shows, while a highly competitive sport, are supposed to be fun. He also spoke about encouraging a horse to think highly of himself. After all, few humans do well in their work or lives if they do not have a high self esteem, and we should encourage this in our horses as well. He spoke of teaching a horse to respond to his bridle, rather than respecting his bridle. Mr. Day’s training principles do not revolve around dominating the horse, rather working with the horse and doing what we can to make them happy so they will perform for us.

At 4:00, those of us who were getting cold from the aluminum bleachers hurried to the warmth of the snack bar at the Champions Center, while the rest remained to speak one on one with Mr. Day, and to thank him for a wonderfully informative afternoon.

That evening at the same facility was the Ohio Stallion Auction, and many stayed for dinner and a piece of the amazing cake made by April Vercoe. The cake topper was modeled after Undulata’s Nutcracker. What a full day, and a great opportunity not only to learn from one of the best trainers in our industry, but also a great time to catch up with the happenings of the Ohio Saddlebred folks. Many thanks to the organizers Marcia Belcher, Wendy Lewis for another successful Penn-Ohio training clinic.