Traveling to a show can sometimes be as difficult as the competition itself. From negotiating the TSA with spurs to finding a motel close enough to the show grounds, many challenges can stand in the way of a successful trip. Owners with horses in training at out-of-state barns know the nomadic life well, one that […]
Last October Blakely Abbott jogged into the Celeste Arena at the All-American Quarter Horse Congress and pointed her show partner, Made Just Right’s right shoulder to the rail when magic started to happen. As the announcer called for the lope in split one of the L1 Youth Western Pleasure 13 & Under, she remembered what […]
The Arizona Sun Circuit got underway last weekend in beautiful Scottsdale, Arizona. The week-long show features a full slate of AQHA classes and new this year features NSBA Rider Cup classes. The purse, estimated to be $75,000, will be shared between the owner of the horse exhibited and the professional rider or trainer associated with […]
Made N The Shade, a 2014 bay gelding owned by Natasha Blanchard of Lumberton, Texas has been named the National Snaffle Bit Association’s 2017 Horse of the Year. The award is based on NSBA participation, show record and points earned in a year. On his way to multiple championships throughout the year, Natasha Blanchard and […]
We are very excited to congratulate Taylor Kungle on her purchase of No Doubt My Maria. Taylor and “Maria” made their debut this past Sunday at the Arizona Sun Circuit in the Level 1 Amateur Western Pleasure and ending up the class winner! Taylor and Maria will next compete in the NSBA riders cup in […]
AQHA World Champion and leading Hunter Under Saddle sire, Last Detail, has passed, according to Ron Horn, El Reno, Oklahoma. “This morning we laid to rest an icon in the equine world. Last Detail helped pave the way for the AQHA hunt seat horses,” he said. “He is still the All-Time Leading Hunter Under Saddle sire of […]
With the bright lights of Las Vegas as the perfect backdrop, the Silver Dollar Circuit once again welcomed competitors to the South Point Hotel and Casino. Running from Feb. 23-28, the Silver Dollar Circuit boasts a full schedule of AQHA classes as well as a select group of NSBA Futurity Classes. According to show […]
Decorated AQHA show mare Rhapsody In The Rain, owned by Richard and Betty Carr, Bremen, Indiana, was humanely euthanized on Tuesday after suffering a broken hind leg. “Everyone who was around Rainy fell in love with her,” said Betty Carr, “from all of our trainers to our vets and farriers to the girls at BSB […]
One might say that it takes a village to select the right breeding cross, get a prospect safely on the ground, trained and campaigned to the winner’s circle. Colt breakers are a part of that critical village for many of today’s top trainers. And if you don’t believe they are an important piece to the […]
With the new year comes yet more changes for today’s breeding climate. After significant overall drops in the number of foals registered with the American Quarter Horse Association over the past decade, the association recorded a slight uptick in breeding in its 2016 annual report. Stallion managers are hopeful that the fact that there were […]
Dr. Laura Bracken and her husband, Jerry Bracken, of Trafalgar, Indiana, are what you might call “accidental stallion owners.” In 2004, when the couple went looking for a show prospect, they thought they were going to see a gelding when they visited Dalen Geiger. Dalen had purchased Sophistication Only, by Invitation Only and out of […]
Sleep can be elusive. It can be fitful and rejuvenating. For Shirley MacArthur sleep is an incubator of ideas for her artwork. When her head hits the pillow and she closes her eyes, visions of horses, dogs and hairy highland cows dance in her head. “I go to sleep with paintings in my head that […]