Horse Training, Riding, Equine Breeding & More Cotonti Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:59:22 +0000
"I wouldn't take anything back that we've done," Jones said Tuesday upon returning to Hard Spun's home stable at Delaware Park.

Given his horse's love for speed, and the fact that jockey Mario Pino calls Maryland home, Jones likes his chances in the May 19 race at Pimlico. Pimlico, he said, is a track that favors speed.

"If there's such a thing as home-court advantage, I hope we have it this time," he said of the second leg of the Triple Crown. "We sure don't feel like we're giving up anything by being in what I call Pino country."]]> Sun, 03 Feb 2008 20:02:46 +0000
If you have an event taking place, and would like to register it to be an official part of Horse Week 2007, please note that events must be registered by May 15, 2007 in order to guarantee the arrival of the Horse Week package, which includes buttons or ribbons for all participants.

Visit equinecanada.ca and click on the Horse Week banner to find out how to register your event.]]> Mon, 28 Jan 2008 12:37:37 +0000
U.S. Senators Ben Cardin and Barbara Mikulski, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and Environmental and Protection Agency officials will announce the grant.]]> Sat, 19 Jan 2008 12:06:44 +0000
The deal between Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor and Tulsa County Commissioner Randi Miller would delay annexation to 2009 and exempt the Arabian Horse Association's shows from increased sales taxes at the fairgrounds.

Annexation would bring the city's 3 percent sales tax to the fairgrounds, but under the compromise events held subsequent to the annexation under contracts signed prior to the annexation will not be required to assess the sales tax on transactions occurring as part of the event.

“This is great news for our commercial and horse exhibitors,” said Lance Walters, AHA vice president and U.S. Nationals Show Commission Chairman. “We selected this site because of its location, strong community support and favorable corporate sponsor climate, and now we can look forward to holding our flagship event here and introducing Tulsa to our great Arabian horses.”]]> Fri, 11 Jan 2008 05:26:25 +0000
The state bill (HB 1711) to ban horse slaughter for human consumption has passed the Illinois House and is now in Senate committee. A similar horse slaughter ban is being considered by federal lawmakers.

Farm groups are closely watching the equine bills, as producers of pigs, poultry, cows and sheep dig in to defend their livestock practices.

Burger King recently announced it will buy 10% of its pork from suppliers who don't use gestation crates and 2% of its eggs from cage-free chickens.

Sow gestation stalls have been banned in the states of Florida and Arizona, and Smithfield Foods says it plans to phase-out the use of gestation stalls.

With animal ag under attack, we asked a handful on Illinois ag leaders and producers how an equine ban might impact animal agriculture.

Here's what they had to say:

Phil Nelson, Illinois Farm Bureau president

We don't want to throw production agriculture out of the window because a few people want to shut down animal agriculture. I really believe the Humane Society is behind the Smithfield decision. I am a pork producer and remember raising pork outside. I remember the down sows, the beat up sows. That's what they want to take us back to.

We will have more downer animals than in present system. We need to talk about animal behaviors. The old boss sow syndrome is not being talked about in discussions. Granted, some crates give sows more comfort than others. But there's a difference between night and day in the comfort of animals in modern versus traditional systems.

It seems like snowball is going down the hill and gaining momentum. We're afraid it won't stop with just livestock. If the pendulum turns far enough, we'll need N management plans for fertilizer for crops.

Curt Rincker, Shelbyville beef producer and Illinois Beef Association past president

This sets up a dangerous precedent for all of our agriculture industries and particularly for livestock if the same argument can be made to oppose the slaughter of any animal. If emotions can dictate over sound science, then any livestock or grain producer is subject to the legislative consequences resulting from an activist view.

We cannot become complacent by believing that sound science and logic will prevail. Our congressmen react to public sentiment so make sure your voice is heard!

Jim Fraley, Illinois Farm Bureau commodity livestock program manager

We've already seen first-hand accounts of people who have 'turned loose' unwanted horses in the Shawnee Forest. I'm sure we will see more of these types of abandoned animal stories in the future. Simply saying that these horses will be adopted out is looking at the issue through rose-colored glasses. It simply is not viable. People who are several generations removed from farming are pushing for laws and are trying to farm from the city.

Frank Bowman, president of the Horseman's Council of Illinois

Horses are the weakest link in the chain. A ban on horse slaughter will be just the beginning. Next will be attacks on rodeo, horse racing, horse showing and on down the line.

The other side feels passionately about this issue. They make sure their voices are heard. Legislators get 100 anti-slaughter calls for every pro-slaughter call. ]]> Wed, 28 Nov 2007 22:49:47 +0000
Jo White, Head of Campaigns and European Affairs at the International League for the Protection of Horses (ILPH) said: "By encouraging people to eat more horsemeat Gordon Ramsay is actually encouraging an increase in the totally unnecessary and cruel long distance transport of horses for slaughter which the ILPH is working hard to eliminate.

"The horsemeat trade is undoubtedly the largest general abuse of horses in Europe, involving the transportation to slaughter of thousands of horses, thousands of miles in totally inhumane and pitiful conditions.

"We find this particularly surprising coming from Gordon Ramsay, known for encouraging people to eat local produce. On his F Word programme they encourage the nomination for a food ASBO of individuals or organisations which encourage an irresponsible attitude to food. We have nominated Gordon Ramsay and the F Word."

Below the charity have given their ten facts about the horsemeat trade:

1. Approximately 100,000 horses per year are currently being transported long-distances live for slaughter within Europe, which is inhumane and should be replaced with a carcass only trade.

2. Journey times are excessively long, with horses travelling 1,000's of miles for days on end only to be slaughtered when they arrive at the destination. Journeys in extreme weather conditions of around 1,380 miles taking three days from Poland to Southern Italy are not uncommon and some are even longer.

3. Proportionately more horses are transported live for slaughter or further fattening than any other meat species, by a very large margin. Research indicates that 46% of the equine trade were transported live for slaughter or further fattening compared to 19.8% of the bovine (cattle) trade, 15.9% of ovine (sheep) trade, 13.3% of poultry trade and 10.3% of pig trade.

4. Due to inhumane conditions during transportation, some serious injuries occur and horses can die in transit.

5. Demand for horse meat is highest in Italy, with 84% of live horses destined for slaughter entering into and moving across EU Member States travelling to Italy (by comparison 7% go to France and 5% to Belgium).

6. The countries supplying the most horse meat are Poland, Romania and Spain, with Lithuania, Belarus and Serbia also being involved in the trade.

7. There are currently no EU regulations about the labelling of horse meat as packaging indicates the location of slaughter, not source. Therefore consumers are unaware of the origin of the meat and are therefore unable to make welfare friendly choices.

8. Although the EU Transport Regulation has been updated this year the key issue remains; that insufficient resources are allocated to enforcement within the Member States. Evidence shows that in some Member States enforcement is poor.

9. One of the greatest concerns to the ILPH is inadequate provision of food, water or rest and the fact that there is no overall limit to journey times.

10. There is a general decrease in the trade of horses for meat. Since in 2001 the number of horses transported live for slaughter in the EU has decreased from 165,000 to around 100,000. ]]> Wed, 21 Nov 2007 15:56:49 +0000
Local and state officials Monday announced ambitious plans for Fairmount Park racetrack in Collinsville, but all is contingent on Illinois legislators passing the Intercity Development Act.

Proposed in January by state House members Lou Lang (D-Skokie) and Eddie Washington (D-Waukegan), the bill would allow racetracks to operate slot machines on their property.

It also would allow for casinos or land-based gambling in the city of Chicago, make changes in casinos' admission tax, and include various other amendments to the Riverboat Gambling Act.

Revenue from the machines would create bigger purses, which in turn could attract high rollers


to the struggling parks -- Fairmount Park included.

Park officials and Illinois State Rep. Jay
Hoffman (D-Collinsville) announced Monday a $45 million plan for the park that would bring in millions of dollars of tax revenue to the state, county and local municipalities, create a fund for at-risk youths and make the park a world-class facility.

According to Hoffman, Illinois is the only state that doesn't allow slot machines at racetracks.

"We're the only state that doesn't provide assistance to the horse racing industry through slot machines or by ensuring that some of the profits in the lucrative casino industry are shared with the horse racing industry in order to maintain its existence," he said.

Fairmount officials said at a racino - racetracks that also have a casino element of slot machines - a substantial portion of the profit from the machines, ranging from 50 to 75 percent, is added to the track's purse.

The purse, or total money that could be won in a race by horse owners, is usually determined by the individual horse racing tracks. Officials take into account the amount of money being wagered, the number of horses in the race and the entry fees being paid by horse owners.

Many horse owners have complained about dwindling purse sizes at Fairmount Park in recent years.

Occasionally, a third party will step forward to sponsor a race. ]]> Mon, 12 Nov 2007 05:56:58 +0000
Extra road policing officers directed traffic and carried out vehicle checks while officers based on site in the force's mobile police station carried out regular patrols at the biannual auction.

A host of other officials from HM Customs and Excise, Norfolk County Council trading standards, Breckland Council environmental health and the RSPCA were also on hand to monitor the mix of horse and equipment auctions, market stalls and car boot sale.

But despite the trouble free event mayor of Watton John Craigie said he feels uneasy that a private event should be allowed to place such a burden on the town and public resources.

He said: “It puts a lot of strain on the town and I still feel that Breckland Council need to impose greater controls on what goes on to give police a better mandate to carry out their job.”

In the past horse fair events have been associated with an increase in violence, shoplifting and mess around the town, together with an increase in unauthorised traveller encampments.

Inspector Derek Kevern said that the event had been largely trouble free for the last three years. He said: “There are a lot of people here today but after an initial traffic build up it has cleared away and there have been no problems.”

Horse fair organiser Tyrone Roberts said: “It has been really manic today, I would imagine this has been the busiest event so far.” ]]> Fri, 12 Oct 2007 08:33:28 +0000