According to the ultimate sports aphorism, “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.”

It is just as important to show good sportsmanship when you lose as well as win.

These days, the term, “horseman,” is one that is loosely applied to nearly anyone who owns a horse, and in recent years has lost much of its meaning.

Although not technically part of the horse show rules, equestrian sportsmanship is expected of all competitors. This means respecting fellow riders and taking wins and losses graciously. Read the rest of this entry »

International youth riders will battle it out in Oklahoma City for the chance to take the gold, and the glory, back to their country.

To level the playing field, competing team members do not show their own horses at the American Quarter Horse Youth World Cup.

Get ready for the 2010 American Quarter Horse Youth World Cup July 3-10 in Oklahoma City.

The event is held every two years and is hosted by a different country each time. The 2008 Youth World Cup was in London, Ontario.

While at the Youth World Cup, five youth plus one coach and manager from each country will take part in educational seminars, discipline clinics, leadership training and, finally, competition. Five additional youth from each country are invited by each international affiliate to attend the education and leadership portion of the week’s events and to cheer on their teammates.

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Day 3 of the Region 8 AQHA Regional Championship featured trail, western pleasure and more equitation classes, as well as the awarding of the saddles for the novice youth, youth, novice amateur and amateur all-around titles.

Region 8 Novice All-Around Amateur Brandi Vogel and Invest Your Assets.

Four brand-new TexTan saddles found new homes at the end of the third day of the Region 8 AQHA Regional Championship:

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How does a college rivalry relate to a fungal infection? Read on:

Note the knots running under her left front leg. They're more visible since her coat was shaved off for vets to pull fluid out of the nodules for testing.

Every time I feed my horses, I give them all a quick check to make sure no red fluids are leaking out, all four legs are functioning properly, etc. Last weekend, as “Sooner” got one of these routine once-overs, I noticed some knots on her chest. As she wolfed down her Nutrena SafeChoice pellets, I palpated what felt like an enormous string of pearls – hard lumps of about an inch in diameter connected by a thick, hard cord. She continued eating; they weren’t painful. The knots started in the middle of her chest and ran downward, into what would be considered her armpit. My guess was that they were swollen lymph nodes, and a phone call to our veterinarian confirmed that likelihood.

Sporotrichosis – a rare fungal infection of the lymph system – was what he suspected. A phone call to the veterinary teaching hospital at Oklahoma State University, his alma mater, strengthened that suspicion, and he recommended that we go there, since this is a difficult bug to fight, and the OSU vets are trying some novel techniques.

So, driving the three hours toward Stillwater, Oklahoma, I called ahead to give the receptionist all our information. The questions she asked weren’t hard …

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The AQHYA Youth Excellence Seminar was a mix of excitement, learning and personal growth.

The 2010-2011 AQHYA officers and directors were elected at the Youth Excellence Seminar June 24-26 in Amarillo.

By Tara Christiansen and Amy Brown

The AQHYA Youth Excellence Seminar and Convention kicked off Thursday, June 24, in Amarillo with pizza and a motivational speaker. From there, the youths got down to business with campaigning, voting and educational workshops.

First on the card was motivational speaker Grant Baldwin. He kept the youth laughing as they broke the ice with the game “Rock, Paper, Anything,” his own twist on “Rock, Paper, Scissors.” Grant is the author of “Reality Check: The Student’s Guide to the Real World.”

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Speed ratings give another number to compare speed at the horse race track.

How fast is fast? How do you compare different horses at different tracks running different distances? Find out the newest technology in determining the most-accurate speed ratings in this FREE report from The American Quarter Horse Racing Journal’s library, Horse Race Tip: Speed Ratings.

The newest techniques, research and calculations that determine the newest TrackMaster Speed ratings are all explained and laid out clearly for you to understand. The next time you go to the track to place a bet or are looking for that speedy stallion for your mare, you will have another rating to help you make the best, educated decision.

How is this superior to the Speed Index system already in place?

AQHA Executive Director of Racing, Trey Buck, has this to say:

“The TrackMaster speed rating is based on formulas and thousands of pieces of data for a more reliable number,” Trey says. “Fans, breeders and buyers can be assured that the numbers they see for a horse are more accurate (than the speed index) and a better representation of that horse.”

Horse Race Tip: Speed Ratings, walks you through the history of trying to judge just how fast is fast. Starting with the original letter grade system that was replaced with today’s speed index system in 1970. It also explains how the current Speed Index system works, then goes in depth on how this new speed rating from TrackMaster, a wholly owned subsidiary of Equibase Company LLC, is calculated. TrackMaster’s Quarter Horse speed ratings are broken down into three different components:

• Raw speed rating

• Intertrack Variant (ITV)

• Daily Track Variant (DTV)

Get ahead of the competition and download your FREE copy of Horse Race Tip: Speed Ratings to further explore these elements of the new, accurate speed rating, so you won’t be stumped when you go to the race track. Learn about the careful calculations that configure these different factors and how they are compiled for a final speed rating.

In Horse Race Tip: Speed Ratings, see what TrackMaster is doing to continually make its ratings the most accurate with product enhancements such as including a wind factor, especially accommodating for the direction and speed of the wind, into their ratings.

“For Quarter Horses in particular, we’ve conducted a detailed study on the effects of wind on the speed ratings,” says TrackMaster President David Siegal.

Download the Racing Journal’s FREE Horse Race Tip: Speed Ratings report to see how the new technologies are running away from the competition by producing the most-accurate and up-to-date speed rating system that can be used across any track and at any distance. Don’t be left in the dust.

He’s a superhero speed-event horse with a personality to match.

"Teddy" and Jessie Ford at the 2007 All American Quarter Horse Congress. Photo by Jeff Kirkbride.

The 21-year-old Teddy Terrific has competed in speed events at the All American Quarter Horse Congress every year since 1992 and has earned 10 Congress championships and nearly 40 top-10 finishes. He has also earned two AQHA reserve world championships, more than $100,000, 10 trophy saddles and 21 trophy buckles – just to name part of his accomplishments, and he’s still running strong. So, you’d expect “Teddy” to be all business, right?

You obviously don’t know Teddy.

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Nine ways to improve your roping.

AQHA Professional Horseman J.D. Yates encourages all riders to ask for help, especially in roping.

By J.D. Yates with Jim Bret Campbell in The American Quarter Horse Journal

This is the last of a two-part series. Need to review Part 1?

Loop 5: Don’t Just Go Rope

If every day you take your horse into that arena to rope, it would be like me having to sit in an office every day at 8 in the morning – that’s not what I enjoy. I think that a lot of the guys that you see winning are just riding a lot.

Saddle up for 30 minutes and just go lope around without worrying about roping. Take a rope and carry it with you and swing it and play with it. The more you are on your horse and the rope is in your hand, the more natural it becomes.

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The skinny on the newest addition to AQHA records research.

AQHA's Kayla Randall

Early in 2009, AQHA announced the debut of a new records research program. The Next Generation of AQHA Records was created so that, whether you are an AQHA member or not, you can still have access to official AQHA records anytime, anywhere. Since this is a new system, read on to find out how to access and use AQHA’s Next Generation records.

If you are an AQHA member, you can access Next Generation Records with your AQHA ID number and PIN. If you are not a current member, you can set up an account utilizing your e-mail address. You will be e-mailed a password when you register. Read the rest of this entry »

AQHA Professional Horsewoman Carla Wennberg explains how to slow your horse and keep him going.

Question:

My horse has a quick and bouncy jog, but after you get her going, she dies on you.  How do I get her to slow down and keep going?

Judy

Answer:

Dear Judy,

A quick and bouncy jog can slow her down, but it won’t help the bouncy. Quick rhythm can mean she is out of balance, anxious, pushed too fast with aids or many other things.

I would slow the trot rhythm with your own posting. If you slow the action of your posting trot, the horse will match you.

When the horse gets too slow, first, push her forward with leg aids, and then use artificial aids such as a spur or whip.

Establish one-two rhythm with yourself, and match it with your horse. Start with an up-down slow rhythm, and then move it up, and slow it back down. This establishes pace, too.

– Carla Wennberg, AQHA Professional Horsewoman, contributor to AQHA’s Borrow a Trainer series

They aren’t a foot rest.

One way to judge gauge stirrup length is to measure the stirrup length compared to the rider’s arm, where the length of the stirrup should be about the length of the rider’s arm.

By AQHA Professional Horsewoman Julie Goodnight

Stirrups aren’t just a resting place for your feet when you’re horseback. That’s why appropriate stirrup length is important for safety, balance and correct riding skills.

There are many methods to judge the proper stirrup length, and there are many variables that affect the proper length, such as the rider’s build, the size and gait of the horse, the saddle and the activity in which the rider is participating. For example, dressage and saddle seat require the longest length because the rider is sitting back and is using lots of leg on the horse, while jumping is the shortest.

A lot of people use the “fist” method for determining the correct stirrup length. This measurement is taken by having the rider mount, then stand in his stirrups to see if he can fit his fist or the width of his hand between his seat and the seat of the saddle. Personally, I am not a fan of this technique.

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During the open finals Saturday at the National Reining Horse Association Derby, scores started high before climbing higher.

Shawn Flarida slides Gunnatrashya to a stop during the NRHA Derby open finals.

First to work was Tom McCutcheon on SL Lenas Chick with a 223. Next up was Brent Wright with Wimps Quixote Cody and a 225. Jordan Larson, riding Out Shinin Wimpy, topped that with a 226.5 before Shawn Flarida entered the ring on Wimpys Little Chic.

Their rendition of pattern 10 was good for a 228.5, a score that held until Shawn entered the ring on RC Fancy Step and tied himself.

One drag of the arena later, Craig Schmersal loped Boom Shernic in and slid to pounding stops and dynamic spins for a 234. From the crowd’s applause and screams, the evening could have been over, but Shawn came in on Gunnatrashya and lit up the board, scoring a 235 for the Derby win.

Shawn was confident in his horse, owned by Arcese Quarter Horses of Weatherford, Texas, and Eleuterio Arcese of Italy.

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