At the 2005 AQHA Select World Championship Show, three fearless riders and their talented horses combined for an unforgettable jumping finals.

Truck A Buck and Dr. April Speyer sail over a jump in the jump-off for the jumping world championship at the 2005 Select World Show.

By Honi Roberts in The American Quarter Horse Journal

The championship jumping class is usually one of the last at the AQHA Select World Championship Show. The crowds thin as the clock ticks, and people head home. But stalwart fans who stayed to watch the finals in 2005 were thrilled when a jump-off became necessary between three horse-and-rider teams, all either previous world champions or high-point horses. The rides that followed were not to be forgotten.

Ellen Williams of Bon Aqua, Tennessee, was first to go aboard her great jumping mare Earth To Wanda, the 2004 Select world champion. When Ellen, whose background includes steeplechasing and eventing, purchased the pretty bay in 1998, Earth To Wanda (by Earth Station (TB) and out of Wanda Charge) was her first American Quarter Horse.

“I’d just retired my Thoroughbred,” Ellen recalled. “A dear friend who showed Quarter Horses always told me what great fun the shows were and how versatile the horses are. I liked Earth To Wanda the instant I saw her. She was game and would jump anything.”

Ellen and Earth To Wanda covered the jump-off course in :34.271 seconds, a clean round, with no faults.

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A horse with problematic front feet needs special attention paid to hoof wall separation.

Question:

I have a huge Quarter Horse gelding with small front feet. He had shoes on when I bought him, but had numerous cracks and two quarter cracks on each front. He can not keep a shoe on because of flare and separation of hoof wall. I pulled his shoes and have been on a two-year rehabilitation program. The quarter cracks grew out and he now has better looking hooves. He was very sore when shoes were pulled but now is able to walk around on grass, dirt, or pavement and even small limestone. I use hoof boots when I ride, just on the front. I have been very pleased with them. I am sure that using shoes caused an excessive force on his front feet causing them to break out in quarter cracks. I think some horses can wear shoes and some can’t. This horse can’t and barefoot was the only option I had. He is better off and hopefully I can keep him sound. I soak him in White Lightening solution every now and then, to keep out any bacteria due to any wall separation. Seems to work for him. Hopefully the flare will eventually grow out with proper trimming. I get him trimmed every six weeks and in between trims, I rasp out the rough edges. Read the rest of this entry »

The August Facebook contest features a year’s supply of SmartPak for your horse!

Get your cameras ready, AQHA Facebook fans!

An awesome prize is up for grabs from AQHA Corporate Partner SmartPak to the person who submits the best photo and essay describing why you love SmartPak products.

During the month of August, submit your best photo of your horse and his SmartPak products, plus 200 words Read the rest of this entry »

We have a winner! Your pick will grace the cover of the October 2010 America’s Horse magazine.

A million thanks to go all voters! “Swing Low,” depicting a ranch cowboy going for the heels of a Hereford, is the winner. This oil painting is by Edgar Sotelo, who grew up in Mexico drawing cowboys and Indians and today strives for a honorable portrayal of the western lifestyle. And to the art afficianados out there – the original of this newly minted cover is still available for purchase in the America’s Horse in Art Show & Sale for $750.

The America’s Horse in Art sale benefits the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame & Museum in Amarillo and its efforts to preserve the history of our breed.

While we love Edgar’s art, there really weren’t any losers in this case. Both of the runners-up, artwork by Jan Mapes and Dyrk Godby, were popular with our readers. Because of the great interest in all three artists, we’ll try to feature all of them in upcoming issues of America’s Horse.

Remember, to see the winner – the fans’ choice – in print, you have to be an AQHA member. America’s Horse magazine goes to all AQHA members 10 times a year, and it’ll give you the low-down on Association news, plus human-interest features, horse training how-to’s and more!

See a slideshow of all the 2010 pieces for sale in the America’s Horse in Art Show & Sale.

There are other ways to work a horse when cattle aren’t available.

To make a horse cowy, AQHA Professional Horseman Dan Roeser works a person on foot because he can show some expression like a cow.

From The American Quarter Horse Journal

No cow? No problem, says AQHA Professional Horseman Dan Roeser. The Marsing, Idaho, trainer has methods that don’t use cattle when working his cow horses, whether he’s training a green youngster or maintaining a seasoned pro. He told the Journal how riders can incorporate these techniques into their programs.

Circling Backwards

Even when I have cattle, I still back my horse in circles to prepare him to work a cow. By doing this, you can pick the horse’s shoulders up and have him step the way that you want.

I’m a big believer in making a horse’s footwork really solid, and this really helps with that. It teaches the horse to move his front end over and shift his hind end just a little bit so he is ready to turn off of it. The more a horse knows where he is going to put his feet, the more confident he is.

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How environmentally aware are you? If you’re between the ages of 13 and 17, we need your opinions in this survey!

The Equine Land Conservation Resource is helping Marcella M. Reca, a graduate student at Northern Illinois University, distribute an online survey regarding the environmental literacy of equestrians ages 13 – 17. Read the rest of this entry »

Check out the accomplishments of the U.S. reining team that will compete at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

USEF medalists Craig Schmersal, Shawn Flarida and Tom McCutcheon. Tim McQuay also qualified for the U.S. reining team, and Casey Deary was named the alternate.

By Holly Clanahan of America’s Horse

Does anybody remember the men’s basketball team that clobbered all opponents at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics? That was one of the first teams dubbed “the Dream Team.” That tag also was tacked on to the crack legal defense team in the O.J. Simpson case. And if memory fails but Wikipedia serves … there have been a whole host of other athletes, and even comic-book superheros, known as dream teams.

Get ready to add one to the list.

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These very special American Quarter Horses brighten the lives of hundreds every day.

Multiple AQHA title winner Mr Magnolia Zip has a new calling in life -- as a therapeutic riding horse.

By Andrea Caudill in America’s Horse

When Mr Magnolia Zip – “Ricky” to his friends – was in the western pleasure show pen, his friends and competitors called him “Gangster Rick” because of his intensely focused attitude – and because few of those competitors managed to stand up to his assaults. The Zippo Pine Bar gelding accumulated a rap sheet of championships and top-10s at the AQHA World and Youth World championship shows and All American Quarter Horse Congress that few could rival, most recently with his owner, Dennis Pathroff.

But in 2008, Dennis gave his 18-year-old champion gelding over to a new calling as a therapeutic riding horse at the Victory Junction Gang Camp in Randleman, North Carolina. There, Ricky’s confidence has served him well in his newest and possibly most important job – bringing joy to sick or disabled children and their families.

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The origination of the American Quarter Horse.

Blaze magazine has been a great sponsor of the American Quarter Horse Youth Association for years now, and we greatly appreciate the partnership!

In the 1600s, American colonists began to cross their imported English horses with “native” horses like the Chickasaw. America’s pioneers got a small and hardy horse that was a good work horse during the week and a speedy racehorse on the weekend. By the 1800s, settlers were heading West with these willing horses. They bred them with wild Mustangs, and other horses that American Indians rode, giving birth to the American Quarter Horse of today. Read the rest of this entry »

Barrel racing and flat racing are seeing more crossover in the sale ring and breeding shed.

In barrel racing, half-second or even a hundredth of a second makes a huge difference, which is why barrel racers are looking to cross their mares with race-bred stallions.

By Denis Blake in The American Quarter Horse Journal

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

Dual-Purpose Stallions

The barrel world can also be a new territory for established racehorse stallions.

“Dash Ta Fame is a perfect example,” says Jeff Tebow, general manager of the Oklahoma City-based Heritage Place sale company, about the veteran First Down Dash stallion. “He has been a great sire of racehorses, but there are many people who also look at his offspring for barrel racing. His racing offspring have earned about $15 million on the track, but he has also been a top barrel futurity sire for years.”

Another example can be found in Royal Shake Em, a stallion who sired the earners of more than $8 million on the racetrack and who stands at Ronnie and Bonnie Stewart’s Double S Farm near Holland, Texas.

“To be honest, the barrel end of this just fell into my lap,” says Ronnie. “A lady pulled up here one day named Kelly Yates with a mare named Firewater Fiesta. I didn’t know who she was or who the mare was, so she was telling me about her mare and how she wanted to breed to a stallion with an excellent mind. So she ended up breeding to Royal Shake Em.”

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Get up close and personal with white line disease.

The mainstay of white line disease treatment is hoof-wall resection, where a skilled farrier cuts away all three layers of the hoof wall to remove the infected material.

By Holly Clanahan in America’s Horse

To understand the basics of white line disease, it’s helpful to know a bit about equine anatomy.

• The hoof wall – the outermost surface of the hoof – has three layers.
• The external layer consists of the smooth, shiny covering that most of us think of when we think “hoof.”
• It’s within the next two layers of hoof wall that white line disease usually occurs, making the name a misnomer. The white line lies just inside the hoof wall and is not affected by its eponymous disease.

White line disease, or WLD, is characterized by an invasion of bacteria and fungi that destroy hoof-wall tissue. But first, there has to be an opening for these organisms to get in, says Dr. Stephen E. O’Grady, who is both a veterinarian and a farrier. A crack or separation in the hoof wall – which can be caused by mechanical factors such as long toes or a club foot – has to open the way for an opportunistic infection.

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If you take care of your tack, it will take care of you.

Caring for your saddle and tack takes only a few minutes and is an easy way to maintain the longevity of your equipment.

It is said that there are two kinds of people: those who consider tack as simply another tool, and those who treasure it and want to take the best possible care of it.  Each type is easily identifiable. With the former, you’ll find their saddles and tack lying around outside or in the bed of a pickup completely exposed to the weather and sun. Read the rest of this entry »