Rescuing horses in Olathe

This article, by Pat Marin, provides insight about End of the Trail Horse Rescue and Sanctuary, and Dream Catcher Therapy, two organizations under one (barn) roof in Olathe to come to the aid of both horses and people.

The photo at the left is of a rescue sling the organization purchased last year to help save horse that are down and can't get up, trapped in ditches or otherwise incapacitated.

End of the Trail Horse Rescue/Sanctuary & Dream Catcher Therapy Center
– Saving one horse, one human at a time

Special to Horseplay
By Pat Marin

Don’t let the name fool you – it’s NOT the end of the trail for most of the horses rescued by this organization. Here, abused, neglected, unwanted or abandoned equines get a new lease on life, a new occupation, and the love and appreciation of grateful human beings who need what they have to offer.

To see a PDF of the entire article, click here.

Horse beats man — again

In the 31st running of a man-versus-horse race that is 22 miles long, a horse has been the victor for the 29th time. The race takes place each year in Wales.

Sly Dai, pictured here in a Chris Prichard photo, was ridden by Llinos Mair Jones and was the fastest of the 44 horses in the race. He completed the run in 2 hours, 7 minutes and 4 seconds.

The closest human racer finished nearly 10 minutes behind the horse. Haggai Chepkwony, a Kenyan native who now lives in Great Britain, believes he will eventually win the race.

To read the BBC story on the Man v Horse race, click here.

A Lippizan clone

Texas A&M University, made news Friday that had nothing to do with the future of the Big 12 athletic conference. It reported the birth of Mouse, a foal cloned from a Lippizan stallion named Marc. This photo from Texas A&M shows foal and father together.

Horses have been cloned before, but Mouse was produced using a new technique using eggs from live mares. I gather that the difference between this an invitro fertilization is that Mouse doesn't really have two biological parents. His DNA is 100 percent that of Marc.

To read more, click here.

Extreme Mustang trainers

A trio of Western Slope horse handlers are headed out of town this weekend to participate in Extreme Mustang Makeover programs sponsored by the Mustang Heritage Foundation.

For more photos of the trainers and their mustangs, click here.

Extreme Mustang Makeover competition enlists trainers to take mustangs that have been captured from public lands. They have 90 to 100 days to train them, then take them to competition with other trainers.

One such competition will take place this Friday through Sunday at the B.W. Pickett Arena in Fort Collins. Western Slope trainers Andrew Bowman of Olathe and Jim Rogers of Rangely are both scheduled to compete there.The mustangs they train will be available for adoption over the weekend. I’ll look for results early next week.

Stephanie Linsley, 15, of Grand Junction won’t be competing in her Extreme Mustang Makeover category until September. But she and her family will be heading to Elm Creek, Neb. this weekend to pick up a yearling mustang, which Stephanie will have 90 days to train in halter work.

Stephanie is one of 13 youngsters — ages 14 to 18 and from all over the West and Midwest — selected to compete in the youth division in the Lincoln, Neb. competition Sept. 24-26. She’s been developing her equestrian skills for six years.

“I’ve been involved with horses for about six years,” she told me. “My godfather got me my first horse. Later he got me a mustang from the local herd.”

That mustang is Topaz, pictured above with Stephanie. “I do everything with her. She’s awesome. We do everything from casual trail rides to shows.”

To qualify for the Extreme Mustang Makeover competition, Stephanie had to send a short biography of herself, along with a letter explaining why she thought she would be a good mustang trainer.

She won’t know anything about the horse she is to train until she arrives in Nebraska this weekend. Come September, she’ll compete with the other youth in conditioning of their horses, in-hand (or halter) trail classes, since the yearlings are too young to be ridden yet, and showmanship and handling.

She also has to maintain a blog with weekly updates on what she is doing with her horse. Readers can check out her blog at the link below. Meanwhile, good luck to all three Western Slope competitors.

Stephanie's blog

For more photos of the trainers and their mustangs, click here.

Green River Trail Ride

This item a bit dated, because of some techno glitcches, but still worthwhile. Local horse folks Kimmer and Pete Jepson sent the message below, along with this photo.

The 24th annual Green River trail ride was held this year in April along the San Rafael Swells just south of Green River and slightly north of Goblin Valley. We attended for the third time with trusty mounts, McDuff and Wes Bucher¹s fabulous gelding, Joker.

Event organizer, Fran Randolph and her very skilled help from her mule club made sure that everyone had a safe and enjoyable time. Not only were the days filled with the most spectacular sights, but we were
treated to a delicious chuck wagon breakfast and dinner. A conversation with Fran revealed that this event started as a 50-mile, "sort-of" pony express ride from Green River to Hanksville carrying valentines to hopeful
romantics.

Fran promises that this will be last of a 24 year tradition, but we intend to talk her in to, at least, one more year — a 25-year celebration!
Happy Trails,
Peter and Kimmer Jepson
 

Horses at center stage

We can only hope this show eventually makes it to Denver. After all, as the article linked below notes, the show's creator got the idea for the multi-pointed large tent in which the show is performed from the mock tents that adorn Denver International Airport.

The tent — the largest currently in use for a traveling show — isn't the star of "Cavalia," however. The horses are. In fact, the show's creator — one of the founders of Cirque du Soleil — said he got the idea when a horse was brought on as an extra in a Cirque show and it stole the show.

Humans are attracted to horses, he said. That's an understatement for those of us whose daily lives involve horses. But it is interesting to note that even those who aren't so involved in them are intrigued by horses.

Unfortuntately, the New Jersey show, which begins Wednesday, is the only one currently listed on the Cavalia web site. You can get a small taste of it by watching the videos on the web site, or viewing photos such as this one, which came from the Web site.

Cavalia website

NorthJersey.com story on Cavalia

Problems with horseracing

Now that the triple crown is over — that's Drosselmeyer crossing the finish line first in the Belmont Stakes Saturday in this Getty Images photo — the thoroughbred horseracing world settles into a period in which it gets little publicity. Although good race meets will be held throughout the summer, there won't be another great rush of mainstream public interest until the Breeder's Cup nears its conclusion next fall. And that rarely generates the hype that the Triple Crown does.

Here's a thoughtful piece by a member of the New York State racing board about some of the problems facing the industry. Unfortunately, he doesn't offer a lot of solutions.

http://therail.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/reasons-for-the-decline-of-horse-racing/

Welcome to horseplay

This website is an extension of Horseplay, the new page of horse-relate information that will run the first Sunday of each month in the print edition of The Daily Sentinel. The first one was published today.

In addition, this website is a continuation of what I have been doing on my own website, WestSlopeHorse.com, over the past 18 months. It will provide daily updates of horse-related news from Mesa County, the Western Slope and around the region.

With both the print edition of Horseplay and this website, we hope to act as a clearinghouse of equine-related information — for all disciplines — in this region, a location where horse enthusiasts can come to read news of horse happenings, learn of upcoming events and view photos.

I'm still figuring out how to use all of the different buttons and bells, so there will be some glitches. But I hope it will prove to be an effective means of disseminating information about horses and horse activities in this region.

If you have information you would like to share with Horseplay — information about upcoming events, photos of horse activities, or ideas for articles, please e-mail me at horseplay@gjsentinel.com.

Horseplay on a hot day

Saturday was a busy day. Judy and I picked up hay in the morning and my back is still aching. With a quick trip to town for a battery, we managed to keep all of the necessary pieces of aging equipment operating — mechanical as well as human. And, in the late afternoon, my friend Alan Moore and I managed to ride a bit up the Rapid Creek Trail east of Palisade.

Here, Alan and Rita stop for some cooling off in Rapid Creek. It was hot, but not horrible. Both horses and both riders survived in relatively good shape. Rapid Creek is one of our favorite trails, easily accessible from the east end of the valley, a steady climb but not too rough on the animals. This time of year, however, it's better to start in the morning, not wait until as late as we did.

Finally, in the evening, I got to watch the Belmont Stakes, which my wife had recorded earlier. It wasn't the greatest race I've ever seen, but Drosselmeyer proved he has stamina and Jockey Mike Smith has long been a favorite of mine.

Hope everyone else found some time for a little Horseplay on a hot day.

A race for unknowns

This article in The New York Times makes it clear that, unlike many recent Belmont Stakes races, where the fate of the Triple Crown was on the line, Saturday's race at Belmont Park in New York will be largely a race of unknowns.

Heck, the winners of the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness won't even be in the lineup Saturday.

To read more, click on the link below.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/05/sports/05racing.html