Virginia-bred Sport Horses Compete in Equine Extravaganza’s East Coast Trainer Challenge
Submitted by: Diane Rey
Phone: 410-757-6874
Email Address: info(at)equineextravaganza.com
Date Added: 10/12/2006
Virginia Equine Extravaganza president Vicki O'Hara and well-known clinician Julie Goodnight (http://www.juliegoodnight.com) selected horses for the 2006 East Coast Trainer Challenge from Virginia Sport Horses, a farm based in Montpelier and specialized to produce jumping athletes. Seven female horses from the farm will travel to Richmond’s Raceway Complex October 27-29, 2006 for the first-ever Virginia-based colt-starting competition featuring trainers Randy Abernathy of McKenney, Tommy Garland of Powhatan, and Charles Pellham of Raphine.
“This is the first trainer challenge competition to use sport horses—that’s important to us because Virginia is sport horse country!” O'Hara said. “The versatility, beauty, and strength of sport horses make them very popular for many disciplines including fox chasing, dressage, eventing, polocrosse, jumping and so much more. Using sport horses—with their Thoroughbred and draft horse lineage--in what has been traditionally thought of as a Western-style colt-starting event brings East and West together in a very universal way.”
Goodnight and O’Hara worked with Liz Booth, owner of the Virginia Sport Horses farm, to choose the horses for the challenge. The seven have similar training history and have yet to be saddled for riding. Six of the seven horses are over 16 hands high at the withers (one hand equals four inches). Goodnight explains how she worked with Booth via phone and internet to select the chosen seven.
“We set up criteria to pick horses with like age, type (similar breeding), gender, and similar handling experience,” Goodnight explains. “Booth’s group of three-year-old fillies had the numbers we needed to pick from to get a similar set. At the event, the judges will see the horses in person and hopefully we will choose the three most similar in temperament.”
During the East Coast Trainer Challenge, judges will select three of the seven horses they believe to be the most similar—giving each competing clinician an equal chance to succeed. Of the three selected, the clinicians will draw to find out which horse they’ll work with for the weekend. The sport horses' height and weight will offer a unique challenge for the clinicians. Most other colt-starting demonstrations feature Quarter Horses known for their short, stocky statures.
“I like the idea of using sport horses because they will tolerate the stress of the situation well,” Goodnight says. “They’re quiet, even tempered horses. I preferred the three year olds because they are a bit older and will fare well in front of an audience—possibly better than if they were two. The height might make them a little more challenging for mounting, but their quiet natures will more than make up for that. It’s probably a safe bet that none of the trainers have worked with many sport horses. Working with a new type of horse will even the playing field and give an opportunity for the audience to see that natural horsemanship techniques work on all types of horses.”
Booth’s Virginia Sport Horses is the largest supplier of Canadian-bred Sport Horse prospects on the East Coast. The farm imports, raises, trains, and sells horses for equine enthusiasts throughout the country and world. Booth’s dedication to natural horsemanship techniques made her eager to participate in the educational colt-starting event.
"When I first started importing horses from Canada, I attended a series of natural horsemanship clinics and I was impressed with the techniques’ effectiveness on horses that had never been handled before,” Booth says. “We started incorporating natural horsemanship it into our training program at Virginia Sport Horses. The trainer challenge seemed like a good way to show people how effective natural horsemanship is in training young horses."
Audience members are invited to judge the horse and trainer progress throughout the challenge. Pick up color-coded voting cards at Goodnight’s booth (Henrico Building booth 1112) before or during the event. After each training session, the judges will ask the audience to hold up color-coded cards for the clinician whom they believe did the best job with his horse on that day. The judges’ scorecard will take into account the audience response and it will be tallied with the final scores—ultimately naming a winning trainer and a winning horse.
East Coast Trainer Challenge admission is free with paid entry to the Virginia Equine Extravaganza. For tickets, visit: http://www.equineextravaganza.com/tickets.htm
The young horses--all females--will be available for sale after the event. Visit http://www.virginiasporthorses.com for more information about the horses.
SIDEBAR
The Horses
Bella - 2003 Thoroughbred/Clydesdale Cross Mare
Bella is a tall, substantial mare standing at 16.2 hands and still growing. She should finish growing at about 17 hands (one hand is four inches). She’s a friendly, inquisitive mare.
Venus - 2003 Thoroughbred/Paint Percheron Cross Mare
Venus is a 2003 Thoroughbred/Paint Percheron cross filly. She's an unusual red roan color with a bay head. Her police-horse breeding shines through. Although she has a classic Thoroughbred look, this mare has a quiet, sensible temperament.
Philomena - 2003 Thoroughbred/Clydesdale Cross Mare
Philomena is three years old and is big at 15.2 hands. She is quiet, docile and compliant. She’s bay with a blaze.
Angel - 2003 Thoroughbred/Percheron Cross Mare
Angel stands 16 hands high. Virginia Sport Horses raised her from a weanling. She is easy to handle and ready to begin training. She has long strides and may be well suited for dressage, hunter or eventing.
Gwendolyn - 2003 Thoroughbred/Clydesdale Cross Mare
Gwendolyn is bay with a blaze and four white socks. She stands 16.2 hands and should reach 17 hands.
Lady Jayne - 2003 Thoroughbred/Clydesdale Cross Mare
Lady Jayne is the friendliest horse in the pasture. She has a blaze and 4 white socks. She doesn’t lead, but will follow humans and shows great interest.
Sasha – 2003 Thoroughbred/Percheron Cross Mare
Sasha is a second generation cross with refined features. She's true black with a small white star on her face. She should reach 16.2 hands.
For more information, log on to http://www.equineextravaganza.com or call (410) 647-3800.
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