Never mind the horse racing. Or even dog racing for that matter. On March 26, Phoenix, Ariz. will play host to racing of a different breed – that of ostriches, camels and zebras. Yes, zebras. While it may sound like something straight out of a cartoon (or a movie – see below), it is, in fact, a real event. And yes, we think it’s a little weird too.

“We’ve held these races for several years,” said Vincent Francia, Turf Paradise general manager told AZ Central. “They are very popular with families. We get enough kids for two charter schools.” He added that the event is “strictly for laughs.”

The camels and ostriches have been a part of the alternative races for years and is not a new practice in other parts of the world. Australia and Africa is home to camel racing; ostrich racing is also big in Africa. Zebra racing, on the other hand, may not be so popular here or elsewhere. This is the first year they will be a part of the Turf Paradise Alternative Racing Day event.

The camels will be ridden by trainers, including Carl O’Callaghan, who won last year. “A camel moves a little different than a race horse,” O’Callaghan told AZ Central. “But I heard the one I have this year is training really well.”

Jockeys will ride the ostriches due to their light weight and exercise riders will ride the zebras. No betting is allowed for these races.

For more details, visit the Turf Paradise website.

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Motorists in Oakland, Calif. got a surprise on Friday afternoon when they saw two zebras running alongside their vehicles. According to SFGATE, the escaped zebras were part of the UniverSoul Circus, which was in town performing at the O.co Coliseum.

Police officers spotted the striped escapees around 4:31 p.m. Luckily, UniverSoul Circus employees were able to bring the zebras back to the venue unharmed. They reportedly performed in the show that night.

This isn’t the first time zebras from this traveling circus have decided to explore the city on their own. Two zebras (no telling if they’re the same zebras) did so in West Philadelphia last November.

What city might they explore next?

The post Zebras Escape Circus, Go On Adventure in Northern California appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Three miniature horses were stuck in treacherous flood waters this past weekend. The National Guard had arrived on the scene, but deemed it too dangerous to stay. Others, however, were far less concerned with safety and more concerned about the horses.

Lowell Rogers, DVM, a veterinarian at Pine Belt Veterinary Hospital in Hattiesburg, Miss., was one such person. He joined other volunteers in the effort to rescue the minis and putting himself in danger in the process.

WLOX.com – The News for South Mississippi


“We weren’t leaving without the horses being in safety,” Kelly O’Neal Creel of the Humane Society told WDAM. “It was deadly water. He literally risked his life to save that animal.”

In fact, Rogers almost drowned. Fortunately, the Hattiesburg Swift Water Rescue team helped him. “The current got too swift for him but we had our rescue team downstream to pick him up,” Hattiesburg Fire Captain Matt Saucier told WDAM.

His efforts, however, were not in vain. Two miniature horses were saved that day and are currently doing much better in their pastures.

The post Hero Veterinarian Rescues Mini Horses from Flood appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Last September five horses died at Black Fence Farms in Clovis, Calif. after consuming Monensin, a toxin to horses that was reportedly found in Western Milling’s Western Blend Horse Feed. The product has since been voluntarily recalled. Unfortunately, the recall did not come soon enough, and the death count is now up to 13 horses.

As a result, Katie Flanagan, owner of Black Fence Farm, has filed a lawsuit against Western Milling, KMJ NOW reports. It was filed on Feb. 25 in the Fresno County Superior Court.

“We watched our horses die, not only for the first 48 hours, horrifically die, seizures, crashing through fences, falling down on top of buildings, the most horrific things you could ever imagine witnessing, horses were dying so violently we couldn’t even get them euthanized because the vets couldn’t even get next to them,” Katie Flanagan told KMJ NOW.

Inside Edition released a video of footage of the horses’ deaths, as well as footage of various horse owners’ thoughts and feelings about the loss and potential loss they have experienced. Warning: the video, shown below, is graphic and disturbing. Watch with caution.

According to KMJ NOW, attorney Sean Simpson said that the feed contained toxic levels of Monensin. “They could do it right, if they didn’t put profits over safety, if they had necessary safety precautions we wouldn’t be here.”

Simpson told KMJ NOW that the lawsuit is asking for a multimillion-dollar figure. Flanagan said that she wants Western Milling to “pay for the loss of her horses, the new horses she has had to purchase and pay for the care of the horses that still have lived but have been damaged and may still die from the poison.”

“The main reason we’re here is so that these people who have lost horses to either illness or death, can be treated fairly and given reasonable compensation what they’ve lost,” Simpson added.

The post Farm Owner Files Lawsuit Against Feed Company for Deaths of Horses appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

While an instrumental version of Tears for Fears’ “Mad World” plays in the background, the iconic black horse gallops through a maternity ward where a new mother is reaching out for her newborn, then through a busy street where a man is asking his partner to marry him. The horse gallops past a funeral, a child’s first day of school and a carnival where a young couple is about to experience their first kiss. The iconic black horse is there through our major life steps.

At the end of the commercial, a voice says, “This is real life, but none of us are standing still. We are all about to take the next step.”

And for many of us, that next step will include our horses.

See past Featured Videos >>

Like this video? Here are others you’ll love.

Horse as Water Who knew a commercial for water could be so beautiful?

Bank Puts Horses in Commercial and it’s Awesome Lloyds Bank celebrates its 250th anniversary with an ad that features black horses.

An Ocean of Friesians If you’re a fan of Friesian horses, we’ve found your personal heaven.

The post Featured Video: Black Stallion Stars in Lloyds Bank Commercial appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

The South Florida Trotting Center saw tragedy this week when a massive fire erupted on the property. The fire started in a large barn just before midnight last night. Around 27 horses were inside at the time, WPTV reports. Firefighters on the scene say that the flames were shooting as high as 30 feet.

According to WPTV, horse trainer Roman Lopez was inside the barn at the time of the fire and heard the horses making noise. Smoke billowed out when he entered their stables. Lopez told WPTV that he tried saving the horses, but was too late for some, with the fire and smoke consuming the barn. “A friend of mine came over and tried to open the gates and let them out, but it was just too tough,” Lopez said. “The roof started to come down and the horses were just on fire and you just freak out; you don’t know which way to go.”

The owner of the Lake Worth, Fla. equestrian center held a press conference this morning, during which it was revealed that “12 horses are dead, while 11 others were taken to a local animal hospital for smoke inhalation and burns. Two of the injured horses are in critical condition.” Two firefighters who were at the scene were also taken to the hospital; their condition is unknown.

The cause of the fire is still being investigated. Officials, however, told WPTV that South Florida Trotting Center had “two things working against them: a roof collapse and the elements inside that included hay, horse feed and sleeping materials.”

VIDEO: What’s left of a horsing barn in suburban
Lake Worth. 12 horses died because of it. 11 are hospitalized @WPTV pic.twitter.com/E8UepxzJtP

—
Andrew Ruiz (@AndrewNRuiz) March
16, 2016

Those wishing to make a donation for the care of the injured horses may do so at the County Line Feed & Supply store. It is located at 9293 Highway 441 in Boynton Beach.

The post Barn Fire Kills 12 Horses, 11 Others Taken to Vet appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

A Rhode Island man has been charged with animal cruelty in the case of Lily, a 20-year-old mixed-breed pony. Phillip S. Price, 65, was identified on surveillance video as having abandoned the pony at the New Holland horse auction. He has been charged with three counts of animal cruelty for not seeking treatment for Lily’s infected eye, among other violations. He is not, however, charged with shooting Lily with paintballs, and investigators are still seeking information on the pony’s origin and who is responsible for her condition.

Lily remains in the custody of the New Bolton Center where she is recovering from her injuries.

Original article continues below.

Someone shot at this horse with a paintball gun at close range. Photo via Lancaster County SPCA/Facebook

If you’ve ever been shot at with a paintball, you know those things can hurt. Now imagine being shot at close range by one. Or worse, 130 of them. That is what happened to an abandoned horse found yesterday at New Holland Sales Stables in Pennsylvania’s Lancaster County.

LancasterOnline reports that employees of New Holland Sales Stables, a horse auction site, “discovered the animal in a back stall when sales had ended for the day… The horse had not been registered as ‘for sale’ Monday and had no visible identification.”

The Lancaster County SPCA is investigating the situation after being called to the scene yesterday afternoon. The SPCA Executive Director, Susan Martin, told LancasterOnline that the 20-year-old mare, an Appaloosa/Arabian pony mix, was underweight and “in a substantial amount of pain when touched.” She is also blind in her right eye. A veterinarian gave the mare pain medication at the New Holland Sales Stables before Omega Horse Rescue transferred her to the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine’s New Bolton Center, a facility that specializes in caring for large animals.

Martin told LancasterOnline that the mare is expected to survive, but that her recovery will be lengthy.

Anyone with information regarding this horse or her owner is urged to call the Lancaster County SPCA at (717) 917-6979 (all calls are anonymous) or email them at info@lancasterspca.org.

The post Horse Shot with Paintballs, Investigation Underway appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Zoo staff knows (and we know) that that ball is great for Batu’s enrichment; it helps him with exercise, running, rearing and manipulating objects, as the YouTube description reminds us. But for Batu it’s all about having some fun with a ball.

Besides being adorably playful, Batu is an important member of the equine world. Przewalski’s horses, a prehistoric-type equine native to Central Asia, were once completely extinct in the wild. However, through captive breeding in zoos around the world and careful reintroduction back into the wild, this unique and beautiful species is on the rebound. Read more about it here.

The post Featured Video: Batu the Przewalski’s Horse is Having a Ball appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

The Basin Fire Brigade (CFA) of Victoria, Australia, along with crews from Monbulk CFA, Knox SES and Macclesfield CFA’s Horse Rescue Team spent two and a half hours rescuing a horse who had slipped and fallen over in his horse trailer. The horse, named Stanley, had been unable to stand himself back up due to the position he landed in, The Basin Fire Brigade (CFA) posted on its Facebook page.

A local veterinarian from Yarra Ranges Animal Hospital attended to Stanley, administering a sedative so that the emergency crews could work on getting him out. Twenty emergency personnel manually removed Stanley by sliding a stretcher under the 13-year-old Gelding and then pulling him out of the trailer. Using a harness and crane, the emergency team helped Stanley stand back up. Besides being a little groggy from the sedative, Stanley walked away with only a few small cuts and bruises, The Basin Fire Brigade added in its post.

A veterinarian will arrive to check on Stanley tomorrow, 9 News reports.

The post Firefighters Rescue Horse Who Had Fallen in Trailer appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

What do you think of
Morestead in his three-piece suit? Photo via Gloucestershire
Echo/Twitter

Ladies, you love a well-dressed man, right? Well, what about a well-dressed horse? Morestead, a veteran racehorse, has donned a three-piece tweed suit, including shirt and tie. He’s even wearing a flat cap. As impressively dapper as he looks, Morestead isn’t dressed like this just to please his admirers.

The outfit, commissioned by William Hill, was designed by Emma Sandham-King. “Creating the world’s first tweed suit for a horse has been one of the biggest challenges that I have faced in my career as a designer. We have used 18 meters of genuine Harris Tweed to create the head turning fashion garment,” Sandham-King said in a statement, Mashable reports.

Morestead’s suit was unveiled by 20-time racing champion Sir Anthony McCoy in the video below in celebration of this year’s Cheltenham Festival, a racing event possibly known as much for its tweed as it is for its horses. What better way to celebrate than to combine the two?

Check out Morestead in his tweed suit:

The post Featured Video: And Now Here’s a Horse Wearing a Three-Piece Suit appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.