The Year in Horses: 2001

2001

• The American Horse Shows Association (AHSA) changed its
  name to USA Equestrian to reflect the change in its function since its
  inception in 1917. No longer just an association of member shows, the
  Association had become the country’s governing body of equestrian sport. The
  name change was inspired, at least in part—by an ongoing squabble with the
  United States Equestrian Team (USET)—at organization was truly the governing
  body of equestrian sport in the U.S.
• A West Nile Virus vaccine for horses was approved and made
  available this year. The virus had become a hot topic outside of equestrian
  circles as it affected humans as well. The vaccine is now recommended for all
  horses by the American Association of Equine Practitioners.
• Equine Affaire adds a third location to its annual
  calendar. The Pomona, California event ran annually until 2010.
• Affirmed, the last horse to win Thoroughbred racing’s
  Triple Crown was euthanized at age 26 after dealing with leg problems for
  several months.

In the Pages of Horse Illustrated
In what is perhaps the first sighting of the now-ubiquitous skunk helmet, we featured International’s Advance Tech Helmet in our Hat to Hoof column. Previously, show helmets were designed to look as much as possible like the traditional hunt caps. The new styles with the ventilated stripe down the middle were a bold move that left many riders wrinkling their noses and laughing that the trend would never last. Who’s laughing now?

By 2001, you could go to horseillustratedmagazine.com (which redirected to our AnimalNetwork home) and weigh in on our poll question, just like you can on HorseChannel today. In fact, in the April 2001 issue, we published the results of a poll question asking readers which international discipline they’d like to see added to the Olympics. Back then, 36% of you voted for endurance and 29% for reining. We asked the same poll question this month, and reining now comes out on top with 35%. Endurance dropped down to 20%.

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