This Week in Horses — November 6, 2015

Hello and happy Friday, everyone! Here’s what’s been happening in the horse world this week.

The U.S. Dressage Finals are taking place here in Lexington, Kentucky this week. You can watch some of the show for free online thanks to USEFNetwork!

A study suggests that early exposure to animals—especially farm animals—could reduce a child’s risk of asthma. Don’t scrutinize the research too much. Just get your kid out to the barn!
A farm in Marshfield, Mass., is running its third annual pony ride toy drive. Bring an unwrapped gift to donate to Boston Children’s Hospital, and in exchange, you get a free pony ride! I love the kids-helping-kids concept of this. Props to Cranberry Acres Equestrian.
Uber is a company not known for just falling in line and following the rules of the cities in which it operates. In Austin, they didn’t want to have to perform fingerprint-based background checks on their drivers, and protested by…offering carriage rides? The implication being that the regulation would set Austin back to days of horse-and-buggies.

After a prized, imported show jumper was taken from its stall in Manatee County, Fla., and apparently slaughtered for its meat, area horse owners have been on high alert. The Manatee Sheriff’s office has identified two people who they think may have information on the crime. (They say that the men are not suspects.)
Meet a Krissy Holme-Moir, a pink-haired, 71-year-old rider and her Appaloosa cow pony, Midge. The pair competes in dressage, and I love it.
This story is only sort of horse-related, but it’s so interesting that I had to include it. Check out the deconstruction of this faked photo of Gen. Ulysses S. Grant. The photo was created long before Photoshop. 1902, to be exact.

Library of Congress photo

And finally, we are closing out week one of No-Stirrups November. How ya feelin’?

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That’s it for this week. Enjoy your weekend!

Back to The Near Side

Leslie Potter is Sr. Associate Web Editor of horseillustrated.com. Follow her on Twitter: @LeslieInLex.

10 years ago

Leslie Potter

Leslie Potter is a graduate of William Woods University where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Equestrian Science with a concentration in saddle seat riding and a minor in Journalism/Mass Communications. She is currently a writer and photographer in Lexington, Ky. Potter worked as a barn manager and riding instructor and was a freelance reporter and photographer for the Horsemen's Yankee Pedlar and Saddle Horse Report before moving to Lexington to join Horse Illustrated as Web Editor from 2008 to 2019. Her current equestrian pursuits include being a grown-up lesson kid at an eventing barn and trail riding with her senior Morgan gelding, Snoopy.