Thursday, October 27, 2016

Top Straight Egyptian Arabian Stallions Featured in the Pyramid Society’s Egyptian Breeders’ Challenge Auction

Lexington, KY – October 20, 2016 – The Pyramid Society recently announced that enrollment for the 2017 Egyptian Breeders’ Challenge (EBC) Auction is now open. The EBC showcases some of the world’s top Straight Egyptian Arabian stallions and provides breeders the opportunity to compete for outstanding prize money and international prestige. 
 
The EBC program includes a Straight Egyptian stallion service auction held each year at the Egyptian Event, with the resulting yearlings competing in the internationally acclaimed ATH Egyptian Breeders’ Challenge classes. In 2017, the two EBC classes will pay out over $57,000.00+! Stallions enrolled by October 27th, 2016 will also receive year-round promotion in the upcoming December issue of The Pyramid Society’s Yearbook, published within the Arabian Horse World magazine. Enrollment will remain open until May, 2017 for the June 10th Auction at the Egyptian Event.
 
For over 20 years, the Egyptian Breeders’ Challenge has promoted stallions on a worldwide basis, as well as incentivized breeders to continue breeding the highest quality Straight Egyptian Arabian horses. For more information about The Pyramid Society and The Egyptian Breeders’ Challenge, visit www.pyramidsociety.org
 
The Pyramid Society is devoted to the preservation, perpetuation, and promotion of the Straight Egyptian horse as the premier source of classic Arabian type in the world. As a leader of an international community of breeders and owners, The Pyramid Society strives to unite its members in the breeding of superior quality Straight Egyptian horses and to encourage the use of their blood as a source of the classic refinement necessary for the Arabian breed at large. Its offices are located at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky.

For more information, contact:
The Pyramid Society
4067 Iron Works Parkway, Suite 2
Lexington, KY 40511
Ph: (859) 231-0771
Info@pyramidsociety.org
Pyramidsociety.org
 

Time to Ride Challenge Introduces Over 28,000 New Enthusiasts to Horses; Awards $100,000 in Cash and Prizes

Three grand-prize winners take home $10,000 each in the grassroots contest designed to grow the horse industry.

Georgetown, TX, October 26, 2016 - The Time to Ride Challenge concluded its 2016 year by awarding $100,000 in cash and prizes to top stables, clubs, and businesses in three tightly competitive divisions who excelled at introducing new people to horses. A total of 38 hosts will take home cash prizes ranging from $100 to $10,000, plus products and awards provided by American Horse Council Marketing Alliance organizations, for their successful efforts in bringing new enthusiasts into the horse industry through the Challenge. Time to Ride congratulates every Challenge host who participated and worked hard towards growing their businesses and the horse industry!

The third annual Challenge took place June 1st - September 30th and saw a record number of events, 1,004, held by competing hosts. By providing fun, safe, beginner-friendly horse experiences, competing hosts not only introduced new enthusiasts to the benefits of horse activities but gained new leads and clients for their businesses and clubs. A total of 28,175 newcomers, who previously had little to no experience with horses, enjoyed a hands-on introduction to horses and riding in the 2016 Challenge. This comment on Facebook from 7th place winner in the Small division, Jenn Gay of Heavenly Horse Stables, says it best: "Thank you so much for this Challenge! We opened our barn doors in February 2016 and your Challenge has directly brought in 10 of my lesson students and has giving me a large email base to help keep people connected with horses! Your marketing toolkit is perfect and just what we needed."

Champion of the Small Division is KarMik Acres, of Woodstock, Illinois, a private facility that hosts clinics and other horse events. Owner Karen Boso stated that at first they were interested in the prize money offered in the Challenge, but quickly experienced the joy of introducing people to horses for the very first time. “We were able to change the minds of families who had never had a positive experience with horses, and really enjoyed seeing both kids and parents meet a horse for the first time,” she said. While KarMik Acres doesn’t offer beginner riding lessons, Boso worked with a network of local stables to which she referred interested newcomers to sign up for lessons and camps, boosting the local horse community. KarMik Acres’ most successful event was held at a local orchard in prime apple-picking season, where they knew hordes of families interested in health, fitness, and outdoor activities would already be congregating. They set up stations near the entrance with two horses and connected with over 700 newcomers who learned about horses and where to get involved in riding locally. “Overall the more people we can bring into the horse industry, the better,” said Boso, and with a total of 1,429 newcomers introduced to horses throughout the Challenge, KarMik Acres certainly accomplished their goal.

Promenade Horsemanship Academy of Brighton, Colorado is the winner of the Medium Division. Promenade offers boarding, riding lessons, a variety of horsemanship classes, and is active in horse agility, catering to all ages and levels of riding. Owner Kim Gieseke was overcome with emotion when she learned of their win and shared how hard her staff and volunteers had worked all summer to introduce an amazing total of 2,495 people to horses. Promenade originally heard of the Challenge through the Colorado Horse Council and was second place winner in the inaugural Challenge, in 2014. Gieseke stated that her stable capitalized on events that attracted large groups of her target market, moms and families, and also promoted events by riding in parades and utilizing walking assistants to hand out fliers to spectators. After the parade concluded, spectators could come meet the horses up close and learn about opportunities available at Promenade. Another successful partnership was with a local elementary school, which netted six new horsemanship students from a single event! “The Challenge has opened my eyes to see that a lot of people are apprehensive about horses, but simply by meeting them up close can quickly become comfortable and really enjoy the experience, opening the doors to further involvement. It’s been a great avenue for getting to know our community better,” said Gieseke.

The Large Division saw a repeat winner in Las Vegas, Nevada-based Horses4Heroes, which was champion of the Large Division in 2014. Through its community equestrian center in Las Vegas and national network of stables, Horses4Heroes’ mission is to “make horseback riding affordable for, and accessible to, our service members, veterans, survivors, First Responders and their immediate families, as well as other heroes in our communities including, but not limited to, nurses, special needs teachers, and others who service and sacrifice keep us safe and free.” After limited participation in 2015, the non-profit came back strong in 2016 with several community partnerships that helped boost their efforts to put new people on horseback. “This year we really wanted to involve our whole community,” shared Horses4Heroes president, Sydney Knott, saying that “connecting with local Girl Scout troops helped tremendously” as many troops took up the opportunity to complete horsemanship badges at Horses4Heroes events. Horses4Heroes also partnered with the Trail of Painted Ponies through effective cross-promotion: newcomers could register for a $5 ride pass, redeemable at Horses4Heroes, on the Trail of Painted Ponies website, while entering to win a statue from the Patriotic Ponies collection. “We hope that our efforts create a more educated and aware consumer, and potential horse owner, which will benefit horses in the long run!” said Knott.

Each champion won $10,000 cash; in all three divisions cash prizes were awarded to winners through 10th place. New in 2016, two winners were awarded Wild Card prizes: Harmony Horse Equestrian Center won $500 as the top-performing host that did not win a divisional prize, and Alpine Animal Hospital was awarded $250 as the runner-up Wild Card. To view full results, please visit www.timetoride.com/news.

To view photos from the 2016 Challenge, please see the album on Time to Ride’s Facebook. For more info, please call 512-591-7811 or contact info@timetoride.com.


The American Horse Council’s Marketing Alliance

Time to Ride is an initiative of the American Horse Council’s Marketing Alliance, formed to connect people with horses. It is designed to encourage horse-interested consumers to enjoy the benefits of horse activities. The AHC Marketing Alliance is made up of the following organizations: the American Association of Equine Practitioners, Active Interest Media, the American Quarter Horse Association, Dover Saddlery, Farnam, Merck, Merial, Morris Media Network Equine Group, Purina Animal Nutrition LLC, Platinum Performance, United States Equestrian Federation, and Zoetis. Program Partners are Absorbine, the American Paint Horse Association, Equibrand the National Cutting Horse Association, the National Reining Horse Association, Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital, and the Texas A&M University Equine Initiative; Lumina Media, Pyranha Inc., the America’s Mustang Campaign, and Colorado State University Equine Sciences Program.

About the American Horse Council

The American Horse Council is a non-profit organization that includes all segments of the horse industry. While its primary mission is to represent the industry before Congress and the federal regulatory agencies in Washington, DC, it also undertakes national initiatives for the horse industry. Time to Ride, the AHC’s marketing alliance to connect horses and people, is such an effort. The American Horse Council hopes that Time to Ride will encourage people and businesses to participate in the industry, enjoy our horses, and support our equine activities and events. The AHC believes a healthy horse industry contributes to the health of Americans and America in many ways.

Wednesday, October 26, 2016

Chinese whispers: Far east horse owners introduced to gentle training methods

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

October 26, 2016
Horsetalk.co.nz

Horse whisperer, animal communicator and energy healer Anna Twinney has reached out to horse owners in China and Mongolia to share her equine experience.

Although Twinney is booked solid up to 18 months in advance, she accepted an invitation from the Chinese branch of the American Quarter Horse Association to visit Beijing and Mongolia.

“It’s truly a country of contrast,” Twinney said. She traveled from the metropolis of Beijing, with its economic success and high energy, to areas in the Mongolian countryside where indoor plumbing was an absolute luxury.

One topic that particularly interested the people in the Mongolian crowd was the difference between Twinney’s “Reach out to Horses” methodology and their traditional style of “horse breaking” (ie, taking hold of the horses’ ears, turning their necks and manhandling them). The entire village, vet, farrier and endurance team came to watch the training...

Read more: http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2016/10/26/chinese-whispers-far-east-horse-gentle-training-methods/#ixzz4OCsnsEMg

Mending Tendon and Joint Injuries with PRP

Thehorse.com - Full Article

By Stephanie L. Church, Editor-in-Chief
Feb 17, 2015

What makes recommendations for regenerative therapies such as platelet-rich plasma (PRP) inexact is that these approaches are based in biology, not chemistry, said Lisa A. Fortier, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVS, of Cornell. Each preparation is just as variable and unique as one horse is to the next. Recognizing this can go a long way in setting clients’ expectations for treatment success using these therapies and also in understanding the controversy that surrounds the best ways to use them. All veterinarians can do for the moment is choose cases carefully, extrapolate from current evidence when formulating treatment plans, and be sure to use traditional rehabilitation techniques as well.

“These are not drugs, they are not perfect, and they are not going to work when all of your other approaches fail,” said Fortier, who is professor of large animal surgery at the university’s vet school, in Ithaca, New York. She summarized current research on PRP and what she’s learned using it at the 2014 American Association of Equine Practitioners Convention, held Dec. 6-10 in Salt Lake City, Utah...

Read more here:
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/35299/mending-tendon-and-joint-injuries-with-prp?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=in-depth&utm_campaign=07-01-2016

Saturday, October 22, 2016

The New Reality: Microchipping Horses

Thehorse.com - Full Article

By Elizabeth Barrett, DVM, MS, Dipl. ACVS
Oct 13, 2016

It never crossed my mind to skip microchipping my cat or dog. For me identification was just a part of their routine health care, and for that I was grateful when four years ago my cat, Simon, escaped from my apartment when I was traveling out of state. Simon was missing for two weeks before he walked up to a good Samaritan, who picked him up and took him to a local clinic that scanned him and found his microchip. Irresponsibly of me, I hadn’t updated his contact information with the microchip organization in more than a year, but they were able to contact the veterinary clinic where it had been implanted and help reunite me with Simon within 24 hours. It wasn’t our Facebook posts or “Lost Cat” posters or trips to local shelters that did the trick. It was the simple and relatively inexpensive microchip.

Why, then, is it so much less instinctive to microchip our equine companions? A horse is less likely to “run off,” but there are many situations where having a way to positively identify a horse would come in handy. The Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) has been using microchips for years to verify that horses entered in various high levels of sport are who the owners say they are. It was only a matter of time before the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) and other organizations followed suit...

Read more here:
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/38293/the-new-reality-microchipping-horses?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=health-news&utm_campaign=10-18-2016

Friday, October 21, 2016

Equine Smartbit, LLC Announces the First Hi-Tech Horsebit Since the Bronze Age

PRWeb.com

Imagine Horse Owners and Trainers having the ability to communicate with their horse to see how they feel in real-time.

PENSACOLA FLORDIA, USA (PRWEB) OCTOBER 17, 2016

“It’s about time that animals have the ability to tell humans how they are feeling” according to Ann Sears, one of the owners and investors of Equine Smartbit, LLC. Equine Smartbit, LLC has successfully developed and will be soon launching a comprehensive equine kit which aims to revolutionize the Equine Industry. Ms. Sears, an attorney, C.P.A. and investor says, “when I saw the horse’s metabolism (Blood O2%, Temp., BPM and more) being accurately read by the smartbit developed by the company, my jaw dropped and I realized the implications for all animals.” Equine Smartbit strives to increase the odds of winning horse races, endurance racing and equine performance in all sports.

The Equine Smartbit will improve equine health through giving the human an understanding of how feed, digestion, injury and other physiological set-point measurements impact one particular horse. “I also loved that the fact that the horsebit is designed to accommodate all bit sizes and uses. The difference is now it’s smart and has the ability to communicate between the horse and human.”

“Our company is in the position to be a dominate leader in the multibillion dollar biometric and wearable space and we have the core patents to prove it,” says Ms. Sears.

Equine Smarbit LLC has made device that:

• Analytically matches a horse’s performance with the horse’s biometrics through a network of advanced wearables, including the world’s first smart (horse) bit
• Allows real-time or near-time biometric data streams
• Gives you a composite of the horse’s energy level
• Sends alerts when a racehorse's physical condition is less than optimal
• Significantly improves an equine’s physical safety through communicating the horse’s biometrics in real time during training/performance.

Equine Smartbit, LLC is a high growth merger of hardware, software, and tool kits that aim to revolutionize future equine training and performance. Equine Smartbit, LLC is in an alliance with Sports Guidance Technologies (SGT) advanced biometrics for human sports and Wearable Networks, LLC advanced biometric for health.

Our company is developing and launching a comprehensive developer’s tool kit which will give users a decisive advantage over current recreational devices on the market. According to Ms. Sears, “the system will enable professional equine trainers to achieve a new level of excellence during both the equine’s training and performance.” For example, the system includes a patented equine smart bit for a racehorse that will measure the horse’s physiology as it compares to the horse’s race times.

“We are proud to license and implement the patents and visions of Mike Saigh, one of the premier inventors in the World” says Ms. Sears. Mike Saigh’s past inventions include the first electronic book, video on demand and many others. Please view Inventor Saigh’s bio at http://www.liquidrarityexchange.com/our-firm/about-the-inventor.html

Please visit the company’s website at http://www.sportsguidetek.com/equine-products.html

for additional information. Please contact us at phone: 850-476-1040 or email: ESB.PublicRelations(at)gmail(dot)com


Tuesday, October 11, 2016

Pump up the volume? Heart performance in endurance horses explored

Horsetalk.co.nz - Full Article

October 11, 2016
Horsetalk.co.nz

Researchers have explored the heart performance of endurance horses with Arabian bloodlines, finding only a weak relationship between career kilometers and the dimension of the left ventricle – the powerful cardiac chamber that pumps blood out to the body.

The study team in France focused on 340 endurance horses, of which 201 were purebred Arabians, 100 were part-bred Arabians, 24 were Anglo-Arabians, and 15 were categorized as “others”.

Echocardiographic measurements were recorded between 2011 and 2014 during field exercise tests and at the annual finals of the French National Championships for young endurance horses.

The field tests were organised by the research group for all interested endurance horse owners four times a year. Only horses aged between four and six and with at least one purebred Arabian parent were included in the study.

The researchers wanted to examine the relationship between body dimensions, body weight, and other parameters on heart dimensions in the horses as assessed through the imaging. Their findings have been reported in the journal, BMC Veterinary Research...

Read more: http://www.horsetalk.co.nz/2016/10/11/pump-volume-heart-endurance-horses/#ixzz4MnJWbSUo

Tuesday, October 04, 2016

Pros and Cons of Feeding Horses Beet Pulp

Thehorse.com - Full Article

By Clair Thunes, PhD
Oct 3, 2016

Q. I have some questions about feeding beet pulp.

• Is it a forage or concentrate? Should it have added molasses or should it be plain?
• Should it be in flake- or pellet-form?
• What’s the correct water to beet pulp ratio?
• How much should a horse eat per pound of body weight, and do you measure it with the beet pulp soaked or un-soaked?
• What supplements should be included if any to ensure balanced nutrition?

I’d appreciate any input you have on the pros and cons of feeding beet pulp.
Ginger Wisseman, via e-mail

A. Beet pulp has long been a mainstay in many feed rooms, especially during the winter months. People often incorrectly think of it as a concentrate because in many cases it is fed instead of or alongside grain; however, in reality, it is actually a forage. Relatively high in hemicellulose, a fermentable fiber, beet pulp digestion relies on microbial fermentation in the hindgut. This makes it a feed closer to pasture and hay than traditional concentrates such as oats, which are high in starch and require enzymatic digestion in the small intestine. Yet, when it comes to the calories supplied per pound it compares more closely to oats than hay. This is what makes it such a good choice for hard-keeping horses...

Read more here:
http://www.thehorse.com/articles/38254/pros-and-cons-of-feeding-horses-beet-pulp?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=nutrition&utm_campaign=10-03-2016