6-year-old Completes Endurance Ride

Technically, endurance rides are races.  However, many riders participate simply to finish rather than try and win or even place. To these riders the satisfaction of completing the ride on a sound horse is the prize. Six-year-old Samantha Fisher, from Fort Collins, Colorado, and her 26-year-old mare Tupelo Honey Tu+, competed in the Sturgis 30-mile…

pony pulling contest

Clearfield County Fair Pony Pulling Contest

A pony pulling contest made its debut at the 152nd edition of Clearfield County Fair recently, followed by the annual horse pulling contest in the afternoon. The pony pull had a total of four heavyweight competitors and two lightweight competitors, while the horse pull drew eight heavyweights and eight lightweights. Each competitor was a two…

How Much do Jockeys Get Paid?

How much a jockey earns depends on the purse for a race and on their order of finish. The ‘purse’ in horse racing is the cash prize won by the owner. At the Hastings Park racetrack in Vancouver, British Columbia a jockey placing first will earn 10% of the purse for that race. 1. If…

100 Years of Olympic Equestrian Events

The 2012 summer Olympics in London marked a milestone for international equestrian sport. The first Olympic Games to include dressage, show jumping and eventing took place a century before at the Stockholm, Sweden games. The three equestrian events have been held at every Olympics since then. 1. What was the year the equestrian events of…

37-year-old Horse Holds Endurance Record

The record for the most miles logged in competitive trail riding by a single horse was set in October, 2008, by a 37-year-old half-Arabian gelding named Elmer Bandit and his owner Mary Anna Wood. Elmer forged a remarkable career in competitive trail-riding, finishing his last competitive ride near Lucas, Iowa, carrying his career tally to…

National Pony Rider Dressage Championships

Pony rider Barbara Davis put in solid tests on both of her ponies and rode away with the National Pony Rider Dressage Championship and Reserve Championship. Davis, of Bedmister, New Jersey, rides with Dr. Cesar Parra and Katie Riley of Piaffe Performance Farms. Davis, 14, rode into the arena first with Bohdjan, a 13-year-old Dutch…

Rachel Alexandra’s First Foal

Rachel Alexandra was the 2009 Horse of the Year, the first female to receive this honour since Azeri in 2002 and just the seventh to capture that title since 1936, when official voting for Horse of the Year was established. Her racing record made history. She became the first filly to win the Preakness since…