What this Chesapeake horseman can teach you - Virginia Horse ...
What this Chesapeake horseman can teach you - Virginia Horse ...
What this Chesapeake horseman can teach you - Virginia Horse ...
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<strong>What</strong> <strong>this</strong> <strong>Chesapeake</strong><br />
<strong>horseman</strong> <strong>can</strong> <strong>teach</strong> <strong>you</strong><br />
A MEDIA GENERAL MAGAZINE<br />
Fall 2009<br />
V I R G I N I A H O R S E P E O P L E A N D P L A C E S<br />
Page 4<br />
Page 4 Page 5<br />
Page 7 Page 6<br />
A Special Advertising Supplement Sponsored by the <strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Horse</strong> Industry Board
WELCOME 2<br />
With <strong>this</strong> fall edition of The Post, we continue to<br />
provide informative and entertaining insights<br />
into the individuals involved in <strong>Virginia</strong>’s<br />
equine industry.<br />
We have received several compliments so far — which<br />
we sincerely appreciate.<br />
The <strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Horse</strong> Industry Board and Media General’s<br />
goal is to produce a high-caliber publication that delights<br />
and offers a positive behind-the-curtain look at some not<br />
so famous, but dedicated, <strong>Virginia</strong> horse people.<br />
In <strong>this</strong> issue we are highlighting women in our industry<br />
— individuals with varied backgrounds. Go to any horse<br />
event and see firsthand that females generally outnumber<br />
their male counterparts.<br />
The mystique of the horse seems to grab hold of the<br />
<strong>you</strong>ng girl’s imagination, and while many of life’s phases<br />
intercede — dating, college, career, marriage, children —<br />
there seems to be that ever present need to return to Oz, a<br />
desire to recapture the magic and wonder of horses. Some<br />
return through their children and some reach that midlife<br />
point where a four-legged steed that <strong>can</strong> do shoulder-ins,<br />
sliding stops or piaffes means more than a new red convertible<br />
or a shiny Harley.<br />
In tHIs Issue we are<br />
HIgHlIgHtIng<br />
women In our<br />
InDustry —<br />
InDIvIDuals<br />
wItH varIeD<br />
backgrounDs.<br />
<strong>Horse</strong> industry statistics show that women dominate the<br />
equine arena. The U.S. Equestrian Federation’s Equestrian<br />
Magazine reaches 90,000 readers — representing 28<br />
breeds and disciplines — who spend $1.4 billion a year on<br />
horse products.<br />
Some 85 percent of these readers are women; 40 percent<br />
own a farm and an average of four horses. Equisearch.com<br />
reports that, by 2018, most veterinarians will be women<br />
and that 81 percent of the Ameri<strong>can</strong> Association of Equine<br />
Practitioners’ current members are women.<br />
So, please enjoy reading about these many talented female<br />
members of, and participants in, the <strong>Virginia</strong> equine<br />
industry. Whether protecting people as a member of a<br />
mounted squad, conducting critical research that will benefit<br />
all equines and their owners, taking an every-race risk<br />
riding steeplechase horses or creating masterful equine<br />
works of art, these women make major contributions to the<br />
industry. We recognize their signifi<strong>can</strong>t accomplishments<br />
and are grateful for them.<br />
You <strong>can</strong> also read <strong>this</strong> issue, and previous issues of The<br />
www.horsenation.us<br />
Photo by Luis Leche<br />
<strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Horse</strong> Industry Board Program Manager Andrea Heid<br />
shows off her horse Poquita, a purebred Andalusian mare.<br />
Post, on the <strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Horse</strong> Industry Board’s Web site,<br />
www.vhib.org. While there, visit the newest section on<br />
Famous <strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Horse</strong>s — a virtual museum of <strong>Virginia</strong>’s<br />
notable equines and their claims to fame.<br />
As we step back into the routines of the fall, we hope<br />
<strong>you</strong> are excited about the start of another season, filled<br />
with opportunities to enjoy <strong>you</strong>r horses. <strong>What</strong>ever activity<br />
<strong>you</strong> choose, we hope <strong>you</strong>r trip back to Oz is memorable.<br />
andrea Heid<br />
Program Manager<br />
<strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Horse</strong> Industry Board<br />
the complete equine community<br />
HORSE NATION<br />
WWW.HORSENATION.US<br />
SIGN IN AND YOu CAN:<br />
* Discuss issues * Write about <strong>you</strong>r business<br />
* Submit calendar items * Review products<br />
* Blog * Post a classified ad<br />
* Connect with like-minded individuals<br />
My Day at Deep Run<br />
Fall 2009<br />
Mid-June in Richmond ushers in the first real heat and<br />
humidity of summer. June also brings a time-honored<br />
tradition to the Deep Run Hunt Club – the competition<br />
for the Bryan Trophy. The trophy, originally presented to<br />
Mr. and Mrs. Lamont S. Bryan by the Deep Run Juniors,<br />
recognizes excellence in <strong>horseman</strong>ship in junior competitors.<br />
This year's winner was Annie Cosby. Her name will<br />
be engraved, as was the names of past proud recipients,<br />
on the perpetual trophy.<br />
Doug Forshey<br />
Publisher<br />
The Bryan Trophy has been awarded since 1962.<br />
Jumping ability is a key criteria to winning the Bryan Trophy.<br />
Peter Walls and Jennifer Khoury of Merrill Lynch present the 2009 Bryan<br />
Trophy.
LETTERS<br />
To The Post:<br />
I have been wanting to write <strong>you</strong> and congratulate<br />
<strong>you</strong>r team on an excellent supplement to the humdrum<br />
of a non-horsey newspaper. I thoroughly enjoyed reading<br />
The Post, and had an idea for the next article for “A day<br />
in the life of . . .” section.<br />
My name is Shannon Carner and I am an equine<br />
podiatrist. I differ from a traditional farrier and even a<br />
barefoot trimmer in many ways. I do not apply traditional<br />
metal horse shoes but do a form of “non-cast” material; I<br />
actually make shoes out of a fiberglass-like material and<br />
form it to horses’ feet. I also make “shoes” with epoxies<br />
and glues. My passion lies with foundered horses and<br />
animals suffering from navicular syndrome, but I have<br />
many clients that simply have maintenance trimming.<br />
Much of my work is centered in the rural areas<br />
of Buckingham and Farmville where there is so much<br />
need and so many neglected horses, but I do travel to<br />
Richmond, and Florida as well. I thought an article about<br />
equine podiatry would help inform horse owners that<br />
there is help for their foundered and lame [horses] that<br />
defies traditional thinking and that their horses <strong>can</strong> gallop<br />
sound without the need and expense of a metal shoe.<br />
Shannon Carner<br />
To the Post<br />
I have really enjoyed reading The Post! I am always<br />
on the lookout for interesting horse info and I am always<br />
pleased to read about other fellow equinuts. It’s a pleasure<br />
to see <strong>you</strong>r publication in print!<br />
That said, I would like to submit an idea for a possible<br />
story. Every year, Fleetwood Community Center, a<br />
former elementary school in Nelson County, holds two<br />
weekend-long benefit trail rides: one in October and one<br />
in April.<br />
Riders come from all over the state to ride in the<br />
mountains. In fact, for <strong>this</strong> past spring ride, we had riders<br />
from Maryland, Tennessee, West <strong>Virginia</strong> and Georgia as<br />
well.<br />
As all profits go toward the upkeep of the center and<br />
the grounds, and as gas prices climb and the economy<br />
continues to sucker-punch us all, I thought perhaps <strong>you</strong><br />
might be interested in highlighting a local riding option<br />
that supports a good cause.<br />
In addition, the Montebello Volunteer Fire Department<br />
and Rescue Squad, also in Nelson, just off of the Blue<br />
Ridge Parkway, also holds two weekend-long benefit<br />
trail rides. Their fall ride is also in October (dates do not<br />
conflict with Fleetwood’s ride) and the spring ride is in<br />
May. All of their profits benefit those vital services, and<br />
again, the ride is within easy driving distance of <strong>you</strong>r<br />
readership.<br />
Audrey Diane Evans<br />
More letters on page 14<br />
THE POST<br />
VIRGINIA HORSE PEOPLE AND PLACES<br />
Vol. 2 FALL 2009 No. 3<br />
The Post is a publication of Media General Operations Inc.<br />
Douglas A. Forshey<br />
Publisher<br />
(804) 649-6998<br />
dforshey@mediageneral.com<br />
Joan Hughes<br />
Editor<br />
(804) 512-4373<br />
ThePost@mediageneral.com<br />
Send <strong>you</strong>r editorial comments and story ideas to Joan.<br />
Skip Rowland<br />
Staff Photographer<br />
(804) 512-2402<br />
skip@skippix.biz<br />
Contributing Writers<br />
Deborah Rider Allen<br />
Rex Bowman<br />
Andrea Heid<br />
Joan Hughes<br />
Carlos Santos<br />
Janet Showalter<br />
Pamela Stallsmith<br />
Andy Taylor<br />
Advertising Sales<br />
Pam Sanders<br />
Sales Manager<br />
(804) 380-8011<br />
psanders@mediageneral.com<br />
The Post will be published quarterly in 2009 by Media General Operations, Inc., 333<br />
East Franklin St., Richmond, VA 23219. The magazine is distributed free of charge in<br />
central and western <strong>Virginia</strong>. This publication is copyright 2009 Media General Operations,<br />
Inc. All editorial materials are fully protected and may not be reproduced in any<br />
manner without our written consent. Questions regarding the content should be directed<br />
to the publisher.<br />
The Post is published in partnership with the <strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Horse</strong> Industry Board. For more<br />
information about the <strong>Virginia</strong> horse industry, the VHIB or to read The Post online visit<br />
www.vhib.org.<br />
On the cover: On the job (clockwise from top left): Photo of steeplechase<br />
jockey Danielle Hodsdon in blue silks courtesy of Douglas Lees/<strong>Virginia</strong> Gold Cup Association;<br />
photo of mounted police officer Amy Bailey on the now-retired GQ courtesy<br />
of Linda House/Foxwoodphotography.com; photo of equine artist Gail Guirreri-Maslyk<br />
courtesy of Gail Guirreri-Maslyk; photo of Dr. <strong>Virginia</strong> Buechner-Maxwell (left) and associate<br />
courtesy of Dr. <strong>Virginia</strong> Buechner-Maxwell.<br />
Media General is a multimedia company operating leading newspapers, television stations<br />
and online enterprises primarily in the Southeastern United States. The company’s<br />
publishing assets include three metropolitan newspapers, The Tampa Tribune, Richmond<br />
Times-Dispatch, and Winston-Salem Journal; 22 daily community newspapers<br />
in <strong>Virginia</strong>, North Carolina, Florida, Alabama and South Carolina; and more than 150<br />
weekly newspapers and other publications. The company’s broadcasting assets include<br />
23 network-affiliated television stations that reach more than 32 percent of the television<br />
households in the Southeast and nearly 9.5 percent of those in the United States. The<br />
company’s interactive media assets include more than 75 online enterprises that are<br />
associated with its newspapers and television stations. Media General also owns a 33<br />
percent interest in SP Newsprint Company, a manufacturer of recycled newsprint.<br />
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ON THE COVER 4 Fall 2009<br />
SteeplechaSe jockey<br />
Shenandoah University grad embraces sport of kings<br />
By Pamela Stallsmith<br />
Danielle Hodsdon grew up riding, participating in<br />
three-day-eventing and showing.<br />
When she went to college at Shenandoah University<br />
in Winchester, she sold her event horse and made money<br />
waitressing. During her junior year, she soon found a<br />
better way to earn a paycheck: riding for a trainer outside<br />
of Middleburg. A friend put her in touch with someone<br />
who trained racehorses, “and it was new for me to be paid<br />
to ride.”<br />
So Hodsdon began a career that now finds her as a<br />
steeplechase jockey. In her native state of New Hampshire,<br />
there was no steeplechase racing, where Thoroughbreds<br />
race over jumps.<br />
“I really enjoy what I’m doing,” she said in a telephone<br />
interview from her home in Kennett Square, Pa., a few<br />
days after racing at Colonial Downs in New Kent County.<br />
It’s a seven-day-a-week job when she’s not racing, one<br />
that’s both physically and mentally challenging.<br />
“That’s the horse business, and <strong>you</strong> have people who<br />
don’t understand that. They’re animals, and they require<br />
care and exercise every day. I take a day off when I want to<br />
do something.” Racing on weekends gives her a break, and<br />
www.horsenation.us<br />
Photo courtesy of Douglas Lees/<strong>Virginia</strong> Gold Cup Association<br />
Danielle Hodsdon receives a trophy for her win on The Manner Born in the sixth race at the <strong>Virginia</strong> Gold Cup in May 2009<br />
on days she finishes early she has some free time.<br />
Hodsdon works as an assistant and exercise rider for<br />
trainer Jonathan Sheppard, who has a farm in West Grove,<br />
Pa. “It’s a little more hands-on than other jockeys. <strong>What</strong> I<br />
would like to do when I finish is to become a trainer.”<br />
On a typical day, she’s at the barn by 7 a.m. to take care<br />
of the horses, turning them out and exercising them. She<br />
finishes around 2 p.m.<br />
Best part of the job: “Getting to travel. It’s a fun<br />
perk. I work hard during the week, but during the<br />
weekend I get to go play.”<br />
Worst part of the job: “Probably the same —<br />
sometimes the traveling is tough. Some weekends<br />
it’s leisurely and I might get to fly someplace and<br />
stay in a nice hotel. Other times <strong>you</strong>’re in Pennsylvania<br />
on Saturday, then Kentucky the next day,<br />
and sometimes traveling <strong>can</strong> be a nightmare.”<br />
She spends most of the year in Pennsylvania, though<br />
she stays about four months during the spring in Camden,<br />
S.C., and six weeks during the summer at Saratoga, N.Y.,<br />
“which is a treat.”<br />
Hodsdon started racing in 2000, and made it a full-time<br />
job six years ago. To prepare for a race, she starts to think<br />
about it throughout the week. “You try to have a general<br />
game plan for how <strong>you</strong>’d like things to unfold, how <strong>you</strong><br />
would run a different horse, what <strong>you</strong> think they need . . .<br />
When <strong>you</strong> get out there, everything happens very quickly<br />
and <strong>you</strong> have to deal with things unfolding. It’s easier to do<br />
if <strong>you</strong>’ve thought about things in advance.”<br />
Weight is an issue, but Hodsdon — who as a female is<br />
a rarity among steeplechase jockeys — has to make sure<br />
she keeps hers up. At 5-feet 5-inches and 117 pounds, she<br />
weighs a good 30 pounds less than her typical colleague.<br />
One dream she would love to realize is winning the<br />
Breeders’ Cup Grand National Steeplechase, where she’s<br />
placed second and third. Some of the bigger races she’s<br />
won include the Royal Chase for the Sport of Kings at<br />
Keeneland, winning in 2007 and 2008, the last two years<br />
it was run. She won the New York Turf Riders Cup in<br />
Saratoga in 2006.<br />
She’s run a bunch in <strong>Virginia</strong> including at Colonial<br />
Downs and in the <strong>Virginia</strong> Gold Cup.<br />
“I <strong>can</strong> see doing <strong>this</strong> a couple more years,” Hodsdon<br />
said. “It varies a lot on <strong>you</strong>r injuries. I’ve been pretty lucky<br />
health-wise. When <strong>you</strong>r body starts telling <strong>you</strong> it’s had<br />
enough, it’s smart to walk away healthy. I’m going to do it<br />
as long as I enjoy it.”<br />
▪The Post welcomes feedback and story ideas. To contact us, e-mail Joan Hughes<br />
at jchruby@msn.com or call (804) 512-4373.<br />
more on DanIelle HoDsDon<br />
born: New Hampshire, October 1976.<br />
residence: Kennett Square, Pa.<br />
Family: Single; one brother, parents.<br />
Pets: Britches, a Jack Russell terrier; Smock, a cat.<br />
occupation: Steeplechase jockey.<br />
education: Shenandoah University, Bachelor<br />
of Science in kinesiology.<br />
Hobbies: “If I ever have time, I enjoy<br />
downhill skiing, reading and shopping,<br />
which is a bad habit more than a hobby.”<br />
<strong>Horse</strong> highlights: In 2000, she went to<br />
Japan with a horse that ran in the Japan<br />
Cup. In 2008, she traveled to Santa Anita<br />
with a horse, Forever Together, who won<br />
the Filly and Mare Breeders’ Cup Turf race.<br />
Philosophy on life: “You have to work hard to<br />
get what <strong>you</strong> want in life.”<br />
best horse advice: “Patience and hard work.”
Fall 2009<br />
5 ON THE COVER<br />
Mounted police oFFicer<br />
<strong>Chesapeake</strong> resident patrols <strong>Virginia</strong> Beach<br />
Amy Bailey at a special function at the mounted police facility.<br />
By Andy Taylor<br />
Waves crashing onto the shore, gulls squawking<br />
overhead, the occasional shrill from a lifeguard’s whistle<br />
and horses clop, clop, clopping.<br />
Aah, the summer sounds of the beach.<br />
<strong>Horse</strong>s clopping? That’s right, Amy Bailey aboard<br />
Nightwatch, and other mounted police officers, patrol the<br />
<strong>Virginia</strong> Beach oceanfront and resort area on a nightly basis.<br />
Bailey is a master police officer with the <strong>Virginia</strong> Beach<br />
Police Department and one of 14 officers and 16 horses in<br />
the mounted patrol unit.<br />
Her horse, Nightwatch, is a dark-bay Thoroughbred<br />
gelding, standing 16 hands high. He was on the show<br />
jumping circuit before he was given to the police<br />
department. All of the horses in the mounted patrol are<br />
donated, Bailey said.<br />
Nightwatch and Bailey work the 6 p.m. to 4 a.m. shift<br />
during the summer months. Bailey said their mission is to<br />
provide a visible presence and to look for trouble before<br />
it happens.<br />
Bailey said officers on horseback are in a better position<br />
to see problems brewing because they sit high above the<br />
crowd. This gives them an edge that officers on foot or in<br />
patrol cars don’t have, she said.<br />
Photo courtesy of Linda House/Foxwoodphotography.com<br />
“On horseback <strong>you</strong> are able to see stuff start to develop<br />
before it happens,” she said. “I <strong>can</strong> see a group of people<br />
starting to make trouble from a block or two away.<br />
Sometimes it’s gang activity and sometimes it’s jerks, call<br />
it what <strong>you</strong> will.”<br />
A lot of what the mounted police squad does is crowd<br />
control but the evenings are often consumed with arresting<br />
people for being drunk in public, fighting, disturbing the<br />
peace and traffic enforcement, she said.<br />
Best part of the job: Riding my horse anywhere I want.<br />
Worst part of the job: Having to deal with arrogant,<br />
rude people.<br />
It’s a delicate balance when patrolling by horseback,<br />
Bailey said.<br />
“You <strong>can</strong>’t become a spectacle.” By that she means <strong>you</strong><br />
<strong>can</strong>’t go trotting up to every situation <strong>you</strong> see because<br />
when the horses speed up it gets people’s attention and<br />
draws a crowd.<br />
Bailey finds 16-year-old Nightwatch perfectly suited to<br />
the beat he works.<br />
“Put him in the median and he’s just as chilled as he <strong>can</strong><br />
be,” Bailey said. “Put him on a trail ride and everything<br />
spooks him, any little noise like a branch snapping.<br />
“Maybe that says something about the rider,” jokes<br />
Bailey, who never rode before joining the mounted patrol<br />
unit in 1997. She stayed in the unit for five years but<br />
decided she needed to get more experience in other areas<br />
of policing.<br />
So she tried other police jobs in the department.<br />
But she found she missed working with the horses and<br />
after three years she returned to mounted patrol.<br />
There is a strenuous selection process to get into the<br />
mounted unit, Bailey said. A selection board determines if<br />
an officer is a good <strong>can</strong>didate. There is an agility test for<br />
officers and months of horseback training, she said.<br />
Bailey said that on average she’s in the saddle four or<br />
five hours a night, but there are times when it’s as many<br />
as 10 hours.<br />
Bailey said that the officers check their horses each day<br />
to make sure the animal looks good and doesn’t have any<br />
obvious injuries. Officers also do basic maintenance such<br />
as cleaning stalls. And the unit also has a full-time groom<br />
for the horses.<br />
An animal lover, Bailey has three dogs and numerous<br />
fish but has never owned a horse even though she grew<br />
up on a farm.<br />
“We had cows, no horses,” Bailey said. “<strong>Horse</strong>s were<br />
for rich people.”<br />
▪The Post welcomes feedback and story ideas. To contact us, e-mail Joan<br />
Hughes at jchruby@msn.com or call (804) 512-4373.<br />
more on amy baIley<br />
born: 1965, Lynchburg.<br />
residence: <strong>Chesapeake</strong>.<br />
Family: Boyfriend, David.<br />
Pets: Bulldogs Norton and Buster and deaf<br />
pit-bull mix from the local shelter, Dixon; lots of<br />
tropical fish.<br />
occupation: Mounted police officer.<br />
Hobbies: Kayaking, gardening, cooking, auctions.<br />
<strong>Horse</strong> highlight: Participating in the inaugural<br />
parade for President George W. Bush, 2001, and<br />
assisting in security detail for Queen Elizabeth in<br />
Williamsburg, 2007.<br />
Philosophy on life: Life is always better with a<br />
dog by <strong>you</strong>r side.<br />
best horse advice ever received: Ask nice the first<br />
time . . .<br />
www.horsenation.us
ON THE COVER<br />
www.horsenation.us<br />
6<br />
equine artiSt<br />
Rectortown woman has a passion for painting and horses<br />
This painting by Gail Guirreri-Maslyk was to be raffled to benefit Blue Ridge Hospice. Photo courtesy of Gail Guirreri-Maslyk<br />
By Deborah Rider Allen<br />
When a back injury sidelined equestrian-horse breeder<br />
Gail Guirreri-Maslyk, she traded her days in the saddle for<br />
another passion — painting.<br />
“While recovering I have been able to focus on my<br />
artwork. So the art has taken over in the place I would<br />
have been riding,” said<br />
Guirreri-Maslyk, who<br />
owns 20 Holsteiner<br />
horses and boards<br />
others in Rectortown in<br />
Fauquier County.<br />
Her horse business<br />
is called Cloverlone.<br />
Her artwork focuses<br />
on paintings of horses<br />
GUIRRERI-MASLYK<br />
racing, hunting, jumping and playing as well as animal<br />
portraits.<br />
Guirreri-Maslyk’s painting was really a step back to one<br />
of her first passions. An art major at <strong>Virginia</strong> Tech, she<br />
first used her skills doing graphic design. “I had worked<br />
for another horse breeder and did her national ads. But the<br />
ads were getting boring so I started adding paint images in<br />
them. The more I was painting to do these ads the more I<br />
was painting to just paint,” she said.<br />
Best part of the job: I am my own boss and each<br />
day is different.<br />
Worst part of the job: The inconsistency of the work<br />
and having to get used to that.<br />
While painting for herself, she decided she could use<br />
it as a vehicle to stay current in the horse business. “I<br />
decided if I ever did want to ride again I would have to<br />
keep myself in with the horse show crowd so my name<br />
would not disappear from the show arena,” she said.<br />
Guirreri-Maslyk took her paintings to the <strong>Virginia</strong><br />
<strong>Horse</strong> Center in Lexington. She sold one the first weekend<br />
Fall 2009<br />
it was there to a designer who was working on two houses<br />
in the area. “After that happened, I was really motivated,”<br />
she said.<br />
Guirreri-Maslyk describes her paintings as postimpressionist<br />
fauve which is similar to the style and<br />
technique of Matisse and Van Gogh. “Where before,<br />
purple and yellow and blue and orange were used in the<br />
sky, they brought red and green as light into the paintings<br />
that did not exist in the real world,” she explains. Her<br />
medium is oil paint.<br />
There is no typical day at work for <strong>this</strong> equine artist. She<br />
may start the day checking e-mails and calls before going<br />
to the barn, or paint in the morning while drinking her<br />
coffee. But part of each day is spent in the studio and part<br />
is spent with her horses. And on a nice day she is usually<br />
outside taking photos to add to the collection she uses to<br />
create her art.<br />
▪The Post welcomes feedback and story ideas. To contact us, e-mail Joan Hughes<br />
at jchruby@msn.com or call (804) 512-4373<br />
more on gaIl guIrrerI-maslyk<br />
born: 1968 in Missouri.<br />
residence: Rectortown in Fauquier County.<br />
Pets: 20 horses, nine cats and various stray<br />
cats every now and then.<br />
occupations: Interior landscaping, graphics<br />
design business, horse breeding, artist.<br />
education: Art major from <strong>Virginia</strong> Tech.<br />
Hobbies: Used to cycle and hike — now<br />
follow the hunts and do gardening.<br />
<strong>Horse</strong> highlight: I had my first horse<br />
Champagne (a Holsteiner) when I went to<br />
college at age 18. He was the only one of<br />
his kind of stallion in the country and was<br />
from a stallion that went to the Olympics.<br />
He was a dream come true but as time went<br />
on people kept offering me more and more<br />
money for him and I sold him after a couple<br />
of years.<br />
Philosophy on life: Be happy every day. You<br />
<strong>can</strong> always look to the positive side to find<br />
something to be happy about.<br />
best horse advice ever received: When I<br />
had Champagne, because I did not know<br />
how to ride <strong>this</strong> special horse, I felt guilty.<br />
But I was told to remember that he was my<br />
horse and I was lucky to own him. So go for<br />
it and do not worry about the rest of the world.
Fall 2009 7 ON THE COVER<br />
reSearcher<br />
<strong>Virginia</strong> Tech vet-professor to study round bales<br />
By Rex Bowman<br />
Giant round bales of hay make for beautiful scenery on<br />
farmland slopes and pastures but horse lovers, worried<br />
about dust and mold in the round bales, are often reluctant<br />
to feed them to their animals, choosing instead to serve up<br />
more expensive square bales.<br />
But as horse owners know, the cost of hay has been<br />
harrowingly high over the past few years, so Dr. <strong>Virginia</strong><br />
Buechner-Maxwell, a professor and veterinarian at the<br />
<strong>Virginia</strong>-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, is<br />
hoping to determine if the cheaper round bales do or do not<br />
increase horses’ risk of developing respiratory problems. If<br />
they don’t, horse owners could save a bundle.<br />
The <strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Horse</strong> Industry Board, also keen to know<br />
the answer, has funded Buechner-Maxwell’s research with<br />
a grant of more than $14,500. Buechner-Maxwell hopes to<br />
begin her study <strong>this</strong> fall.<br />
“As a veterinarian practicing in southwest <strong>Virginia</strong>, I<br />
hear about a number of horse owners struggling to feed<br />
their animals,” said Buechner-Maxwell, who has been riding<br />
since she was 3 and owns 10 horses. “In some cases,<br />
people have been forced to get rid of many or all of the<br />
horses that they have had for years. Feeding round bales<br />
could save horse owners in the state of <strong>Virginia</strong> a great<br />
deal of money, but most owners want to ensure that they<br />
are not putting their horse’s health at risk by choosing to<br />
use round bales.”<br />
Buechner-Maxwell, who lives in Fairlawn, admits she<br />
herself is reluctant to feed her horses round bales of hay.<br />
It’s not uncommon, she said, to see horses with their noses<br />
completely buried in round bales, potentially exposing<br />
their airways to hay dust and mold; meanwhile, horses that<br />
feed on square bale hay off the ground “seem to experience<br />
much less exposure.”<br />
Buechner-Maxwell said she recently began searching<br />
for studies that examined any link between round bale<br />
feeding and respiratory problems in horses but found no<br />
published research. She said she found only studies aimed<br />
partly at reducing mold in round bale hay.<br />
“It was especially surprising to me to learn that when<br />
round bales are packaged and stored properly, there is little<br />
risk of mold and the hay retains its nutritional value as well<br />
as square bale hay,” she said. “However, I could not find<br />
studies which directly examine the relationship between<br />
feeding round bale hay and risk of respiratory disease in<br />
horses.”<br />
So, to find the answer herself, Buechner-Maxwell and<br />
a team of other researchers at the college plan to feed hay<br />
from the same pasture to two groups of 20 horses <strong>this</strong> fall.<br />
Photo courtesy of Dr. <strong>Virginia</strong> Buechner-Maxwell<br />
Best part of the job: “The best part of my job is the<br />
diversity — no two days are the same. The other best<br />
part of my job is that I <strong>can</strong> spend part of every day<br />
with animals, and the other best part of my job is<br />
problem solving — whenever I <strong>can</strong> diagnose a problem<br />
or cure a sick horse, that’s a truly good day.”<br />
Worst part of the job: “Any time I lose a patient, I<br />
spend a lot of time wondering what I could have done<br />
better. So losing the patient is hard, and thinking<br />
about the loss is harder. I also hate that I <strong>can</strong>’t treat<br />
every animal without having to consider money. I’m<br />
not saying that I think people who <strong>can</strong>’t pay for their<br />
animal’s care are bad, I am just saying it is hard ending<br />
the life of an animal that I might have been able to<br />
help, especially when the animal is <strong>you</strong>ng.”<br />
Half the horses will be fed hay in round bales; the other<br />
half will receive hay in square bales. The hay and the horses<br />
will both be evaluated before feeding begins and at the<br />
end of the study, two months later.<br />
The hay will be studied to determine its mold and bacterial<br />
content, while the horses will be looked at for evidence<br />
of airway disease, such as coughing and nasal discharge.<br />
On any given day during the two-month study, at least 10<br />
of the horses will be examined for respiratory problems.<br />
“The goal of <strong>this</strong> study is to determine if there is a risk<br />
associated with feeding round bales,” Buechner-Maxwell<br />
said. “If such a risk exists, then we hope to better define<br />
it so that horse owners will have information available to<br />
assist them in deciding if round bale hay is a good source<br />
of nutrition for their horses.”<br />
Dr. Iveta Becvarova, a nutrition specialist at the veterinary<br />
college, will oversee the analysis of the hay for its<br />
nutritional content, while Dr. David Schmale, a specialist<br />
in environmental molds and fungi at <strong>Virginia</strong> Tech, will<br />
also take part in the study. Three veterinarians from Tech<br />
will also assist.<br />
Buechner-Maxwell said she hopes to have the project<br />
finished and the results published by next summer.<br />
▪The Post welcomes feedback and story ideas. To contact us, e-mail Joan Hughes<br />
at jchruby@msn.com or call (804) 512-4373.<br />
more on Dr. vIrgInIa buecHner-maxwell<br />
born: Greenville, S.C.<br />
residence: Fairlawn.<br />
Family: Husband Robert Wayne Maxwell;<br />
stepson Nathan Maxwell, 29.<br />
Pets: Nine cats (Oscar, Annie, Baby, Lucky,<br />
Tiger, Smokey, Gordon, Honey and Halie),<br />
two dogs (Jack and Russ), 10 horses<br />
(Pebbles, Dillon, Moe, Lady, Panda, Rudy,<br />
The Baroness, Saran, Autumn and Jangles).<br />
occupation: Professor and specialist in<br />
large animal internal medicine at the<br />
<strong>Virginia</strong>-Maryland Regional College of<br />
Veterinary Medicine.<br />
education: Masters of Science in Veterinary<br />
Clinical Medicine, <strong>Virginia</strong>-Maryland<br />
Regional College of Veterinary Medicine,<br />
1991; Doctor of Veterinary Medicine,<br />
<strong>Virginia</strong>-Maryland Regional College of<br />
Veterinary Medicine, 1987; Masters of<br />
Science in cell and molecular biology,<br />
University of Pennsylvania, 1987; Bachelor<br />
of Arts in biology and secondary education,<br />
Goucher College, 1976.<br />
Hobbies: <strong>Horse</strong>-related activities like trail<br />
riding, swimming, photography, hiking.<br />
Philosophy of life: “I am not sure of the source<br />
of <strong>this</strong> quote but ‘Leap and the net will appear’<br />
pretty much summarizes the way I look at life.”<br />
www.horsenation.us
AT THE FAIR 8 Fall 2009<br />
danceS with horSeS<br />
Accomack County 4-H drill team to try to score another win<br />
By Carlos Santos<br />
One thing Stephanie Fox knows how to do is dance with<br />
horses.<br />
Fox, 18, was on the six-person Hoof Beats by the Beach<br />
4-H drill team from Accomack County that won the state<br />
championship last year at the <strong>Virginia</strong> State 4-H Championship<br />
<strong>Horse</strong> and Pony Show.<br />
It was a big win, garnering praise even from the <strong>Virginia</strong><br />
General Assembly which passed a resolution noting<br />
“the Hoof Beats members and their horses impressed the<br />
judges and an enthusiastic crowd of supporters with a brilliant<br />
performance.”<br />
Unsure what a drill team of horses actually does? Fox<br />
said it isn’t easy to describe. “It’s when <strong>you</strong> get a bunch of<br />
horseback riders riding in the same movement to the same<br />
music with lyrics or without lyrics.<br />
“It’s a dance of horse riders and horses,’’ she said. “It’s a<br />
whole bunch of horses doing the same thing to music. It’s<br />
really fun to watch.”<br />
Last year, 18 teams competed for the championship.<br />
Fox said lots of practice and the right choreography helped<br />
the Hoof Beats win.<br />
The music certainly was lively enough. The Hoof Beats<br />
entered the ring to the sound of the Beach Boys’ song<br />
“Wipe Out.”<br />
“We had a beach theme — a surfer theme,” Fox said.<br />
“That was our opening song.”<br />
www.horsenation.us<br />
2009 Drill Team Competition<br />
When: Sept. 27.<br />
Where: the <strong>Virginia</strong> 4-h State Fair horse Show at the<br />
Meadow event park in doswell.<br />
Details: State Fair 4-h horse Show Manager eleszabeth<br />
Mcneel at e7aquila@aol.com.<br />
The team, riding English, walked and trotted in sync to a<br />
routine choreographed by Kendy Allen, who also coached<br />
the team. Members of the winning drill team besides Fox,<br />
were Kenneth Allen, Sara Miles, Brittany Kemp, Chris<br />
Reeder and Elizabeth Snyder.<br />
Kenneth Allen, now 20, was club president last year.<br />
“The closer the competition got, the more we crammed<br />
in the practice,” he said. The team practiced at the nearby<br />
Pony Pines Farm and worked together almost flawlessly.<br />
“This is a small 4-H club,” said Allen, now a National<br />
Guardsman. “We’re all close anyway.”<br />
The team had six to eight minutes to show its stuff. That<br />
stuff — including deftly handled synchronized turns and<br />
lines — was good enough for the state championship.<br />
The point of the competition, however, is more than just<br />
winning a title. “It makes <strong>you</strong> a better rider,” Fox said. “It<br />
Photo courtesy of Kendy Allen<br />
Hoof Beats by the Beach 4-H drill team members in the 2008 state finals were Brittany Kemp (from left), Sara Miles, Kenneth Allen, Chris Reeder,<br />
Stephanie Fox and Elizabeth Snyder.<br />
<strong>teach</strong>es <strong>you</strong> and <strong>you</strong>r horse how <strong>you</strong> <strong>can</strong> become a team<br />
. . . and it <strong>teach</strong>es <strong>you</strong> how to work together with other<br />
riders.”<br />
Fox, president of the Hoof Beats club <strong>this</strong> year, just<br />
graduated from Holly Grove Christian School in Westover,<br />
Md., and is set to attend Eastern Shore Community College<br />
for two years before moving on to a four-year college.<br />
“I plan to keep riding and I plan to go to the state show<br />
<strong>this</strong> year and next year,” she said.<br />
▪The Post welcomes feedback and story ideas. To contact us, e-mail Joan Hughes<br />
at jchruby@msn.com or call (804) 512-4373.<br />
kendy allen’s account of the 2008 finals<br />
I don’t know how much of that drill team story <strong>you</strong><br />
were told, but the whole thing could be made into a<br />
Disney movie. It was that incredible.<br />
The club that it originated from is a <strong>you</strong>ng club,<br />
with only its second drill team ever entered in<br />
competition. We started with 10 members at the<br />
beginning of the summer, and it dwindled down to<br />
seven throughout the summer. The seventh one quit<br />
due to stress in her personal life the night before we<br />
left for states [The <strong>Virginia</strong> State 4-H Championship<br />
<strong>Horse</strong> and Pony Show].<br />
The next day at states we were allowed one<br />
practice — and because everyone had a new position<br />
due to now only having six riders, the entire drill<br />
crashed and fell apart in the big arena with all the<br />
other teams watching. You could just see the other<br />
teams cross Hoofbeats by the Beach off their list to<br />
worry about.<br />
But that incredible team of six riders, the <strong>you</strong>ngest<br />
(Lizzie) being 10 years old, and on the waiting list<br />
to even go to states for the longest time, Kenneth<br />
being in basic Army training all summer in Missouri<br />
and only getting home three weeks before states and<br />
learning the drill then, to Sara who was a natural<br />
leader and kept them moving no matter what, to<br />
Stephanie who overcame a tremendous attack of<br />
nerves, to Chris who couldn’t tell his left from his<br />
right, to Brittany who was in her first year of 4-H at<br />
18 and really worked hard to learn to ride.<br />
It was an incredible joy to coach them and <strong>teach</strong><br />
them drills through all the frustrations. Their story<br />
really is huge at what they overcame and learned and<br />
how that hard work paid off.
Fall 2009<br />
tips for success<br />
Photo courtesy of Kendy Allen<br />
Standing from left: Kenneth Allen, Sara Miles, Brittany Kemp<br />
and Chris Reeder. Kneeling from left: Elizabeth Snyder and<br />
Stephanie Fox.<br />
Kenneth Allen was president of the Hoof Beats<br />
by the Beach 4-H club of Accomack County when<br />
the drill team won last year’s state competition.<br />
His secrets for success include:<br />
▪ Practice a lot. The team started practicing one year<br />
before the competition and at least once a week. As<br />
the contest approached, the team practiced as often<br />
as it could.<br />
▪ Each team member knew the other members well,<br />
leading to a unique cohesion and a cooperation fostered<br />
by friendship.<br />
▪ Ride experienced horses.<br />
▪ Use lively music so the crowd gets behind <strong>you</strong>.<br />
▪ Foster team spirit because without it <strong>you</strong>’re not<br />
going to win anything.<br />
Behind the SceneS<br />
Blacksburg woman oversees <strong>Virginia</strong>’s 4-H horse program<br />
By Carlos Santos<br />
Celeste Crisman <strong>teach</strong>es kids how to successfully<br />
handle life through handling horses.<br />
“I truly believe that much of their success is due to<br />
the life skills they have learned through the 4-H horse<br />
program,” said Crisman, equine<br />
extension specialist for <strong>you</strong>th<br />
based at <strong>Virginia</strong> Tech. “The best<br />
part of my job is seeing <strong>Virginia</strong>’s<br />
<strong>you</strong>th learn, mature and excel, not<br />
only in relation to the 4-H horse<br />
program but in all facets of their<br />
lives.”<br />
Crisman has plenty of horse<br />
experience to bring to her <strong>Virginia</strong> CRISMAN<br />
Cooperative Extension job. The<br />
47-year-old horsewoman, whose husband Mark is an<br />
equine veterinarian at the <strong>Virginia</strong>-Maryland Regional<br />
College of Veterinary Medicine in Blacksburg, has been<br />
riding horses since she was 12.<br />
“I’ve been riding all my life,” she said. She and her<br />
husband have five horses on their farm in Blacksburg. “We<br />
trail ride and do a lot of camping.”<br />
The overall thrust of her job — though focused on<br />
<strong>you</strong>th — is to promote the horse industry in <strong>Virginia</strong>.<br />
That promotion has been successful from all evidence.<br />
The state is the fifth largest equine state (by number of<br />
horses) in the country and horses are its seventh largest<br />
agricultural commodity (according to the 2001 <strong>Virginia</strong><br />
Equine Survey), she said.<br />
“There’s more people involved in the horse industry<br />
than ever before,” said Crisman, who is also a <strong>Virginia</strong><br />
<strong>Horse</strong> Council director and a <strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Horse</strong> Industry<br />
Board member.<br />
As equine extension specialist for <strong>you</strong>th, one of her key<br />
jobs is organizing all state-level 4-H (head, heart, hands<br />
and health) horse programs including the <strong>Virginia</strong> 4-H<br />
State Fair <strong>Horse</strong> Show in September at The Meadow Event<br />
Park in Doswell.<br />
Her biggest task, however, is to oversee one of the<br />
Style and practicality make Hobby Hill Farms’ custom-made purses and totes the<br />
perfect gift for the horse lover in <strong>you</strong>r family or as a treat for <strong>you</strong>rself. Hand-sewn<br />
leather combined with scenic designs and mosaic tapestries in a variety of styles are<br />
sure to yield one that’s a perfect gift. And, they are made in <strong>Virginia</strong>.<br />
Cost: $30.00-$70.00<br />
Contact: 804-598-6095 or logon to: www.hobbyhillfarm.com; <strong>you</strong> may also<br />
find some of our designs at fine jewelry stores across the US.<br />
9<br />
AT THE FAIR<br />
Photo courtesy of Celeste Crisman<br />
Celeste Crisman, on the bay horse turning left, led 4-H’ers on a 50-mile<br />
ride at Mount Rogers in 2008.<br />
largest 4-H horse shows in the country — the <strong>Virginia</strong> State<br />
4-H Championship <strong>Horse</strong> and Pony Show set for Sept. 17-<br />
20 at the <strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Horse</strong> Center in Lexington. “We have<br />
600 <strong>you</strong>ths that bring their horses to compete and another<br />
250 that compete in the educational competitions and, in<br />
all, we bring about 2,500 people to the Lexington area for<br />
the weekend,” Crisman said.<br />
The show features almost every kind of riding including<br />
pleasure, equitation, dressage and jumping.<br />
Crisman also coordinates all state-level horseless<br />
competitions for those who don’t own horses but still love<br />
them. One example of such a competition is Hippology, a<br />
four-phase competition that includes horse judging and a<br />
written exam.<br />
“I have been in <strong>this</strong> position for 4½ years and many of<br />
the <strong>you</strong>th that were just becoming seniors in the program<br />
are now finished as 4-H’ers — they are moving in to<br />
college or careers and realize the value of their hard work<br />
in the program,” Crisman said. “Many continue with the<br />
program — giving back by volunteering and mentoring<br />
the <strong>you</strong>nger 4-H’ers. It doesn’t get much more rewarding<br />
than that.”<br />
www.horsenation.us
ON THE MONEY<br />
www.horsenation.us<br />
10<br />
LESSONS FROM LuRAY<br />
<strong>Horse</strong>woman shares<br />
money-saving tips<br />
By Joan Hughes<br />
Aude Bauserman was well-prepared for today’s economic<br />
crisis.<br />
“My parents are divorced now but before that we were<br />
very affluent. I was basically living every dressage girl’s<br />
dream,” said Bauserman who, at the time of the divorce,<br />
was a freshman at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton.<br />
“After the divorce I had to make ends meet.”<br />
And she had to figure out how to maintain what was<br />
now her only horse — she had four before her parents<br />
divorced — and her lifestyle. “<strong>What</strong> did I need to do to<br />
make things work and still provide the same care [for her<br />
horse] I did before?” she wondered.<br />
Bauserman said she taught French classes in an afterschool<br />
program for elementary school students, served as<br />
a <strong>teach</strong>ing assistant and worked as a cashier at Wal-Mart.<br />
In addition, she said she became a professional clipper<br />
and braider to earn money for entry fees for horse shows.<br />
It was while providing these services at the barns of clients<br />
that she first started collecting ways to save money.<br />
Then in 2003 she married a “recycle junkie.”<br />
“Everything has another purpose so I kind of piggybacked<br />
off his ideas as well,” the 29-year-old Luray<br />
resident said.<br />
Bauserman said that in January, when the poor state<br />
of the economy became even more apparent, she put<br />
together a list of ways horse people could save money.<br />
The list was posted on virginiaequestrian.com and sent to<br />
the Shenandoah Valley Dressage Association, of which<br />
Bauserman is a member.<br />
“Many people find themselves unable to continue<br />
feeding their horse and in some cases themselves. I have<br />
been blessed with the ability to keep my horses and<br />
continue to care for them as I always have but I have<br />
revaluated what I <strong>can</strong> do to make it through the long haul<br />
if needed,” she said in her news release.<br />
“I have found a few small alternatives that I thought I<br />
would pass along that may help some of <strong>you</strong> save a few<br />
dollars. I know for many people cutting even just a few<br />
dollars <strong>can</strong> make all the difference between being able<br />
to keep <strong>you</strong>r horse and having to sell it. Over the years<br />
I have done many of the things on <strong>this</strong> list, and shared<br />
them with my students,” she continued.<br />
▪The Post welcomes feedback and story ideas. To contact us, e-mail Joan<br />
Hughes at jchruby@msn.com or call (804) 512-4373.<br />
Aude Bauserman with Gage, her Hanoverian gelding.<br />
Aude Bauserman’s tips:<br />
▪ Switch from shavings to pellet bedding.<br />
▪ Weed out <strong>you</strong>r unused tack and sell it.<br />
▪ Find someone to do a partial lease if <strong>you</strong> own a horse<br />
and want to share expenses.<br />
▪ Switch from stall board to field board.<br />
▪ Buy shower caps from the dollar store and use them<br />
to cover pre-set-up feed buckets so mice/birds <strong>can</strong>’t eat<br />
the feed.<br />
▪ Switch from individual lessons to group lessons.<br />
▪ Take biweekly lessons. Think of it as more time to<br />
practice what <strong>you</strong>’ve learned.<br />
▪ Videotape <strong>you</strong>rself during lessons so <strong>you</strong> <strong>can</strong> go over<br />
key points. Videotape <strong>you</strong>rself at other times to see things<br />
<strong>you</strong> might need to work on.<br />
▪ Find a volunteer at <strong>you</strong>r barn to host even a small<br />
clinic to help out financially. Be creative in finding ways<br />
to get people involved.<br />
▪ Have <strong>you</strong>r horses teeth floated. Regular equine dental<br />
care helps <strong>you</strong>r horse chew food efficiently. A horse with<br />
sore teeth will drop and waste a lot of food. The cost of a<br />
visit from an equine dentist is offset in feed savings.<br />
▪ Repair instead of replace. Learn to do <strong>you</strong>r own<br />
Fall 2009<br />
Photo courtesy of Aude Bauserman<br />
repairs. A great deal of equipment <strong>can</strong> be hand-sewn.<br />
▪ Talk with <strong>you</strong> farrier and vet to see if <strong>you</strong>r horse <strong>can</strong><br />
go barefoot or only have shoes in the front. And check to<br />
see if <strong>you</strong> <strong>can</strong> stretch out <strong>you</strong>r farrier visits.<br />
▪ Clean <strong>you</strong>r horse blankets with a water hose, car<br />
brush, a little livestock shampoo and some elbow grease.<br />
▪ Organize a tack swap.<br />
▪ Make <strong>you</strong>r own polish with salt and baking soda and<br />
vinegar to shine brass on harnesses, bridles and halters.<br />
▪ A hay net will save hay and keep <strong>you</strong>r horse busy if<br />
he is in the stall a lot.<br />
▪ Clean <strong>you</strong>r tack. Well-cared for tack lasts much longer<br />
and <strong>you</strong> will look sharp.<br />
▪ If <strong>you</strong> own a farm, grab a hammer and wire cutter<br />
and take a stroll around <strong>you</strong>r fences. Nails and stray bits<br />
of wire are just waiting to tear a hole in <strong>you</strong>r expensive<br />
blankets or cut <strong>you</strong>r horse.<br />
▪ Do a little branding to increase the chances of <strong>you</strong>r<br />
tack and accessories eventually becoming family heirlooms.<br />
▪ Create a compost pile for manure and used bedding.<br />
Gardeners love manure compost and will remove it for<br />
free. Advertise on free Web sites or contact <strong>you</strong>r local<br />
garden club.
Fall 2009<br />
(804) 598-6095<br />
contact@hobbyhillfarm.com<br />
www.hobbyhillfarm.com<br />
Photo courtesy of Aude Bauserman<br />
▪ You do not need expensive stall toys. Clean out a<br />
milk bottle and fill with molasses. Poke a few holes in it<br />
and tie it to a tree or rafter. Your horse will spend hours<br />
licking the jug to get the molasses out.<br />
▪ A small football or round ball placed in a water<br />
bucket overnight <strong>can</strong> help prevent freezing. If the water<br />
does freeze over, push the ball through to break the ice. If<br />
<strong>you</strong> put an apple in the bucket, the horse may play with it<br />
enough to prevent the water from freezing. Cheaper than<br />
a de-icer and safer.<br />
▪ Old broom handles <strong>can</strong> be tied up with string to support<br />
blankets.<br />
▪ Old condiment bottles are convenient for storing<br />
small amounts of creams or lotions and just squirting out<br />
“Check out Hobby<br />
Hill for the fi nest gifts,<br />
cooling apparel and VA<br />
made Purses & Totes”<br />
Tuckahoe Plantation Stables<br />
Richmond’s Best Kept Secret<br />
Manager: Susan Donovan at 784-3679<br />
Stall & pasture board available<br />
12601 River Road Richmond, <strong>Virginia</strong> 23238<br />
Conveniently located in eastern Goochland<br />
the amount needed.<br />
▪ Volunteer at a clinic or show so <strong>you</strong> <strong>can</strong> attend without<br />
paying.<br />
▪ Buying tack and supplements online is almost always<br />
cheaper than buying them in a tack store.<br />
▪ Evaluate the supplements <strong>you</strong>r horse is on. Does he<br />
need all of them? Ask <strong>you</strong>r vet.<br />
▪ Swap horse magazines and horse books with a friend.<br />
▪ Buy a big bag of horse treats and then split it and the<br />
cost with the barn.<br />
▪ Water Babies sunscreen works wonders on horses’<br />
white noses and is much cheaper than the horse version<br />
and has the same ingredients.<br />
▪ If <strong>you</strong> have a talent such as braiding or body clipping,<br />
see if <strong>you</strong> <strong>can</strong> swap with others at <strong>you</strong>r barn for talents<br />
they may have.<br />
▪ Save old dish towels and blankets to use around the barn.<br />
▪ Save feed bags to use as trash bags in the barn.<br />
▪ Visit a farm store for buckets, rakes and pitchforks.<br />
Generally much cheaper than tack stores.<br />
▪ Clean out <strong>you</strong>r trailer. Prevent rusting by removing<br />
urine and feces. Fix small damages before they get larger.<br />
After cleaning out the trailer and letting it dry, sprinkle<br />
baking soda on the floor to pick up the rest of the moisture<br />
and help neutralize any ammonia. Sweep it out in a<br />
few days.<br />
▪ Buy a step stool at a discount store. It’s cheaper than<br />
a mounting block.<br />
▪ Check out the sports aisle at a discount store for<br />
unbreakable orange cones to set up patterns to ride.<br />
▪ Make <strong>you</strong>r own arena markers and cover them with<br />
contact paper. This is cheaper than buying them from the<br />
tack shop.<br />
▪ Start a communal first aid box. Anytime someone<br />
sees something at a great price, add it to the box. We also<br />
get bottles of Banamine and Bute (medications) from the<br />
vet and all the boarders split the cost.<br />
▪ Pack a cooler with snacks and drinks if going to a<br />
horse show where the food <strong>can</strong> be very expensive.<br />
▪ To save the costs of going to a clinic, organize a horse<br />
Offering two facilities to suit all of <strong>you</strong>r needs<br />
Mechanicsville and Ashland<br />
Everyone Welcome!<br />
• <strong>Horse</strong> Boarding with Top Notch Care<br />
(804) 746-4072<br />
• Premium Feeds/Quality Hay<br />
• Riding Lessons for Beginners and Intermediates on<br />
Professionally Trained Arabian Show <strong>Horse</strong>s<br />
www.springwoodstation.com<br />
springwoodstation@comcast.net<br />
CENTRAL VA’S QUALITY<br />
USED RIDING SUPPLY SHOP<br />
Riding Apparel Tack Gifts Antiques<br />
106 S. Railroad Ave. Ashland, VA 23005<br />
804.752.6782/ www.changingreinsinc.com<br />
11<br />
ON THE MONEY<br />
video evening and have people bring snacks and watch<br />
and comment on a horse video or tutorial.<br />
▪ Fly spray is expensive. Buy a bottle of citronella<br />
shampoo and wash <strong>you</strong>r horse with it once or twice a<br />
week. Use it full strength and let the suds stay on for<br />
10 to 15 minutes and then rinse. I was amazed at how<br />
the bath alone reduced the flies on my horse by about 50<br />
percent.<br />
more on auDe bauserman<br />
born: April 19, 1980 in Tours, France.<br />
residence: Luray.<br />
Family: Husband Mark Andrew Bauserman, a<br />
<strong>teach</strong>er at Stanley Elementary School.<br />
Pets: Chihuahuas Lilly, Godiva and Little Girl<br />
and cats Cracker, Bisou and Navaho.<br />
<strong>Horse</strong>s: Prince, a Belgian stallion; Gage, a<br />
Hanoverian gelding; Princess, a Belgian.<br />
education: Bachelor’s degree in biology<br />
from Mary Baldwin College.<br />
occupation: French and biology <strong>teach</strong>er<br />
at Luray High School. Freelance dressage<br />
instructor.<br />
Philosophy on life: “When God shuts a<br />
door he always opens a window.” Also,<br />
“Function in disaster, finish in style.” “I<br />
definitely have lived my life sort of by that,”<br />
Bauserman said, adding that was a saying<br />
at The Madeira School, the girls’ school she<br />
attended in McLean.<br />
best horse advice ever received: “Take<br />
<strong>you</strong>r time and do the basics well and the<br />
advanced movements will come.”<br />
what she won’t skimp on: “One place I<br />
would never cut corners on is lessons. I<br />
would rather have one lesson every three<br />
months but have it from someone who <strong>can</strong><br />
give me enough information for me to work<br />
on for a couple of weeks.”<br />
Jockey Colors-Flat/Steeplechase • Blinkers<br />
Helmet Covers • Saddlecloths • Paddock Blankets<br />
Custom Embroidery<br />
P:(800) 464-3840/(410) 770-3357 www.stitchesbychloe.com www.horsenation.us
HORSE RACING 12 Fall 2009<br />
hooked on harneSS racinG<br />
Mechanicsville doctor is<br />
a globe-trotting reins man<br />
By Andy Taylor<br />
They call him “The Driving Doctor.”<br />
It’s pretty amazing that Scott Woogen, a gastroenterologist<br />
and Hall of Fame amateur harness racing driver,<br />
achieved either part of that nickname considering his<br />
background.<br />
He grew up poor in the Bronx, a place where Woogen<br />
acknowledges “there weren’t a lot of horses.”<br />
On closer inspection, though, his background might<br />
say a lot about his success in both fields.<br />
As a kid he played competitive sports on the gritty<br />
streets and parks of the borough that is home to the New<br />
York Yankees. And he was always willing to work hard to<br />
earn a little money and better his life.<br />
That’s how he learned about harness racing.<br />
One day when he was playing a pickup basketball<br />
game on outdoor courts, a New York City policeman approached<br />
the group and asked who wanted a job.<br />
Woogen, 14 at the time, said he was probably a little<br />
more aggressive than the other guys so the officer picked<br />
him. The job involved going to the last train station before<br />
the Yonkers Raceway stop and selling programs and<br />
handicap sheets for $5 a night. The policeman’s side job<br />
was handicapping the horses.<br />
By the time he was 16, Woogen was going to the track<br />
and doing his job from the parking lot. From there he<br />
landed a job cleaning horse stalls and by that time, Woogen<br />
said, he was hooked on harness racing.<br />
From money he made at the track, a part-time job in<br />
the garment district and scholarships, he was able to<br />
enroll in Columbia University. As a sophomore he represented<br />
Columbia in the Intercollegiate Driving Championship<br />
at Roosevelt Raceway in Westbury, N.Y., and took<br />
the first-place trophy.<br />
His racing days, however, would soon come to a temporary<br />
halt. He enrolled in medical school at New York<br />
University and decided that his focus needed to be on his<br />
career.<br />
He came to Richmond to do his residency at Medical<br />
College of <strong>Virginia</strong> (<strong>Virginia</strong> Commonwealth University)<br />
and now practices with Richmond Gastroenterology Associates.<br />
“About 10 years ago I decided to get back to driving,”<br />
Woogen said. That meant qualifying for a license. After<br />
making 16 drives, the judges awarded him his license.<br />
There are various permits, such as a “matinee license”<br />
that allows drivers to compete in qualifying or county<br />
fairs; a “provisional license” for apprentices and a “Class<br />
www.horsenation.us<br />
Dr. Scott Woogen and the No. 3 horse, Electrifying King, won <strong>this</strong> race in Goshen, N.Y., on July 3.<br />
A” license for proven reins men.<br />
Woogen has a “Class A” license which permits him to<br />
race at any track in the world.<br />
It’s a good thing because he travels around the U.S.<br />
and to foreign countries to race, usually for other horse<br />
owners. He has raced in <strong>Virginia</strong>, New York, California,<br />
Florida, Canada, Finland, Estonia, Italy, Russia, New<br />
Zealand and Spain.<br />
Woogen said he has won 81 Standardbred races in the<br />
U.S., two in Canada and one in Europe as an amateur<br />
driver.<br />
The only thing the amateur designation means is that<br />
he doesn’t accept the prize money, Woogen said. Drivers<br />
earn 5 percent of the winnings from each race and he donates<br />
his earnings to charity. Two of his favorite charities<br />
are Crossover Clinic and the <strong>Virginia</strong> Institute of Pastoral<br />
Care.<br />
To offset the cost of his expensive hobby, the tracks he<br />
goes to usually provide lodging and meals and he usually<br />
only has to pay for airfare.<br />
Woogen, though, is not only a driver, he also owns<br />
outright or in partnership 40 Standardbreds, the breed<br />
used in harness racing.<br />
His greatest success as a horse owner is with Lolique, a<br />
6-year-old he purchased with co-owners John and Pamela<br />
Wagner of New York for $6,000. To date, Lolique has<br />
earned about $480,000, Woogen said.<br />
He said it’s not that much of a stretch for a doctor to be<br />
involved in harness racing. He jokingly sums up the similarities<br />
of being a gastroenterologist and a harness driver:<br />
Photo courtesy of Dr. Scott Woogen<br />
“My position in life is behind the rear end. It’s the<br />
same view.”<br />
Still, being a full-time doctor and globe-trotting harness<br />
driver creates a demanding schedule.<br />
Woogen is in the office five days a week at CJW Medical<br />
Center — Chippenham Campus, diagnosing and treating<br />
patients for diseases of the digestive system.<br />
In addition to racing at Colonial Downs in New Kent<br />
County and Rosecroft in Maryland, Woogen travels 15<br />
weekends a year to other states and countries.<br />
To keep up with the schedule and the physical demands,<br />
Woogen said he goes to the gym and lifts weights.<br />
At 54, that is becoming more of a must, he said.<br />
“Some of these horses, as I get older they get stronger,”<br />
he said with a laugh.<br />
So why does he continue to race, considering the<br />
demands and the potential danger?<br />
“I’m competitive by nature,” Woogen said. “It’s kind<br />
of like golf, <strong>you</strong>’re competitive with <strong>you</strong>rself. It’s getting<br />
more out of the horse, driving to the best of my ability.”<br />
A harness-racing friend, Dr. Scott Leaf, said Woogen<br />
is incredibly competitive. Leaf is the director of the Capital<br />
Area Amateur Drivers Association, an organization of<br />
harness drivers from the <strong>Virginia</strong> and Maryland tracks.<br />
“If <strong>you</strong>’re in a race with Scott, he is not going to do<br />
anything to help <strong>you</strong> in any way,” Leaf said. “The only<br />
way <strong>you</strong> <strong>can</strong> beat him is if <strong>you</strong>’ve got a better horse.<br />
Before and after the race he’s <strong>you</strong>r best friend.”<br />
▪The Post welcomes feedback and story ideas. To contact us, e-mail Joan<br />
Hughes at jchruby@msn.com or call (804) 512-4373.
Fall 2009<br />
ShootinG Star?<br />
Manakin-Sabot woman guns for success in sporting event<br />
By Janet Showalter<br />
On a whim, Anne Allen tried her hand at shooting a gun<br />
from horseback. Little did she know she would soon be<br />
hooked on a sport growing in popularity. She has three<br />
horses, her own trainer and a competitive spirit that takes<br />
her to at least one competition a month.<br />
A relative newcomer to Cowboy Mounted Shooting, the<br />
Manakin-Sabot woman will bring her game to the <strong>Virginia</strong><br />
State Fair on Sept. 26 and 27. The Post chatted with Allen<br />
to find out what attracts her to <strong>this</strong> fast-paced sport.<br />
Q: <strong>What</strong> is Cowboy Mounted Shooting?<br />
A: It takes place in an arena. There are 10 balloons<br />
mounted on traffic cones. You have two guns. You use<br />
the first to shoot at the first five cones and the second for<br />
the next five. There’s a certain sequence <strong>you</strong> have to follow,<br />
and it’s a timed event, so speed counts. While racing<br />
around the course, <strong>you</strong> have to shoot at the balloons and<br />
hopefully hit them. You get penalized if <strong>you</strong> go off course<br />
or if <strong>you</strong> miss <strong>you</strong>r target.<br />
Q: Is it a sport?<br />
A: It’s definitely a sport. There’s so much skill involved.<br />
You <strong>can</strong>’t be a passenger. You really have to ride the horse.<br />
And <strong>you</strong> have to be able to combine that with shooting on<br />
target.<br />
Q: How did <strong>you</strong> get interested in the sport?<br />
A: I had a friend who was starting in the sport in May<br />
2008, and she needed a buddy to do it with. I went to her<br />
Anne Allen participated in a Cowboy Mounted Shooting event in mid-July at Calfpasture Farms in Louisa.<br />
2009 Cowboy Mounted Shooting<br />
<strong>Virginia</strong> State Championship<br />
When: Sept. 26-27<br />
Where: the Meadow event park in doswell<br />
Details: http://1stvirginiacmsa.com/; www.statefair.<br />
com; (804) 569-3200<br />
house and shot a pistol. It was something so different — I<br />
enjoyed it.<br />
Q: How many people do <strong>you</strong> typically compete<br />
against?<br />
A: It depends. I’ve gone to a shoot where there were<br />
88 people. I’ve gone to another where there were only 20.<br />
Q: How have <strong>you</strong> fared in competition?<br />
A: I advanced in July from Level 1 to Level 2. Riders<br />
compete in Level 1 through Level 6. You need two wins in<br />
<strong>you</strong>r class to move to the next level.<br />
Q: <strong>What</strong>’s needed to participate?<br />
A: A horse, of course, guns (45-caliber), holsters, Western-attire<br />
clothes. <strong>What</strong>’s nice is <strong>you</strong> <strong>can</strong> come to shows<br />
and try it. Competitors with highly trained horses will often<br />
let <strong>you</strong> try it out.<br />
Q: <strong>What</strong> is <strong>you</strong>r riding experience?<br />
A: I rode English a little as a kid. Then as an adult I<br />
began riding again. Mostly trail riding, some hunters and<br />
Photo by Skip Rowland<br />
13 AT THE FAIR<br />
jumping. I switched to Western two years ago when my<br />
trainer, Doug Sloan, suggested it. I liked it. I feel more<br />
secure in the saddle.<br />
Q: You have three horses. Do <strong>you</strong> use them all for<br />
Cowboy Mounted Shooting?<br />
A: I primarily compete with Tinker, a 12-year-old Irish<br />
Gypsy. We are learning together.<br />
Q: <strong>What</strong> do <strong>you</strong> enjoy about the sport?<br />
A: I especially like the bond <strong>you</strong> have with <strong>you</strong>r animal.<br />
I feel my horse and I have evolved. We have become much<br />
closer than I feel we would have if we were just trail riding.<br />
He trusts me much more. And I have to admit there’s<br />
just something special about wielding a gun on a horse.<br />
When it’s done right … what a feeling!<br />
▪The Post welcomes feedback and story ideas. To contact us, e-mail Joan Hughes<br />
at jchruby@msn.com or call (804) 512-4373.<br />
Photo by Skip Rowland<br />
more on anne allen<br />
name: Anne Allen.<br />
born: Lier, Belgium.<br />
residence: Manakin-Sabot.<br />
Family: Husband, Coleman; children, Sean,<br />
27, Kara, 25.<br />
Pets: Three dogs (Little Bean, Billie and<br />
Gus); one cat (Butch); three horses (Tinker,<br />
Talifsman and Pistol).<br />
occupation: Co-owner of Scarab<br />
Productions.<br />
education: Bachelor’s and master’s<br />
degrees in linguistics from Leuven College<br />
in Belgium.<br />
Hobbies: <strong>Horse</strong>back riding. “There’s no<br />
time for anything else.”<br />
<strong>Horse</strong> highlight: Deciding to compete in<br />
Cowboy Mounted Shooting.<br />
Best horse advice received: “Go see Doug<br />
Sloan. He’s the best trainer.”<br />
Philosophy on life: “Live life to the fullest.”<br />
www.horsenation.us
14<br />
Continued from page 3<br />
To The Post:<br />
www.horsenation.us<br />
LETTERS Fall 2009<br />
Have <strong>you</strong> ever seen on TV, horses and mules traveling<br />
through the countryside, with big bags hanging from their<br />
backs, tied tail-to-nose?<br />
Do <strong>you</strong> wonder where they are going or what they are<br />
doing? <strong>What</strong> is in those bags anyway?<br />
Packers are equestrians who love the backcountry and<br />
pack their horses and or mules with all they will need to<br />
survive for how ever many days they will be gone.<br />
We are volunteers with the U.S. Forest Service and<br />
Back Country <strong>Horse</strong>men. Twice a year in the George<br />
Washington and Jefferson National Forests from Roanoke<br />
to Arnold’s Valley in Rockbridge County we work on a<br />
trail called the Glenwood <strong>Horse</strong> Trail. This trail is 60-plus<br />
miles with waterfalls, mountain peaks, ferns, mountain<br />
laurels, rhododendron, hawks, deer with fawns and, yes,<br />
sometimes a bear or snake.<br />
To ride all day, eat a meal, and sleep under the stars in<br />
the middle of nowhere with miles of wilderness around<br />
<strong>you</strong> is like nothing <strong>you</strong> <strong>can</strong> imagine. It is a lot like the<br />
pioneer and cowboy days. In colder months we do not use<br />
tents. We sleep in the open on top of our saddle pads.<br />
Everything to survive is on <strong>you</strong>r packhorse or mule<br />
or mustang. You have to have first aid kits for <strong>you</strong> and<br />
<strong>you</strong>r horses, tools for fixing <strong>you</strong>r horse’s shoes or a lost<br />
shoe, extra clothes, toiletries, tarps, food for <strong>you</strong> and <strong>you</strong>r<br />
horses, saws, axes, and the list goes on.<br />
You wake up after a good night’s sleep, crawl out of<br />
<strong>you</strong>r bed, feed <strong>you</strong>r animals, fix breakfast and sit around<br />
and talk.<br />
After milling around while the animals eat, we saddle up<br />
and pack our gear. Off we go, riding for about five to six<br />
hours. We really get to know each other, living with each<br />
other for a week, swapping stories, jokes and experiences.<br />
Along comes lunch. We turn the horses loose if there<br />
is grass to eat. If not, we tie them. With no grass they will<br />
wonder farther and farther away. Getting out of the saddle<br />
for a while and a potty break are always refreshing. We<br />
always use our leave-no-trace ethics. Then we mount up<br />
for the last half of the day. Again, more sights, sounds<br />
and things to experience. Then evening creeps up and we<br />
arrive at our next place to pitch camp.<br />
The first thing is to unload the animals, feed and water<br />
them. Then, we set up camp, and eat supper. With a full<br />
stomach, our eyelids grow heavy and we call it a night.<br />
Kenny rides his bay quarter horse, Buddy, and packs his<br />
mule, Mandy. I ride my mule, Susie Q, and pack Kenny’s<br />
mustang, Sally. She was born in Wyoming and is 16 years<br />
old.<br />
Bernard and Toni Irby from Halifax and Skeeter and<br />
Cindy Wisecarver from Nathalia are our partners on most<br />
of our rides. Kenny and Leah Lovell are from Naola.<br />
Kenny and Leah Lovell<br />
To The Post:<br />
Bravo! It is about time someone dedicated a section of<br />
the newspaper to the horse industry. We all know <strong>Virginia</strong><br />
is horse country. And, Albemarle County is in the thick<br />
of it. From the blessing of the hounds to one of the oldest<br />
horse shows in the country, Keswick, we have it all.<br />
Having read both issues so far, I wanted to make an<br />
addition to one of <strong>you</strong>r articles on trail riding in the area. I<br />
am the general manager for Brookhill Farm located just<br />
outside of Charlottesville. We are now offering trail rides<br />
with a little history. The farm was built in 1803 and has<br />
ties to Thomas Jefferson and Monticello. We offer a little<br />
history on horseback. We also have quite a facility that<br />
many horse lovers would enjoy seeing.<br />
The owner of the farm, Lynne Beegle Gebhard, has<br />
quite a résumé. Her mother was the riding instructor for<br />
Ohio State University. The family moved to Brookhill in<br />
1969. Lynne has followed her mother’s love for horses and<br />
has established quite a name for herself. She has competed<br />
all over the country, has played polo, fox-hunted and, to<br />
top it off, has ridden across Mongolia with a Mongolian<br />
FALL HARNESS RACING<br />
at Colonial Downs • Sept. 8 – Nov. 7<br />
RACE DAYS & POST TIMES<br />
Saturdays – 5 PM<br />
Sundays – 1 PM<br />
Tuesdays – 5 PM<br />
Wednesdays – 5 PM<br />
tribe. This in itself is quite a story. The story of <strong>this</strong> ride<br />
was featured in GQ magazine several years ago. I could<br />
go on and on about Lynne and Brookhill farm . . . please<br />
take a look at our Web site: www.bhf-inc.com. Keep up<br />
the good work!<br />
Kim Tirrell Vanderploeg<br />
To The Post:<br />
I enjoyed The Post, <strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Horse</strong> People and Places,<br />
and was looking forward to the article “Ready to Ride?”<br />
hoping it would unfold some new trails we could take our<br />
horses to ride.<br />
Although it was not the article I was hoping for, I was<br />
glad to learn of the trails available for the general public.<br />
With <strong>this</strong> in mind, I would like to suggest a spread on trails<br />
that horse owners <strong>can</strong> take their horses to ride. We live<br />
in Hanover County near Scotchtown (home of Patrick<br />
Henry) and are always looking for new trails to trailer our<br />
horses to and ride. We are familiar with Lake Anna, Sandy<br />
Point and Heritage trails to name a few. I would love to<br />
learn of any nearby trails (1- to 1½-hours by trailer) that<br />
we <strong>can</strong> trailer to and ride.<br />
On a separate note, horse owners need to be informed<br />
that riding trails are a privilege. Some trails (Lake Anna<br />
State Park to name one) are posted with a Pack Out Your<br />
Waste sign. However, every time we go there to ride I<br />
am appalled at the amount of waste that people have just<br />
swept out of their trailers and tracked out of their trailers<br />
on their horses’ feet without bothering to clean it up.<br />
I have run into the Park Rangers left to clean up the<br />
mess and they are extremely frustrated and disgusted. I do<br />
not understand the problem. We carry a muck bucket in<br />
our trailer and pack out every time we trailer. Once it is<br />
filled we put it in the truck bed for the return and it works<br />
out great. I have spoken to park officials and fear the trails<br />
will be closed to horseback riding if it does not stop. Not<br />
only do these individuals risk the closure of much needed<br />
• 10 horse races every day!<br />
• Bet <strong>you</strong>r favorite horses, cheer them<br />
on & try to win big!<br />
• NEW THIS YEAR – reduced priced wagers!<br />
Play 10¢ Superfectas<br />
50¢ Trifectas<br />
50¢ Pick-3’s & Pick-4’s<br />
Visit colonialdowns.com<br />
to download a Sunday<br />
FAMILY 4-PACK COUPON–<br />
a $58 value for only $16<br />
<strong>Virginia</strong>’s most affordable<br />
family outing <strong>this</strong> fall.<br />
Exit 214 off I-64 in beautiful New Kent! • 804-966-7223 or colonialdowns.com
Fall 2009<br />
horse trails for us all, they give all horse owners a black<br />
eye in the public view.<br />
Thank <strong>you</strong> for <strong>you</strong>r publication. Keep it coming.<br />
Claudia Swietnicki<br />
To The Post:<br />
I enjoyed <strong>you</strong>r stories on the queens in the summer<br />
edition and want to suggest <strong>you</strong> do a story on Casey<br />
Chapman, an acquaintance here in Mechanicsville.<br />
Casey played softball well enough to be named to the<br />
first team of the girls all-state softball team four years ago<br />
when she was starting shortstop at Lee-Davis High School<br />
in Mechanicsville. She played well enough to be offered a<br />
softball scholarship, but she had a deeper love: horses. As<br />
well as she played softball, she rode even better. She has<br />
ridden horses all her life and competed in numerous events<br />
as a teenager.<br />
So instead of softball, she accepted a rodeo scholarship<br />
and was off to West Alabama State College with three<br />
Kilby’s Equine<br />
Smile Restoration, Inc.<br />
ErnESt Kilby, Edt-iaEd CErtifiEd<br />
Instructor - Ameri<strong>can</strong> School of Equine Dentistry<br />
dOUGlaS SiEGriSt, Edt<br />
horses and her dog. Last year she<br />
transferred to the rodeo program at<br />
Missouri Valley College where she<br />
earned championships in such events<br />
as barrel racing, roping and goat tying.<br />
She is a senior at MV and is on-target<br />
to graduate <strong>this</strong> December after just<br />
3½ years of college. Her plans are<br />
to return to Mechanicsville to <strong>teach</strong>,<br />
with a longer range ambition to open<br />
an equine rehabilitation facility.<br />
Thank <strong>you</strong> for The Post. I have<br />
enjoyed the issues, and I truly<br />
believe Casey would be an excellent<br />
feature in that she projects such a<br />
positive image of the <strong>Virginia</strong> horse<br />
industry.<br />
Martin Wilson<br />
Editor’s note: Send letters to The Post to<br />
jchruby@msn.com. The Post reserves the<br />
right to edit all letters.<br />
Member: International Association of Equine Dentistry<br />
True wealth is about<br />
more than money.<br />
It’s about achieving life. ®<br />
Dream of Owning <strong>Horse</strong>s?<br />
Stop Dreaming It and Start Living It!!<br />
For <strong>you</strong>, a life well lived means more than money. It means<br />
supporting the things <strong>you</strong> care about. As part of that<br />
philosophy, we’re proud to salute the organizations who<br />
help make a difference in our community. Thank <strong>you</strong>,<br />
Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation for <strong>you</strong>r dedication.<br />
FREE Educational Seminar Saturday, NOVEMBER 7th, 9:30 a.m.- 3:30 p.m.<br />
AA1 2/16/09 2/04/09 YOU WILL LEARN:<br />
How to Profi t with <strong>Horse</strong>s * Tax Advantages<br />
Business Potential * Lifestyle Benefi ts<br />
Call or e-mail for our FREE DVD “Consider the Possibilities”<br />
540.254.1017 * deb@amethystacres.com<br />
www.amethystacres.com<br />
Proud to salute<br />
The Thoroughbred<br />
Retirement Foundation<br />
Jennifer L. Khoury, CFP®<br />
Peter C. Walls, CFP®<br />
Financial Advisors<br />
Merrill Lynch<br />
707 E. Main Street, 1st Floor<br />
Richmond, VA 23219<br />
Direct# (804) 780-1420<br />
http://fa.ml.com/walls_khoury<br />
It’s about achieving life and Total Merrill (design) are registered service<br />
marks of Merrill Lynch & Co., © 2008 Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner &<br />
Smith Incorporated. Member SIPC.<br />
Amethyst Acres Equine, 9195 Springwood Road, Buchanan, VA 24066<br />
30 minutes south of the <strong>Virginia</strong> <strong>Horse</strong> Center<br />
LETTERS<br />
Full Mouth Equilibration & Maintenance<br />
In order to make sure <strong>you</strong>r ad is printed correctly, please review <strong>this</strong> proof for accuracy.<br />
Media General Inc. will proceed with the printing of <strong>this</strong> ad, and will no longer be held<br />
responsible for mistakes to the ad once it has been approved.<br />
phone<br />
717.244.1724<br />
www.KilbyEquineSmile.com<br />
Va. license no. 0309000011<br />
15<br />
www.horsenation.us