The Standardbred c Connection c Celebrating the Versitile Standardbred! July 2016
Inside This Edition:
The Standardbred Connection July 2016 Inside This Edition:
Adding A Touch of Colour Standardrama
Page 2 Page 7
Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend Page 10 Alfie’s Story
Page 12
Standardbreds at the Library
Page 16
Heather’s Harness Racing Next Gen Contest
Page 17
Talavary Mystic
Page 19
Front Cover: A young pinto Standardbred foal from Native Stud in New Zealand enjoys the sunshine. Comments, suggestions and article ideas can be sent to Kathleen Haak c/o The Standardbred Connection at STBConnection@Gmail.com.
Adding A Touch of Colour
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hen you think of New Zealand you may think of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which was filmed there, or perhaps the rugby team, the All Blacks and their traditional war dance, the haka. They have also given the world an array of colorful Standardbreds – buckskin, piebald (black and white) and skewbald (white with any other colour). Somewhat surprisingly, this is not a recent development. Snowflake, one of the most well-known coloured Standardbreds was born in New Zealand in the spring of 1943 and her colour dates back to the late 1800’s on her dam’s side. Snowflake’s race record was successful enough that she was retired as a broodmare. She passed her chestnut skewbald coloring on to several of her offspring but the colour didn’t always breed true. In fact, only four of her foals were coloured.
It wasn’t until 2007 that the Horse Genome Project collaborators sequenced the equine genome (or genetic material/DNA) and we were better able to understand why all her foals were not coloured. Skewbald horses begin most commonly with a chestnut base coat colour, a somewhat rare colour in Standardbreds. The foal would then also need the tobiano gene (creating large white areas). Horses that are homozygous (carry the same gene from both parents) for tobiano gene will always produce spotted foals, regardless of their mate. Sadly, colour genes are not common in registered Standardbreds. Many of the current coloured Standardbreds are a result of the Rasmussen Factor somewhere in their pedigree. The Rasmussen Factor is a term used to describe inbreeding to superior female families through different individuals, generally at least four generations out. Inbreeding to full or half siblings within four generations typically results in a healthy animal, while inbreeding closer within the family would typically produce an unhealthy horse. All that genetic research and careful breeding has produced is some fine coloured Standardbreds who have made a mark in the show ring. In fact, two coloured Standardbreds have been the recipients of the highly prized, Standardbred Pleasure & Performance Horse Association of Victoria’s Perpetual High Point Award – M P Ataya Secret in 2009 and Champagne King in 1996. While they are still typically found in New Zealand and Australia there are a scattering of coloured Standardbreds in England, Canada and the United States. We’ve yet to see any coloured Standardbreds in the SPHO show rings but Hiltons Hot Stuff, a distant relative of Snowflake, has recently made her way to Canada from England to race. Perhaps we’ll see more and more colour in Standardbreds in the future. Previous Page Image: Native Cookiesncream (aka Spotty) takes a jump for owner Melissa Eden. Left: A young pinto Standardbred smells the wildflowers in New Zealand. Photo provided by Melissa Eden. Many thanks to Melissa Eden and Native Stud for the extensive use of their photo collection for this article.
George (HORSEINSTRIPEDPYJAMAS) is owned by Sofie Williams of Christchurch, New Zealand. Sadly George and his sibling suffered through a bout of salminella poisoning. His sibling did not recover but with time George has. He is now a lovely seven-year-old gelding well on his way to making a mark in the show ring. Photo provided by Sofie Williams.
Top: Coloured Euphoria (Patrick) as a youngster. He is now well Top: Dundee’s Dream with her 2014 fo started under saddle for Sofie Williams in New Zealand. George horses begin most commonly with a c is registered with the Australian Harness Racing Assoc. as a skewbald. Below: Millie Mccool and her 2014 foal by Natives Royal Affair. Millie has successfully produced coloured Standardbred foals who have made their way to the show ring and the racetrack.
Bottom: Natives Royal Affair (aka Bas stallion, has been making his mark in and showed by Melissa Eden, standin
oal by Natives Royal Affair. Skewbald Top: Standardbred stallion Tomahawk made some money on the track but failed to live up to his promise. He recently sold for $750 in chestnut base coat colour, New Zealand.
sil), a 2009 coloured Standardbred the showring and as a sire. Owned ng at Native Stud in New Zealand.
Bottom: Native Snow Warrior (George) clipped and ready to show. This 10-year old is registered as a skewbald. He trained for the track but found his calling in the show ring.
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tandardrama started this years show season in Ontario with a bang! They are one of 5 organizations to host shows in the Standardbred Showcase - Ontario Standardbred Show Series. The other four being the Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society (OSAS), the South Western Ontario Standardbred Horse Show (SWOSHS), and the show hosted by the creators of the show series, Standardbred Showcase. Standardrama joined the series in 2010 when Tammi Hughes along with Sarah Waldram saw the need for a show on the east side of Toronto. The show is located every year at the Orono Fairgrounds which was the site of racing up until the 70’s. Fitting that the horses may be walking the very grounds of their fore fathers. This year’s show was held on June 12th, which, unlike the blistering heat the day before, turned out to be a chilly, blustery day. It did not, however, fade the enthusiasm of the participants. Twenty-eight horse-rider combinations enter the ring to compete in the thirty-six classes offered. The series has always offered a variety of English, Western and Driving classes, but in the last few years we have been focusing on growing our youth division. Standardbreds are such versatile horses and a perfect first horse for youth ready to take that
by Renee Sutton Photos by Stephany Hawse-Wade step or for those returning to the ring after a hiatus. Standardrama saw the birth of the lead line class, being the first in the series to host this new class. Our two participants were Ava MacDonald, daughter of driver Anthony MacDonald, and Brody Nicolson, Tammi’s son who just a few short months ago was critically ill. Brody is now being taken care of in the show ring by veteran show horse, Double A Victory. Also added to the roster this year is a pleasure driving class for our youth participants. We went with a youth reinsmanship class to allow the children a safe environment for their driving debut in the show ring. They will compete one at a time, with an adult accompanying them. This allows them to compete without the worry of others in the ring, and leaves room for sharing horses so more of the youth have an opportunity to experience one of the Standardbreds talents. Special guests of the show included trainer David Gibson who manned the mic and was the official announcer for the day, and driver Ron Waples who made a guest appearance to pin some classes. These horses put a lot into their life as a racehorse, so it is fantastic to see how the industry steps up to support the after racing life of the Standardbred, from drivers and trainers, to the grooms and caretakers, and those who are much needed
sponsors for all the shows involved. Without all of them we would not be able to run these shows. One thing I have noticed being involved in running these shows, that I have not experienced at other shows, is a real sense of community. It is like a big family, and Standardrama was the start of our family get togethers this summer. We now look forward to our next get together with our Standardbred family at the first of our two OSAS shows, being held again in Campebellville just a few short miles from Mohawk racetrack. I look forward to seeing everyone there! Remaining dates • July 17th - OSAS - Touch N Go Farms • July 31st - Showcase Summer Classic Ancaster Fairgrounds • August 20th-21st - SWOSHS - Ridgetown Fairgrounds • August 28th - OSAS - Touch N Go Farms
Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend
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alory Abram started showing DiamondsArtForever in 4-H and open shows four years ago and has been very successful in the walk-trot, easy gaited, driving, and contesting classes. They make a great team and have twice competed at the World Standardbred Show in Sunbury, Ohio. Malory was only 11-years-old when she learned to drive Diamond. By age 13, Malory and Diamond were winning Reserve Grand Champion in Pleasure Driving and numerous other top five finishes at the World Show. At 19-years-old, this Diamond is still sparkling and getting better with age. In June, Malory and Diamond once again qualified to compete at the Ohio State 4-H horse show in easy gaited classes and they hope to bring home many ribbons from the county fair that starts July 17. Malory and Diamond have participated in multiple breed demonstrations at the Kentucky Horse Park as well as hunter paces, trail rides and parades. DiamondsArtForever didn’t have a brilliant racing career like her sire, Artsplace, but she has definitely become a family treasure!
Top Photo: Malory with her first place in her age group for 2-gait English Equitation and Letitia Abram with her 6th place in Adult 2-gaited English Equitation at the World Standardbred Show. Left Photo: DiamondsArtForever and Malory competing in easy gaited equitation at her local fair.
Alfie’s Story
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remember the phone call. I was in the hospital, at my seriously ill Father’s bedside, discussing, with his cardiologist, the options and risks of heart surgery on a man of his age. My partner’s voice rang out- “Do we want a four-year-old trotter mare, for nothing?” I felt incredulous. Two decisions to be made. Both were probably equally important to the two different lives involved. My answer to both questions was a firm “No”. No, I didn’t think surgery was worth risking and no, we didn’t want another horse! Cardiologists obviously take more notice of you than partners do.
A few days later, a five-year old gelding stepped out of a trailer and into our lives. He’d apparently gained a year and had a sex change in those few days! Clever eh? Alfie, as he was called, had come straight from the harness racing trainer in the north of England who had had very little success with him and declared him “no good”. He wasn’t easy on
by Carole Redgrave the eye. Scrawny, dull and quite nervous, with little lumps under his skin, all over his body. We decided to turn him away with our retired brood mare in a field with grass up to his eyeballs! Six months later, you would have hardly recognised him! My partner, a harness racing devotee of some fifty-odd years, decided he would have a “play about” with Alfie as he had nothing of his own in training at the time, and he gets bored easily! He started him off very gently and spent ages grooming and fussing over him. He was impressed with Alfie’s honesty and generous nature after all he’d been through. We knew he’d had a “bleed” in his last race (a lung hemorrhage which shows as a nasal bleed- usually due to not being fit enough for the work asked), we also knew he had a habit of getting his tongue over the bit (which then removes any chance of steering a horse!) We were also concerned that quite a few of the lumps under his skin were still apparent.
Alfie’s shoeing was also addressed and his feet (which were in a pretty bad way) were improved dramatically. Within a few months under such one-to-one care and attention, Alfie turned from an ugly duckling into a beautiful swan! My partner raced him and he certainly performed! Unfortunately, there were very few races for Novice, British-bred trotters. He entered him in The Prakas (a top race for British-bred trotters) and finished a very creditable third amongst top class Open horses. He was then turned away for the winter- well, he was out during the day and brought in at night with the rest of the “herd” (of five!). He still received two feeds a day which included a “feed balancer” which we swear by as it contains pro and pre-biotics, omega 3, vitamins & minerals. The following April, we decided to try him in the four-wheeler that I do Driving Trials with. This involved the introduction of breeching. Needless to say, he took to it without any problems, so I decided to bring him on for Driving Trials. I spent ages long reining him in the school, getting him used to verbal commands and also making him realise 10-Year old Harvey Lawton may be autistic but that the whip was not a “go faster” aid, but a “move that doesn’t stop him from being the leader of the over” one. I also drove him out on the roads and Alfie Fan Club. through the tracks in the local woods. I was very impressed with him and could see him taking to We researched different bits and found one that Driving Trials really well. was anatomically designed to dissuade horses from getting their tongues over it (a lot of trainers I wanted him to have the best possible start with will simply use a tongue-tie to tie the tongue down his dressage training, so I sent him to Chris Ainbut my partner has never been keen on this meth- scough at Thompson House Equestrian, near od). We also researched into lung bleeds and pur- Wigan in Lancashire. Chris is a top pony driver chased some nasal strips which are designed to and has successfully competed abroad under FEI enable the nostrils to open wider to allowing more rules. He has a lovely way with horses and Alfie air-flow into the lungs (used a lot in the Eventing completely fell in love with him. I mean literally! world). We also intended getting him to peak fit- Even now, if he hears Chris’s voice when we’re at ness before we even considered him for a race! an event, he’s looking for him! He spent five weeks We delved into the chaotic world of different horse feeds on the market and introduced him to the feed balancer we use for all our others- which they all thrive on- and a competition cube, along with the addition of oil and electrolytes.
there and learnt some very good habits! The first one Chris insists on is standing still for a good few minutes after the driver gets on the carriage. This has proved invaluable on so many occasions and people really should train their animals from the outset to do it. Out on the roads, it is a godsend!
Alfie’s first day with Chris Ainscough at Thompson House Equestrian. Whilst he was at Chris’s, he was also backed and schooled lightly under saddle. Again, he was no problem. Typical Standardbred!
had enough, but we went on to do all four and he even started trying to speed up for the last two! Bless him.
Once I got him home, I continued his driven schooling and tentatively entered him for an Indoor Trials competition in October 2015. He didn’t put a foot wrong. His dressage was lovely and accurate, despite not being able to perform the collection and extensions asked for in the Open Test that I had to enter. I just did it all at working trot. He still got a respectable score as at an Indoor competition, accuracy accounts for half of it. In the Cones section, he was a little bit in awe! Firstly, he’d never been in an indoor arena (the dressage had been done in the outdoor arena) and secondly, he’d never seen a full course of cones with all the numbering etc. We did hit one or two and he was slow on the time but did nothing wrong. The four obstacles in the afternoon would be a challenge for him, but I’d sussed out big, long, flowing routes for him and he coped really well. My plan had been to do the first two and see how he was, then retire him if he’d
We went on to do another Indoor Competition in November, and again, he really pleased me. We also entered the December competition, but something went amiss and after the dressage, he didn’t seem quite right. The going was extremely deep in the outdoor arena due to the excessive rain we’d been having and I still think that he “tweaked” something. His cones were not up to his usual standard and he wasn’t his usual forward-going self, so I retired and missed out the obstacle phase. Back at home, over the following few weeks, each time I got him out, he wasn’t quite right, but you couldn’t just put your finger on what exactly was wrong with him. I gave him a month off and then took him back up to Chris’s to see his Chiropractor. She examined him but couldn’t really find anything specifically wrong, other than maybe just
slight weakness around his left hind muscles. Back home again, I arranged for a local Dressage rider to come and ride him and give me her opinion. Becky Jackson of Holly Tree Dressage at Marthall, near Knutsford, is a lovely sympathetic rider and I am so glad I chanced to find her. She has slowly, slowly schooled him under saddle once or twice a week- mainly at walk – to build his back end up. She loves Alfie’s amazing temperament and is now quite smitten with him! He is getting stronger every week now and has completed three, two-day events with Chester Driving Trials Ltd. For the first two, I entered the Novice class H/C but for the third one, we went for it and entered Open Horse! It was a strong class of 8 and we were 5th in the dressage ( the Judge did remark that he occasionally looked to be struggling a little on his left hind, but not so that she would eliminate us) He absolutely flew round the cones, going clear but with a few time penalties as we’d had to do a large circle before number 18 as he was just going far too fast to turn safely! He finished the cones in 3rd place. On the marathon, there were two water obstacles- he’d only ever seen one previously, a river crossing at the last event, so these slightly held us up as I had to cajole him into the big “ponds”, but again, he made up for it on the non-water obstacles and we finished in overall 5th place which I was over the moon with! I hadn’t been pushing him at all and I’d chosen long, flowing routes around all the obstacles wherever possible, but he just eats up the ground with that trot of his and gets some very respectable times. We have our fourth event coming up soon, and I am really looking forward to it! I would never have thought that the scrawny little lad who came out of that trailer that night would have ever turned into a promising Trials horse! By the way, my Dad is still going strong as well!!
Alfie going through a water hazard at the Llanymynech Driving Trials.
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une in New Jersey is the “Month of the Horse” and that means Suzanne D’Ambrose and her Standardbred, Indy, are busy being ambassadors at their local libraries. Kate Vogel and her mustang, Fez, joined her for a visit to the Monmouth County Library in Manalapan on June 12th. Children not only had the opportunity to pet and groom Indy and Fex but also read to them. The Howell Twp. Library received a visit from Indy on June 22nd.
Heat
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Next Gen
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f you’ve ever met Heather Vitale or watched her on one of her two harness racing TV shows, you know that “Sparkle, Shine, Show Time” isn’t just a website slogan, it’s how she does life. So when Heather decided to have a contest focused on promoting Standardbreds to the next generation we knew the winner would be an enthusiastic individual. And the winner is .... Kirsi Bertolini! Kirsi is not only promoting Standardbreds at schools but also nursing homes. It was her visit to the Helen E Thompson Elementary school in Gardiner, Maine that attracted Heather’s attention. Fulla Fire was one of the main Standardbreds involved, and his owner, Craig Hall, and his two sons, Aaron and Ryan, also participated. Together the group harnessed
ther’s
s Racing
n Contest Fulla Fire several times (the children visit in small groups) and hooked him to a racebike while students watched. There was much discussion on the use of helmets (how they differ from bicycle helmets, colors, etc) and horseshoes. Just how lucky are horseshoes? The highlight was that every student was offered the opportunity to feed Fulla Fire a piece of carrot. The 13-year-old gelding ate it up - both the attention and the carrots. We look forward to continuing to see Fulla Fire not only on the track but also out with the community. Many thanks to his owners for allowing his involvement and a big thank you to Kirsi Bertolini for taking the time to promote racing to the next generation.
Photos provided by Kirsi Bertolini
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hile these two Standardbreds are no longer racing on the track they are in ‘race’ to the finish line...of the Prestwold Endurance Ride - 30 Mile Class. Talavary Mystic (aka Meg) is an eight-year old mare who had been doing endurance rides for about three years. Rider Kathryn Ellis reports, “Meg took to endurance like a duck to water and has been quite succesfull.” Meg has several wins, including a win at Thoresby in June, at a variety of distances. The pair moved up from 20 mile rides to the 30 mile class earlier this year and have successfully completed two 30 milers. The gelding on the far side of Meg is Mr. T (aka Marquis) a 11-year-old who just started completing long distance rides. Julie Cooney rode him on behalf of his owner. Before and after each ‘race’ every horses is seen by a veterarian. Horses need to be sound and fit plus have a heart rate of 64 beats per minute or less to pass the vetting phase. “On the final vetting, the lower the heart rate the more competitive you will be as this is an indicator of how fit your horse is and how well you have ridden. It is used, along with your ride speed, to calculate your points score,” according to Sport Endurance in the UK. Photo by IndiePics, Ruth Saunby, Photographer
Have you seen Silver Flash? Harrah’s Philadelphia is looking for the first horse to win a race at Harrah’s - a gelding named Silver Flash (XE315). He is 13 yrs old now. He retired from racing and was used in civil war reenactments Contact Colleen Chambers in the racing office at Harrah’s with information on Silver Flash. Saddle pads !! All-Purpose: SPHO-NJ logo or STB, available in Black, White, White with black trim, Navy, & Hunter Green. Dressage: SPHO-NJ logo or STB, available in Black, White, White with black trim. $40.00 each + $10.00 shipping (if needed). SPHO-NJ members - 10% discount. Shipping is combined if 2 or more are ordered. Contact Suzanne D’Ambrose at SPHONJnews@aol.com to order.
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From the Editor of The Standardbred Connection: