It was a BIG show a GREAT show, a wonderful eve full of cheers and tears. So hard to say goodbye to so many wonderful performers – human and equine.
BUT then you start talking about this coming year and know it’s not over, there are too many possibilities for the future. It’s not goodbye, it’s see you later- hasta luego – arrivederci – ciao. New shows on the horizon? … like seeds starting flowers across the nation that wonderful talent spreads out in new ways, new faces, new places.
Today all the horses are moving into open pastures and will run free for awhile, I’m sure they’ll miss the work and excitement but then won’t we all? Thank You Mark Miller for bringing so much beauty and fun to so many families!!
Here’s the rest of Rachael Kraft’s fascinating article. Just think about how horses are transported around the world for shows and races the next time you’re coaxing one into your trailer. I’ve met a few transporters on the Black Stallion movies, which was very interesting for me, but only one small job on their list. You can imagine the responsibility of moving multimillion dollar horses from one race to the next! Movie stars – no big deal!
Always more to see & do at ; www.theBlackStallion.com
And now for the rest of the story …
Traveling inStyle
By: Rachael Kraft *Representative of Double D Trailers:Horse Trailer Manufacturer since 1997 with emphasis on research, design, product improvement and horse safety through creation of safer technologies. Owned by Brad Heath.
For humans, we have the choice of car or truck…train or bus…economy or first class.Wherever we go, we’d like to get there quickly, comfortably, and without a lot of hassle.Some horses travel just as much or more than the typical person and they have the added challenge of weighing close to a ton!Whether the horse is an elite athlete, a show performer or a beloved pet, they still have the ability to travel in style.
In the horse world, the most recent example of horses traveling in style is the group of talented three-year-olds competing in this year’s Triple Crown.This prestigious set of three grueling races starts in the rolling hills of bluegrass state with the Kentucky Derby.The horse Orb gave us a thrilling victory at the 2013 race and many hoped he would be a three-win contender.His hopes were dashed when he was defeated at the second race, The Preakness, held at Pimlico Racetrack in Maryland.Only one more race remained, and fans across the nation were eagerly awaiting the Belmont Stakes on Saturday, June 8 where Orb got a chance to meet his rival Oxbow in the 1 1/2 mile challenge.
Many spectators forget what a terrific challenge the Triple Crown is for a young horse.After all, they are only three-years-old.In many other horse disciplines, a horse this young would barely be starting the training for their sport.For a racehorse, they are expected to be at their very best.Each of the races is a physical and mental stress on the animal and there are only days between each of the races. In addition, the horses need to travel hundreds of miles, settle into a new stable, and prepare on a new racetrack.
It’s not surprising that Orb’s trainer, Shug McGaughey considered not racing his colt in the Belmont after a fourth place finish at the Preakness.Lucky for us, he announced that his colt would definitely race on Saturday.He made this decision after Orb ran a good workout last Sunday morning1.In the end, the exciting showdown between Orb and Oxbow didn’t matter.A 15-1 longshot named Palace Malice beat them both to the wire!Oxbow came in 2nd and Orb came in 3rd.Nothing is every predictable in the world of horseracing.
Derby winner Orb arrives at Pimlico for Preakness5.
A question still remains.Just how do elite racehorses travel from state to state to compete?Is it possible that you passed a world-class racehorse while traveling the interstate?In short…yes.For most racehorses, they travel in plush horse vans or trucks that travel on the highways.These vehicles have many of the same features as regular horse trailers, but are often air ride equipped to provide an extra smooth ride.The long trailers will have wide doors, low ramps, extra storage space, excellent ventilation and feature some high-tech amenities. Drivers will use two-way radios and GPS to find their destination while using closed circuit cameras to monitor their equine passengers8.All of this effort is taken so that the racehorse can arrive at the track in top shape to prepare for their race.
Racehorses aren’t the only equines that travel hundreds of miles by road.Meet the Budweiser Clydesdales.These beautiful teams of draft horses travel the country to make appearances at parades and sporting events.During their demonstrations, eight breath-taking animals pull an immense red cart full of products to be delivered.The team is driven by two handlers and overseen by a sturdy Dalmatian dog.These cart horses show their great strength and agility by maneuvering the cart and even “parking” it at an imaginary loading bay.It is truly a treat to see them on display.
Three teams of ten horses each travel the country to put on demonstrations.They perform at a new destination each week, which means a great deal of time on the road.In order to keep the horses happy and healthy, the horse handlers limit their travel to 500 miles a day and stop for breaks every two to three hours.“If it’s going to be a longer haul than that we’ll find an overnight along the way to stop,” said horse handler Dave Thomas.“We won’t haul more than two days in a row; if it’s longer than a two-day trip then we’ll have a rest day built in. 6”
The horses are frequently checked to avoid the main health concern – colic.Luckily, Thomas said severe bouts of colic are rare.“We’re pretty careful.That’s one of the main reasons we try not to drive over 500 miles a day.We don’t (want to) stress them out.”Once they arrive at their destination, the horses are turned out or taken for walks.They even have a special sled for the horses to pull for some exercise6.
The Budweiser Clydesdale trailer is hard to miss.It is a massive red tractor-trailer with an image of the Clydesdales prancing across the side.The trailer needs to carry ten draft horses, the crew, portable stalls, grooming supplies, basic vet supplies, and shoeing supplies.Grain, hay, and shavings are shipped ahead to their destination.They carry anything that you would need to care for a horse when you’re on the road 10-11 months of the year.Watch a video interview with Dave Thomas here (http://www.thehorse.com/videos/31711/budweiser-clydesdales-whats-in-the-trailer) 6.
TimesBudweiser employee Brady Bardin of Booneville, Miss. leads one of the Budweiser
Clydesdale horses out of its trailer outside Fabiano Brothers Inc. in Michigan7.
For even longer trips, horses cannot be transported by road and must take to the skies.The mighty Breeder’s Cup race features many horses from other countries who travel in planes to reach the event.“They travel first-class,” said Chris Santarelli.“They each want their own stall.”Santarelli is the treasurer of the Mersant International Ltd., which is the official transport coordinator for the Breeder’s Cup2.
“It is a major undertaking,” Chris Burke explained. Burke is the co-owner and operator for International Racehorse Transport, which files 5,000 horses each year.“Each air stable can hold three horses. So if you were traveling from Australia to England, three to a stall is the equivalent of economy ($17,500), two to a stall is business class ($30,000), and one horse on its own is first class ($50,000)3.”
A horse is shown here entering their jet stall for a trip aboard a plane.4
The horses don’t usually have problems with the flight.“A racehorse is usually a very disciplined animal,” says Andrea Branchini, manager of Horse America Inc.“He will travel very well.It will go up a ramp. It will go into a stall on a plane. 2”This is not to say that all of the horses are calm, cool and collected.“When you have some two-year-olds racing, you do tend to get horses that have never traveled to America.You worry a bit about hose horses in flight,” said Santerelli.2
The horses are under constant surveillance while in the sky.Grooms check them frequently to make sure they are not showing signs of dehydration or restlessness.They are given plenty of water and hay.Handlers regularly check horses’ pulses and make sure they are eating and drinking enough.
A horse in his jet stall while on board a plane4.
Each horse carries a passport that contains information about their coloring and identifying features.The passport also contains their inoculation record.For the Breeder’s Cup horses, once they reach Churchill Downs, they are put under a 42-hour quarantine to check for a normal temperature and blood tests for four diseases:glanders, piroplasmosis, equine infectious anemia, and dourine2.When they are given the all-clear they are ready to leave quarantine to prepare for the race.
Since it seems like such a hassle, you might wonder why an owner would bother to transport their horses such long distances for competitions?For racehorse owners, the prestige of winning internationally can boost a horses breeding value after they leave the track3. For other horses, special events like the Olympics, Rolex Three-Day Event, and World Equestrian Games will draw international competitors.
For the average horseperson, we don’t have any upcoming plans of taking wild cross country road trips or traveling internationally to compete.Still, your horse deserves every bit of concern and care as these elite athletes and performers.That is why is extremely important to find a horse trailer that has the best safety features for your horse.DoubleD Trailers is an excellent example of a company that provides fantastic horse trailers (http://www.doubledtrailers.com/Horse_Trailer_Models.htm) to transport your horse.They provide many different models to fit your individual needs10.Whether it be in a trailer, horse van, or in a plane, it can be certain that horses can truly travel in style.
Here’s a nice article that is in the Herald Tribune newspaper today about Dad and his literary landmark at the Venice Public Library.
Hope you get to visit sometime!
The Walter Farley Literary Landmark in the children’s wing of the Venice Area Public Library is a showcase of memorabilia about the famous author of “The Black Stallion.”
The popularity of most children’s book authors may come and go with each generation.
Just a few years ago, though, when Random House released a hardback reproduction of the original 1941 edition of “The Black Stallion” by the late Walter Farley, it found no shortage of eager fans.
That hardcover edition continues to sell, with new and returning readers posting enthusiastic reviews on bookselling websites such as Amazon.com.
Today an exhibit about Farley, who lived in Venice for decades, continues to be a drawing card at the Venice Public Library — which he and his wife Rosemary helped get built more than 47 years ago.
County library system director Sarabeth Kalajian worked at the Venice library and remembers Farley well.
“He was a frequent visitor to the library and would come and hang out with the kids,” Kalajian said. “He was definitely fun-loving, always inquisitive, always doing research… Young readers today still really love his stories. They are adventures that take you to far-off places. Some have an element of mystery. The relationship of a youngster and a horse is an appealing theme.”
“The books are wonderful,” Nancy Pike, a former head of the Venice library who helped create the Farley exhibit there. “The message they give of ‘follow your dream’ is a universal message that never grows old.”
Who was Walter Farley?
Growing up in Syracuse, N.Y., and New York City, Farley — the son of an assistant hotel manager — never owned a horse but had opportunities to visit the stables of his uncle, a professional horse trainer.
While still attending high school in Brooklyn, he started work on what would become his first and most popular novel. Millions became enchanted by “The Black Stallion,” the story of a boy and a horse that survive a shipwreck.
In 1941, Random House published the book while Farley was still an undergraduate at Columbia University.
After service in World War II, Farley pursued a successful career as a children’s book author — writing sequels to “The Black Stallion” and many other books.
Shortly after the war, he and his wife started splitting time between their beach home in Venice and their farm in Pennsylvania.
He died at Sarasota Memorial Hospital in October 1989 after suffering a heart attack, just a few months after the Venice Public Library unveiled an exhibit about him and shortly before the publication of his final book, “The Young Black Stallion.”
Rosemary Farley, 94, died March 6 at her Venice home.
The Hollywood versions
Farley rejected offers from Disney and others to make a movie of “The Black Stallion” because the producers wanted to alter the story.
He eventually agreed to let Francis Ford Coppola produce the popular 1979 film of the same title, which critic Pauline Kael wrote “may be the greatest children’s movie ever made.”
The TV show inspired by the book and movie, “The Adventures of the Black Stallion,” lasted 78 episodes and still sells on DVD.
In his own words
Farley, in a 1980 interview with the Herald-Tribune: “When I look back on it, writing has been the perfect career for me. As I’ve said before, I’m a professional observer and I like to put my observations on paper. I suppose if I hadn’t become a writer I would have found a career related to my interest in horses.”
A ‘Literary Landmark’
When the Venice Public Library unveiled an exhibit about Farley in its children’s wing in 1989, it called the glass-enclosed showcase the “Walter Farley Literary Landmark.”
Today, the exhibit still contains Farley’s typewriter, saddle and many personal letters and photos.
His son, Tim Farley, maintains an active website about his father’s legacy, TheBlackStallion.com, and, in his memory, oversees the Horse Tales Literacy Project, which encourages children to read.
My friend and writer E. McCall just finished this interview with the fabulous Hollywood horse trainer Bobby Lovgren for the latest Cowboys & Indians magazine.
Bobby worked a lot with Corky Randall, head trainer on the Black Stallion movies, and Houdini was one of the “stars” in the “Zorro” movies and “Lone Ranger” among others. The Hollywood horse world is a tough business and anyone that can take the ups and downs, hurry up and waits and last minute changes deserves way more than the little wrangler / handler / trainer line somewhere hidden at the end of the credits. These guys and gals know how to get the best out of their horses and – ON CUE!!!
As the famous cowboy Roy Rogers once wrote; “Just as with human beings, so I believe it is a fact about horses; some are born to perform and some are not. When Trigger and I are about to ride into an arena, I can feel the surge of excitement run through him before the spotlight hits us. I am convinced he takes pride in his accomplishments and that he not only recognizes me but loves me… no two humans are alike, nor are two horses.”
I hope you enjoy this talk with a present day horseman and trainer, Bobby Lovgren,
Farewell Houdini: Veteran Hollywood Horse Often Played Horse Of A Different Color In Storied Career
BY ELIZABETH KAYE McCALL
Apr 11, 2013 – 08:01 AM
It will take time until Hollywood horse trainer Bobby Lovgren and family look back on March 27, 2013, as anything but the day Houdini died. It also happened to be Lovgren’s 48th birthday. That morning, Lovgren made a quick trip to a studio in Los Angeles and picked up a saddle. He was driving home to his ranch in Acton, when his wife Wendy called, “Houdini is sick.”
An hour later, the Lovgrens made a difficult decision together with the two veterinarians called in. The buckskin quarter horse gelding who’d made his mark in an elite cadre of Hollywood movie horses, now joined the ranks of those deceased.
Cowboys & Indians: What stands out about Houdini’s long career as an equine actor?
Bobby Lovgren: The biggest thing I can say about him, is that he was so much a part of our family. His very first big film was The Mask of Zorro [1998]. Corky Randall hired me on that. Houdini was Captain Love’s horse. I think that was one of two films where he was his own color — buckskin. Most of the time he was black, so he could double other horses. Houdini was such a confidence booster. I can’t even begin to remember all the actors that that he really babysat for, gave lessons to and things like that. This had nothing to do with my training. It was just the quality of the horse and his attitude. All my training did was enhance that.
C&I: How old was Houdini?
Lovgren: We got him in Lakeview Terrace from my horse shoer. I was told he was out of Dash for Cash, but I never got his papers. I think he was 12 when I got him. We never knew exactly. We think he was around 26 when he died, but he always acted like a 15-year-old horse or even younger, because he was always in shape. Obviously, the older Houdini got, I was very protective of what he did. He did the little specialty things. If it was difficult, I had a double for him.
C&I: Who are some of the actors who rode Houdini in his film career?
Lovgren: I think the biggest was on the second Zorro, The Legend of Zorro [2005]. Antonio Banderas rode Houdini the entire time through that. We doubled him to look like a Friesian. We did a lot of the things at liberty with Antonio, which he really liked. I’d work Houdini on the whips [like a conductor leading an orchestra] and Antonio would ride. That’s how we got his riding much better. Although he rode very well to begin with, he really enjoyed doing that with Houdini. We would work Houdini and I’d take the bridle off and work him loose with the Antonio on him. That’s how I give a lot of my lessons, actually. It gives them [actors] their balance much better. Those things are such confidence builders when you go into a project. He gave that. Houdini actually had quite a big sequence in “The Lone Ranger.” I can’t say what he did yet because the movie hasn’t been released, but he has a really nice part in that.
Here’s an interesting story about trying to save a declining species – amazing how much we can learn from research. It’s written by my dear cousin Diana Lutz. So a big THANKS for all your hard work!
The secret lives of the wild asses of the Negev
As a critically endangered population makes a comeback, scientists are keeping a discreet eye on it with the help of GPS and dung
March 27, 2013
By Diana Lutz
The wild asses of the Negev are extremely wary of people, but Brian Hampton, who studies Australia’s wild horses (in t-shirt) was able to get close enough to dart this male, called Tail-less because of a missing appendage. See the video below for the record of Tail-less’ movements generated by the GPS device with which he was fitted. The man on the left with the black hair is Amos Bouskila, another of Templeton’s collaborataors.
The story is too familiar. The Asiatic wild ass (Equus hemionus) which once ranged widely over the desert steppes Mongolia, Russia and the Arabian Peninsula now survives only in small, isolated populations.
It disappeared from the Negev, the desert region in southern Israel, in the 1920s. But a remnant herd survived in the Shah of Iran’s zoo, and some of these animals were brought back to Israel before the Iranian revolution in 1979, where they were bred in captivity. Of this captive herd 28 animals were reintroduced to the desert beginning in 1982 with an additional 10 released in 1992.
But the Asiatic wild ass is truly feral and doesn’t tolerate the presence of people. So once released, the animals were difficult to find, much less to monitor…. For the rest of the story (pdf) click here: The secret lives of the wild asses of the Negev
