One of my friends from Hawaii, Maria Lowder, just returned from a trip to Mongolia and shared some pictures of the Mongolian horse races she attended with me.
Native to Mongolia, the Mongolian horse lives outdoors year-round, searches for food on his own, and the mares’ milk is processed into a national beverage (Kumis). The Mongolian horse serves not only as a riding animal for the daily work of the nomads, but also for horse racing. According to Wikipedia:
“…. two-year-old horses race for ten miles and seven-year-olds for seventeen miles. Up to 1000 horses from any part of Mongolia can be chosen to participate.
Children from 5 to 13 are chosen as jockeys who train in the months preceding the races.”
The Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2010 in Kentucky will represent the largest equine sporting event ever held in the United States. Held at the Kentucky Horse Park from September 25 to October 10, 2010, this will be the first time that the event will be held outside of Europe.”
Comprised of over 130 member countries and eight equestrian sports – - show jumping, dressage, eventing, driving, endurance, vaulting, reining and para-equestrian – - the FEI World Equestrian Games are held every four years.
The $2.1 million NCHA Summer Cutting Spectacular continues in Fort Worth, TX. I love that you can watch the live webcasts! The “Spectacular” is sponsored by the Great American Insurance Group.
The NCHA Cutting website is a great site to visit, and a great source of information about the world of cutting horses. Sally Harrison, who writes the world’s most popular cutting horse blog, has compiled an interactive guide to the results of this season’s major limited age events. Some of the recent events are listed below:
Living along the Hudson River, 100 miles North of New York City, Juliet R. Harrison is an artist with a Master of Fine Art, Photography, from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1991. She works almost exclusively in traditional B&W photography, and hand prints her Silver Gelatin prints in her own basement darkroom. Horses have been a life-long obsession of Juliet’s, and her beautiful images concentrate on the structure and architecture of the horse’s body, up close, using natural light to interact with accentuate her art. (Photos courtesy Juliet R. Harrison)
She has won many awards – - the one that caught my eye was the First Place – Equine Image, at the 2008 Annual Photography Competition in one of my favorite magazines, Cowboys & Indians. She also has a book: White Horses – From the Literal to the Sublime, that includes 28 of her photos. It is available for purchase on her website.
Mine That Bird continues on his path to the Breeders’ Cup, breezing 5 furlongs this morning like the Kentucky Derby Champion that he is, in preparation for his August 1st ‘date’ in the West Virginia Derby. According to his trainer, Chip Woolley, Jr.:
“We’ll breeze him one soft one over the racetrack over there [at Mountaineer] and run,” Woolley said. “After that, we’ll head straight to Saratoga [Race Course for the Shadwell Travers Stakes (G1) on August 29].”
Read more about Mine That Bird (and Rachel Alexandra too) here.
If you enjoy following Thoroughbred Racing, the Thoroughbred Times and Equibase have great sites full of information.
Robin Shen is a passionate horseman who is not only busy training horses, teaching and utilizing natural horsemanship and classical horsemanship, but he also provides a wealth of training information on his blog, The Enlightened Horseman. You will find instructions and tips for any number of training and corrective issues, both written and through video, and he adds to this blog on a regular basis.
Robin also has other blogs which are listed on his Blogger profile information here. I’ve enjoyed reading and watching ‘Max’ make progress … Follow Max from green to solid.
Robin, amazingly, is also quite ‘enlightened’ in Social Media. I discovered him on Twitter! He contributes great information on Twitter, and even answers questions. Follow him here: @RobinShen
Mike Smith will be back up on Mine That Bird for the next two scheduled races on his way to the Breeders’ Cup – - on August 1 in the West Virginia Derby, and on August 29 in the Shadwell Travers Stakes at Saratoga. Read the Thoroughbred Times article about the news by Mike Curry here, and coverage of the same story by Globe Sports here.
I love the ‘Mine That Bird’ story and his great trainer, Chip Woolley.
Stopped by the mini-farm yesterday on Mauney Cove Road, maybe 60 seconds from Granny’s Chicken Palace, and they are all geared up for pony rides. Great place to take your kids if you are in town for the weekend, or if you live here in Haywood County. Phone number not publicized; just stop by.
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Mike Smith will be back up on 
Located in Overland Park, Kansas, 
