HITS Culpeper Kicks Off! Peter Leone Wins the $40,000 EMO Grand Prix

© ESI Photography. Peter Leone and Nerval de la Batia win their first Grand Prix of the season at HITS Culpeper in Sunday's $40,000 EMO Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health.

CULPEPER, VA (April 26, 2010) — Peter Leone and Nerval de la Batia, owned by The Beaupre Group, are on the road to the Pfizer Million as they took home the victory in Sunday’s $40,000 EMO Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, to highlight the Commonwealth National.

“It means a lot to me to come here and kick off the season,” said Leone of Greenwich, Connecticut, who competed in his first of eight needed Pfizer Million Grand Prix qualifiers. “Tom Struzzieri and HITS have done a fantastic thing organizing the [Pfizer] $1 Million Grand Prix as a year-end finale.”

Leone was one of 18 to compete on a course designed by Danny Foster of Canada, that only saw four horse and rider teams return for the jump-off.

“I thought the course was excellent,” said Leone. “It was a long and very challenging course.”

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Tags: equestrian competitions, equestrian disciplines, Grand Prix, HITS, hunter/jumper, Show Jumping

Come Celebrate with AQHA at QuarterFest

America’s Horse, April, 26, 2010 – The words “expo” or “clinic” really don’t capture the essence of QuarterFest: A Celebration of the Horse. Actually, “celebration” is a pretty good way to sum it up.

Sponsored by the American Quarter Horse Association, QuarterFest – April 30 – May 2 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee – is a weekend filled with top-notch clinicians, a fun area for kids, evenings of entertainment and more. Whether you bring your horse to participate or just come to watch, you’re sure to find plenty to see and do. Here are some of the highlights:

• Clinicians include: Stacy Westfall (reining), Lynn Palm (English equitation and dressage), Julie Goodnight (common riding problems and solutions), Curt Pate (ranch roping and stockmanship), Tammy Pate (yoga/horsemanship and negotiating trail obstacles), Mike Major (versatility ranch horse), Ken McNabb (colt starting), Bo Winslow (horse camping), and Christy Landwehr (beginning horsemanship and youth riding lessons).
• What’s a celebration without party games? The QuarterFest playday kicks off April 30 and May 1, with fun games like egg and spoon horsemanship, apple bobbing and cowboy jousting, just to name a few. The competitions will be separated into age groups, with great prizes in each division. The cost is only $5 per session, payable at the gate. Special QuarterFest certificates of achievement will be mailed to participants riding American Quarter Horses. To learn more about the play day, visit www.aqha.com/news/2010PressReleases/03292010QuarterFestPlayDay.
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Tags: American Quarter Horse, AQHA, clinic, dressage, equestrian community, equestrian disciplines, equitation, expo, horse-back riding, Horsemanship, hunter/jumper, QuarterFest, Reining, Western

Hardin Montana Says No Thanks to Horse Slaughter Plant

April 26, 2010 – CHICAGO (EWA) – Montana Representative Ed Butcher’s plan of building a horse slaughter plant in Hardin, MT has ended.

The city of Hardin unanimously passed Ordinance No. 2010-01 that amends the current zoning ordinance to prohibit the slaughter of more than 25 animals in a seven day period. The action effectively bars the building of a slaughter plant in Hardin.

Mayor Kimberly A. Hammond provided the following statement to Equine Welfare Alliance (EWA).

“I have no deluded thoughts or feelings about the need for proper disposal or care of unwanted horses.

As Mayor of a small city, it is my responsibility to make information available to our public, especially when it concerns public safety, health, and how their tax dollars are being spent.

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Tags: Equine Protection, equine welfare alliance, EWA, Horse Care, horse slaughter