KER's equine nutrition and health magazine most recent issue, Volume 10, Issue 1, presents articles on avoiding subclinical acidosis, feeding older broodmares, and preventing problems with fescue. There's a report on KER's fall conference as well as a profile of the ten two-year-old Thoroughbred geldings that recently joined the KER research herd.

KER Ambassador Caroline Wagner has been dominating the Dressage circuit of late. Caroline and her beautiful warmblood W.S. Nevada won both the Prix St Georges and the Intermediate tests at January's Yarra Valley Dressage Club Championships with an amazing high score of 63.83%. This feat lead to them being declared the Jackpot Winner for most successful combination at the championships.

Caroline and her young horse W.S. Donatello have also been regularly competing and recorded a 6th place in the Novice division of the Victorian Dressage Club competition.

It has been a pleasure to be involved in Caroline's progression from a highly successful Show rider to a rider to watch in her new discipline of Dressage. No doubt the triumphs will continue for Caroline and her team of horses!

Team Member Success Story updates from around the globe.

HAY THERE! While some parts of the country are experiencing a mild winter and owners are feeding less hay than they expected, others may be eyeing empty haylofts and wondering about forage options. An article in Equinews 9, 2 sings the praises of forage cubes "Nutrition and Convenience in Cube Form." The article talks about uniform nutrient profile, ease of storage, and less wastage than when feeding loose hay. Another article in this issue leads readers through the steps for determining quality and feed value in baled hay, "Deciphering Hay Quality".

The race mare Ouija Board received an Eclipse Award as champion turf female, the second time she has won this honor. The mare won the Emirates Airline Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1) race twice in the last three years. Ouija Board has been retired from racing and will be bred to Kingmambo in the spring of 2007. Saracen Feeds is proud to have provided the feeds that fueled Ouija Board in a race career in which her earnings totaled more than $6,300,000.

Sponsored riders had a big weekend at the Virginia Horse Trials. Kim Severson rode Tipperary Liadhnan to victory and brought Wall Street Whisper into second place in the CCI* level. She finished second on Anastasia in the Open Training A division and rounded out the event with an eighth-place standing on Tsunami in the CIC** competition. Perennial champion Karen O'Connor claimed first place on Lottery Ticket in Open Intermediate 1E. O'Connor also won with Mandiba in CIC* Young Horse and was second with Theodore O'Connor in Open Intermediate 2E. John Williams and Sweepea Dean won in Open Preliminary B. These riders are sponsored by KER and/or Pennfield Feeds.

Ouija Board, a five-year-old mare, beat her male counterparts in the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot racecourse in England. The victory pushed Ouija Board's winnings past the $4 million mark. The mare has also raced successfully in Ireland, France, Japan, Hong Kong, Dubai, and the United States. Products and nutritional counseling from Saracen Horse Feeds keep Ouija Board consistently at the top of her game.

The world's richest race for two-year-olds, the Golden Slipper Stakes in Australia, was won by Miss Finland. In a field of sixteen horses, the talented filly threaded her way from the rear of the pack through all contenders to finish in front by 4 ½ lengths. Miss Finland has been reared and trained on feeds supplied by Ridley Agriproducts.

Many top Thoroughbred trainers use products supplied by Hallway Feeds to keep young horses in peak racing form. Bobby Frankel had winners at Belmont and Monmouth Park. Neil Drysdale prepped Aragorn to set a new track record in the Eddie Read Handicap at Del Mar. The Tin Man, trained by Richard Mandella, won the American Invitational Handicap at Hollywood Park. Bob Baffert was named Thoroughbred Times Trainer of the Week when his horses had won 47 of 169 starts (27.8%) early last year.

Arlene "Tuny" Page, a United States Equestrian Federation selected dressage rider, knew her horse had talent, but he was unable to train consistently because of metabolic problems and insulin fluctuations. USEF sponsor Kentucky Equine Research analyzed the horse's nutritional program and suggested switching the horse to Re-Leve, a high-fat, high-fiber, low-starch feed formulated by KER and manufactured by Hallway Feeds. After this change, Page and Wild One had wins at the USEF National Grand Prix Freestyle Championship and the U.S. League Final CDI-W, qualifying Page for the FEI World Cup Dressage Final in The Netherlands.

The Kentucky Equine Research Spring Conference for Team Members will be held April 30 and May 1, 2007 in Lexington, Kentucky. The meeting will fall in the week between the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event and the Kentucky Derby, the first race of this year's Triple Crown series for Thoroughbreds. This conference will provide KER Team Members the opportunity to learn of new and innovative research, product development, and software updates that KER offers, plus the chance to network with feed manufacturers from around the world. For more information, contact Eileen Phethean at ephethean@ker.com or 859-873-1988.