At the Richland Park Horse Trials, Phillip Dutton finished as reserve champion out of thirty-two entries in the CIC two-star division aboard Why Not. Dutton rode an excellent dressage test that put him in second place after the first day. After adding minimal time penalties on the cross-country course, he produced a double-clear stadium round to maintain his second place standing. Riding Mandiba, Karen O'Connor claimed a third-place finish in the CIC three-star division. In a highly competitive field where less than five points separated the top five riders, O'Connor had no jumping faults and collected only 2.4 time faults in cross-country before executing a perfect stadium round. Both Dutton and O'Connor are sponsored by Kentucky Equine Research and Pennfield Feeds, a KER Team Member.

One month before the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, the ticket giveaway offered by Kentucky Equine Research (KER) continues.

KER is giving away tickets through weekly drawings to those who sign up for its electronic newsletters, The Weekly Feed and Equine Review, between now and September 24.

To enter on ker.com, go to the contest page and sign up for the KER newsletters. Current newsletter subscribers can enter the contest by selecting the newsletter they already receive.

A new winner will be announced every week. Each week's winner will have a choice of which event to attend from the remaining available tickets. Previous winners have selected tickets to eventing, driving, and vaulting, but many sessions remain available.

Winners will be notified via e-mail and posted on KER's Facebook profile.

Tickets must be used for the winner and a guest (not to be given away or resold), and must be picked up from the KER booth (400-502) at the International Equestrian Festival in downtown Lexington at least one day prior to the event. Read the full terms and conditions.

The Games will be held at the Kentucky Horse Park Sept. 25-Oct. 10, 2010. This is the first time the Games have been held in the United States.

KER is an international equine nutrition, research, and consultation company serving both the horse owner and the feed industry. Its goal is to advance the industry's knowledge of equine nutrition and exercise physiology and apply this knowledge to produce healthier, more athletic horses. Contact marketing@ker.com for more information.

KER-sponsored rider Karen O'Connor rode Joan Goswell's Mandiba to a win in the CIC***-W at The Event At Rebecca Farm, July 21-25 in Kalispell, Montana.

The pair was named to the United State Equestrian Federation's short list for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, to be held this fall in Lexington, Kentucky.
O'Connor also rode Quintus 54 to a second-place finish in the CCI** held at the same competition.

KER-sponsored rider Phillip Dutton earned top ribbons in the CIC*** with Truluck and Inmidair, finishing third and sixth respectively. Like O'Connor, Dutton has made the short list for the World Equestrian Games, except he has five possible mounts: Connaught, Kheops du Quesnay, The Foreman, Truluck, and Woodburn.

All short-listed horse/rider combinations must participate in the Land Rover 2010 USEA American Eventing Championships for final selection. This event will take place September 9-12, 2010, in Fairburn, Georgia.

Sign up for a chance to win tickets to the Games.

Three horses recently underwent gastroscopy to ascertain stomach health. Brief descriptions of the three horses, all with a different history of RiteTrac™ administration, follow:

Horse 1: 10-year-old Thoroughbred gelding in light training that competes occasionally but travels several times a month; diet includes a well-fortified grain mixture, alfalfa-grass hay, and free-choice pasture; never given RiteTrac™; somewhat nervous by nature and oftentimes cranky;

Horse 2: 6-year-old Thoroughbred gelding in light training; diet includes a well-fortified, high-fat, high-fiber grain mix, a balancer pellet, and free-choice access to good-quality pasture; given RiteTrac™ once daily when cribbing frequency increased; and

Horse 3: 11-year-old Thoroughbred gelding in heavy training, ridden six to seven times weekly; diet includes a well-fortified, high-fat, high-fiber concentrate, free-choice grass hay; given RiteTrac™ as indicated on the label, twice daily mixed thoroughly in a grain meal; during stressful times, he tends to lose his appetite and fret.

Gastroscopy results indicated diverse gastric environments.

Interior view of a horse's stomach.

Horse 1, the gelding that had received no RiteTrac™ whatsoever, was diagnosed with roughened gastric tissue and small pinpoint lesions that ran the entire length of the lesser curvature of the stomach. No healing lesions were noted. (See a detailed diagram of the equine stomach.)

Horse 2, the gelding that had been placed on RiteTrac™ a few weeks prior to gastroscopy, was also diagnosed with roughened margins and minute lesions along the length of the margo plicatus. Hyperkeratosis (thickening of tissue) and a moderate-sized healing ulcer were also noted along the greater curvature of the stomach.

Horse 3, the gelding that had received RiteTrac™ as indicated for a several months, had the healthiest stomach environment. Though there was evidence of healed ulcers, there was no active disease and no noteworthy lesions.

RiteTrac™ provides total-tract support for horses involved in all disciplines. RiteTrac™ is one product in the KERx range of nutritional supplements.

For more information on gastrointestinal ulcers, check out "Overview of Gastric and Colonic Ulcers," written by Frank M. Andrews and published in Advances in Equine Nutrition IV, edited by Joe Pagan, Ph.D., founder and president of Kentucky Equine Research.

Diminutive equines took center stage at the 2010 United States Equestrian Federation Pony Finals National Championships, held recently at the Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, Ky.

Ponies compete in hunter and jumper divisions at the Pony Finals National Championships.

Championships in six hunter divisions (green and regular) were bestowed to ponies in three height categories: small (not to exceed 12.2 hands), medium (over 12.2 and not to exceed 13.2 hands) and large (over 13.2 and not to exceed 14.2 hands). In addition to hunters, pony jumpers vied for a national championship, and riders from across the country tested their riding skills in the EquiSport Insurance/USEF Pony Medal Finals.

More information on the competition can be found on the USEF website.  

Ponies are notoriously easy keepers. Ever wonder how horsemen keep hunter ponies in top competition weight? Kentucky Equine Research (KER) went straight to the source. As part of a larger survey of feeding management practices of sport horses, KER nutritionists polled the owners and trainers of ponies to see exactly what they were being fed. The results of the survey are included in a paper titled "Feeding Horses at the Winter Equestrian Festival: A Review of Common Practices," featured in the proceedings of the 2010 KER Nutrition Conference, Feeding and Veterinary Management of the Sport Horse. 

The Kentucky Horse Park is the site of this year's Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. You can win tickets to this exciting international event by signing up for one of KER's free electronic newsletters. Enter to win now!

The 38 Australian horses taking part in the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games will have a place in history as the first equine athletes to participate in this new global effort to introduce young people to the Olympic values.

Australia's Glen Haven Park was charged with recruiting and training the horses for the event, which will include individual and team jumping competitions. The competitors select the horse on which they'll compete through a random draw. See a video of the horses arriving and settling in to the Singapore Turf Club Riding Centre. 

Kentucky Equine Research Team Member, Barastoc (Ridley Agriproducts) is the official feed supplier for these horses for the 12 months leading up to and during the event. The horses receive nutritionally balanced diets with Barastoc feeds and KER supplements to bring out the best in each horse.

KER has worked closely with the trainers and staff at Glen Haven Park to ensure that the transition of horses from Queensland, Australia to Singapore has been as seamless as possible. The horses have been gradually acclimatized during their 12 months of training in lead-up to the games. Their diet and condition been carefully monitored throughout each stage of their preparation. These diets include:

Equestrian uniforms for the Youth Olympic Games.

• Barastoc Calm Performer
• Barastoc Cool Command
• KER Restore ™
• KER Hemabuild™
• KER Equi-Jewel™

With little time between the horses' arrival and return to peak competition fitness it has been imperative that everything, from the hay and water was taken with them whilst in transit to ensuring that their usual feed and supplements were at the venue for when they landed, to make sure the journey has been as stress free as possible. All the horses travelled extremely well and landed in excellent condition and have since begun their rigorous training schedule in lead-up to this week's competition.

Learn more about the equestrian events of the Singapore 2010 Youth Olympic Games.

There are still several more chances to win tickets to the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) from Kentucky Equine Research (KER).

To enter, just sign up for the KER newsletter of your choice (current subscribers can select the newsletter they already receive to be entered in the contest). Winners of the weekly drawings will be announced on KER's Facebook page every Friday until September 24.

They then have the chance to select the event of their choice from the available pool of tickets--including nearly every discipline.

Previous winners have chosen to see driving, eventing, and vaulting competition.

Read more and enter to win.

Olympian Karen O'Connor has set her sights on this fall's Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, reports veteran groom Max Corcoran. O'Connor, who is sponsored by Kentucky Equine Research (KER), holds one of 16 spots on the 2010 Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team Short List with longtime mount and Olympic partner Mandiba.

Their next steps in qualifying for WEG will include dressage training with Oded Shimoni and competing in jumper classes at the HITS Culpeper Spring & Summer Show Series. Their next event will be the Richland Park Horse Trials in late August, before heading to the official selection trials, the Land Rover/USEA American Eventing Championships at Chattahoochee Hills.

Corcoran is responsible for O'Connor's top horses, and works with Karen and consultants at KER to assess each horse's different nutritional needs. Each one has to be catered to differently in order to perform its best.

"The most important elements leading up to a competition are overall health of the horse, starting with nutrition," Corcoran said. "Without proper nutrition you cannot have a healthy horse and a healthy horse is a sound horse. My priorities until that time are fitness and soundness as well."

KER products used by O'Connor team include EquiShure™, Restore™, DuraPlex®, Nano•E™, Triad™, Bio-Bloom™, and Hemabuild™, while feed is provided by KER Team Member Pennfield Equine Feed Technologies.

Feeding a barrel horse can present a real challenge for an equine nutrition advisor. How do you supply the energy to fuel the enormous power, speed, and propulsion necessary to successfully compete and still have a controllable horse under you?

Melanie Desforges of Ottawa, Ontario, had wondered the same when she first talked to Tania Laframboise a Brooks Feed nutrition advisor from the Embrun Co-op. With Laframboise's help, Desforges is having her best season ever in 2010.

This is what Desforges had to say about Brooks and how Laframboise helped get her mare Royal Flexy Chick in the right frame of mind:

"It's because of the support I get from a great team that I can realize this lifelong dream. I was looking for a feed that would give Chick all the nutrition she needs and give me all the control I need in one formula. I needed a feed that would maximize her performance. That's when I talked to Tania Laframboise, an equine nutrition consultant with Embrun Co-op, and she said Brooks' Release (Un-Ti) would do the trick.

"It's a very concentrated formula that I give in smaller quantities. Her performance and fitness are at the desired level and it's less expensive then what I was doing before. One formula at the right amount! I saw a lot of positive changes but to me the time for the recuperation of her muscle energy between runs is the best feature. She is ready to go again much faster than before and she runs as hard the last go as she did the first. I'm extremely happy with the results. Thanks to all of the Brooks team!"

The most recent issue of Equinews, the official health and nutrition publication of Kentucky Equine Research (KER), is now available online.

One highlight of the summer issue is a synopsis of muscular problems that affect horses and nutritional recommendations designed to manage horses with these myopathies. Much of the information in the article, titled "Current Diagnosis and Nutritional Management of Tying-Up," was gleaned from a paper Stephanie Valberg, D.V.M., Ph.D., presented at the 2010 KER Nutrition Conference in April. The complete paper is also available on ker.com.

In addition, the current issue contains several articles that underscore the scope of KER's success in formulating feeds appropriate for two very different groups of equine athletes--racehorses and three-day eventers. KER Team Members Hallway Feeds, Pennfield Feed Technologies, and Saracen Horse Feeds manufacture the KER-formulated feeds referred to in these articles:

• "KER Team Member Feeds the Triple Crown"
• "Saracen Horse Feeds at the Sales"
• "Rolex Three-Day Event Showcases Elite Riders"

Kathleen Crandell, Ph.D., one of KER's staff nutritionists, also responds to a case report involving a Thoroughbred mare with lactation tetany or hypocalcemia.

The next issue of Equinews will be available online this fall. Look for it in October!

Continue to follow KER at ker.com. Sign up for KER's free electronic newsletters and get the chance to win free tickets to the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

From Saratoga Race Course to Del Mar, Kentucky Equine Research (KER) Team Member Hallway Feeds fed some of the most successful racehorses last weekend.

Blame, who was born and raised and is trained on Hallway Feeds, battled favorite Quality Road for the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes win. Because the Whitney Stakes is a "win-and-you're-in" race, Blame is now qualified to enter this year's Breeders' Cup Classic. Trainer Al Stall, Jr. said the horse's next start will likely be the October 2 Jockey Club Gold Cup.

On the West Coast, Zenyatta extended her winning streak to a remarkable 18 with a victory in the Grade 1 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes. The 6-year-old mare, also fed by Hallway Feeds, is aiming to repeat her victory in last year's Breeders' Cup Classic.

John Crandell and Heraldic earned their second Tevis Cup victory on July 26, 2010.

Considered the most arduous endurance race in the world, the Tevis Cup is contested over 100 miles of rugged California trail.

In addition to grueling terrain, the scorching heat offered challenges this year. Temperatures soared into the 90s, and this single factor caused many of the horse-and-rider teams to go slower than normal or retire. Fewer than half of the starters finished the trek.

LR Bold Greyson, ridden by Shannon Constanti, finished in second place. The Crandell family of Star Tanney, Va., owns both Heraldic and LR Bold Greyson, a homebred. Crandell and Constanti finished two hours in front of the other competitors.

Crandell uses several KER-formulated products to produce winning results including Preserve™ and Hemabuild™. In addition, he also uses the KERx Wellness Supplement specifically designed by KER nutritionists. Crandell is brother-in-law to Kathleen Crandell, Ph.D., a KER nutritionist based in Virginia and an endurance enthusiast.

Kathleen Crandell has spoken extensively on feeding and managing elite endurance horses, most recently at this year's KER Nutrition Conference, where she presented the paper "Observations and Recommendations for Feeding the Endurance Horse."

Hats Off to Kentucky's Horse Industry Day, a free event taking place this Saturday at the Kentucky Horse Park, will feature children's activities, free pony rides, educational booths, interactive equine stations, Grand Prix show jumping, and more, all in the effort to highlight the role horses play in Kentucky's culture and economy. See the event schedule.

Kentucky Equine Research (KER) Team Member Hallway Feeds is one of the sponsors of this event.

Hats Off Day is the only day of the year an entire family can enjoy the Kentucky Horse Park at no cost.

The three riders representing Australia in endurance at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games will be Norbert Radny, Matthew Sample, and Penny Toft, the Australian Endurance Squad recently announced.

The full team includes:
Norbert Radny and West Coast Acharon 
Grooms: Jane Radny, Dr. Narelle Cribb
Crew: Rebecca Radny, Harry O'Brien, Ian Symington 

Matthew Sample and Tarrangower Crescendo(Reserve: Brookleigh Ricardo)
Grooms: Paul Brown, Jessica Landridge 
Crew: Barbara Timms 

Penny Toft and Don 
Grooms: Anne Hall, Alexandra Toft 
Crew: Helen Toft, Jackie Byrnes, Peter Toft 

Chef d' Equipe, Dr. Trish Mackay-Annetts, Assistant: Denise Trollope 
Team Veterinarian: Dr. Robyn Mather 
Crew Manager: Chris Gates 
Farrier: Mark Peel 

Radny and Acharon won their final preparatory ride last week, covering 90 km in 4:53. Sample and Crescendo will compete at the Murrumba 100-km ride August 8, while Toft's final ride will be Charvleville August 21.

The horses are currently booked to fly to the United States on August 29. After clearing quarantine, they'll be housed at Kentucky Equine Research's Versailles, Ky., research farm, allowing the riders to acclimate and condition the horses under local conditions for several weeks before the September 26 endurance event at the Kentucky Horse Park. 

Kentucky Equine Research (KER) is the official equine nutritionist of both the Australian Equestrian Team and the U.S. Equestrian Federation. KER nutritionists work with feed mill owners and managers on six continents to formulate top-quality feeds that complement typical forages found in the locale. Based in Kentucky, the company's second office is located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, to serve that continent as well as Asia.

KER-sponsored rider Meg Wade is one of the most winning endurance riders of all time. In addition to many successes in international competitions, she is the only rider to win the Tom Quilty Gold Cup, held annually in Australia, on four occasions, most recently in 2008.

After a life-threatening riding accident in 2009, a courageous and determined Meg is once again interacting with the horses she loves and admires at her Castlebar Endurance Arabians, located in northeastern Victoria, southern Australia.

Meg was recently featured on Australian television. The segment includes comments by individuals that were critical in assisting Meg during the days immediately following her accident, as well as the people she continues to derive support from daily, including her husband Chris Gates and key members of the Castlebar team. As her recovery progresses, Meg hopes to one day compete again.

Learn more about Meg Wade's empire and Castlebar Endurance Arabians.

Driver Chester Weber added last weekend's Iron Horse CDE to his impressive list of combined driving wins. Weber, who is sponsored by Kentucky Equine Research (KER), stated earlier this year that he planned to use the event to fine-tune his team for the upcoming Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

The Laurels at Landhope International Combined Driving Event, which will be held in West Grove, Chester County, Pa., September 10-12, will be the final U.S. driving selection prior to the Games.

Weber has been named the U.S. Equestrian Federation Four-in-Hand Driving Champion for eight years in a row. See Chester Weber's profile.

The feeding and management of sport horses was the focus of the 17th Kentucky Equine Research (KER) Nutrition Conference. Presenters included world-renowned veterinary researchers, as well as KER's in-house equine nutrition experts.

The proceedings from this conference are available in hard copy for $60, or as a file download for $35. For a limited time, Lulu.com is offering 15% off for those who use coupon code BEACHREAD305 at checkout.

Topics include:

• Electrolyte Use for Hydration of the Sport Horse
• Care for Competition Horses: Staying Within the Medication Rules
• Advances in Diagnosis of Equine Joint Disease
• Management of Joint Disease in the Sport Horse
• Pursuing the Genetic Basis for Tying-Up Syndromes
• Management of Tying-Up in Sport Horses
• Antioxidant Research and Its Application to Feeding Horses
• Feeding Management of the Three-Day Event Horse
• Recommendations for Feeding the Endurance Horse
• Trends in the Management of European Sport Horses
• Remarks on the Benefits of Heart Rate Recordings
• Feeding Variations by Equestrian Disciplines

Purchase the proceedings through Lulu.com.