GAO Says U.S. Congress Harmed Horse Welfare
In a blunt report to the U.S. Congress, the General Accounting Office (GAO) says that horse welfare has been harmed by Congressional action. Prompted by animal rights groups, Congress, in 2006, passed a law which eliminated funding to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for the inspection of horses in transit to slaughter and at […]
Derek O’Connor Is 2011 Point-to-Point Champion in Ireland
‘The 2011 Irish Point-to-Point season came down to the wire as jockeys Derek O’Connor and Jamie Codd created a spectacular finish to what has been recognised as one of the most exciting seasons on record. The final season’s tally is O’Connor with 110 winners and Codd, the runner-up, with 104 wins. This is the first time that […]
Sportsmen Win Court Battle over Hunting on Public Lands
A long courtroom battle to stop hunting on sixty wildlife refuges was decided by a federal judge in favor of sportsmen. The case started with a lawsuit brought in 2003 by the Fund for Animals, which later merged with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). The judge’s decision was rendered in April, and […]
Donald Maley Is New Whipper-In at Potomac
Don, Sara and Alice Maley at the Virginia Foxhound Show / Karen Kandra Wenzel photoDonald Maley, an experienced honorary whipper-in with several Virginia hunts, has joined the ranks of the professionals. He will whip-in to the Potomac Hunt (MD) foxhounds starting this season. Maley, a farrier, has whipped-in to Oliver and Michael Brown at Rappahannock, […]
Thoroughbred Industry Woes Linked to Medication
The Thoroughbred racing industry is tanking in the U.S., and racing industry leaders from around the world blame the decline on our permissive medication practices. From 2007 to 2010, on an annual basis, the registered foal crop in the U.S. declined nineteen percent, races run declined almost ten percent, purses fell more than twelve percent, […]
“War Horse” Wins Tony Award for Best Play
A British play about a boy and his horse during World War I that leaves adults weeping in their seats has won the Tony Award for Best Play. The horse—a life size puppet created by the Handspring Puppet Company—was winner of a special Tony. War Horse originated at the National Theater in London and was […]
Collin McNeil Is Elected MFH at Radnor
Collin McNeil has been elected Joint-Master of the venerable Radnor Hunt (PA). McNeil joins Mike Tillson, who has served as sole MFH since the untimely death of Terry Griffin in 2008. The Radnor Hunt was founded in 1883 and is claimed to be the oldest continuously active MFHA-Recognized hunt club in the United States. The […]
Equine Herpes Scare Abating
Horse owners in the west, where many horse shows, rodeos, and other equine activities have been cancelled or postponed because of an outbreak of the potentially deadly equine herpes virus, are breathing easier. According to the Colorado Department of Agriculture, no new cases of the disease have been confirmed there since May 20. In Washington, […]
Huntsman Stan Luckhurst
Stan Luckhurst, huntsman for the West Kent Foxhounds from 1967 to 1999, departed this world on April 26, just a few days before his seventy-seventh birthday. Stan served in the British Army as a mounted Lead Gunner with the King’s Troop Royal Horse Artillery at St Johns Wood in London, where he performed in all […]
Equineherpes Virus Breaks Out in the West
An outbreak of Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) has been confirmed in eight western states and Canada. Most of the confirmed positive horses recently attended the national cutting horse championships in Ogden, Utah. Health officials have concluded that the EHV-1 outbreak started there. Owners of horses that attended that event have been urged to notify their […]