Stolen Horse

On July 7-9 my 6-7 year sorrel mare was stolen from our pasture on Puppy Creek Road in western Amherst County. She is just less than 14 hands high with a flaxen mane and tail and a white sock on her left rear leg.

Please contact me at bpryor@centralva.net or the Amherst County Sheriff's Office at 434/ 946-9300 or your local law enforcement ALSO 911

We have reason to believe that she may be or have been in the Hurt/Pittsylvania area but that is just a lead.

There is a $500 REWARD FOR THE ARREST AND CONVICTION OF THE PERSON OR PERSONS THAT TOOK HER.

Location: Pleasant View western Amherst County$500 REWARD

Virginia Horse Race: A Grand Spring Tradition

By Carolyn Turner Washington 08 May 2009

It is a rite of spring for Washington area horse lovers -- The Virginia Gold Cup. The 84th race took place last weekend in Plains, Virginia.

The event is more than watching the races

The Virginia Gold Cup is one of the oldest steeplechase races in the United States, an annual event since 1922. Some 50,000 spectators turn out each year for a series of six races over a challenging course.

Gloomy skies threatened this year's event, but the well dressed crowd didn't shrink from the occasion, especially women in fancy hats. There was even a competition for the most outlandish hat. Samantha Swan says she made her own. "Plus these are feathers from my friend who is a falconer," she explains. "From her falcon."


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Winningest Horse Trainer Dead at 72

(Newser Summary) – Dale Baird, the trainer with the most wins in the history of horse racing, died Sunday in a car accident at age 72. Baird racked up 9,445 wins—no other trainer even has 7,000—in a storied career at the West Virginia racetrack now known as Mountaineer. Despite his success, Baird remained a modest trainer who ran mostly claimers, reports Kentucky's Blood-Horse.

"I don't think people quite understand the impact he had on racing," said a track official. As an owner, Baird led the country in victories 17 times, the LA Times reported. The car accident occurred Sunday in Indiana when Baird, hauling an empty horse trailer, lost control of his SUV and crossed a highway median. Two teenagers also died in the crash.

—Jesse Andrews

Fenney defends Grand Prix title at Roanoke Valley Horse Show

By Ray Cox, The Roanoke Times

Different horse, same result for Tracy Fenney.

Capping a spectacular week of show jumping at the Roanoke Valley Horse Show, Tracy Fenney rode MTM Centano to a rousing championship in the $50,000 Grand Prix of Roanoke Saturday night.

A substantial Salem Civic Center audience hooted and hollered as Fenney edged fellow Texan Aaron Vale for first place in the six-horse jump-off tie-breaker. Fenney, who first appeared at this show last year, was the defending Prix champion aboard S&L Willie, who also qualified for the jump-off and finished fourth.

None of the horses over the shorter course in the extra period came home fault-free. Fenney took down one fence rail for four faults but still blazed through with a time of 41.007 seconds. She then had to suppress whatever anxiety she might have had as Vale, he of the record nine Prix wins here, appeared next to last in the jump-off with previously unheralded Wilkie Van't Merlesnest, a 10-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare.

"It was terrible," Fenney said. "It's always rough going near the beginning then having to wait for the rest of the class."

A last minute entry, Wilkie ended with eight faults and sixth place.

"I was thrilled with her performance," Vale said. "This was her first Grand Prix."

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Lost Horse Found!

7 days later the lost horse has been found on the Parkway.... more details soon!