The American Equestrian Trade Association (AETA) trade show was held January 27- 29, 2018 at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA. The mission of the AETA trade show is: “to unite and advance the community of equine trade businesses by delivering education, trade shows and services designed to sustain, support and grow a strong equestrian industry marketplace.”

The team at EquineInfoExchange.com had the honor of being included on the media panel. Think “Shark Tank” but horse related and a bit friendlier. New products were introduced from both new companies and those already established, as they gathered together to share information about the exciting developments being brought to the market.

Here's a photo slideshow, so you can see what it was like to walk through this exciting event.

Here are the new products presented to us at the media panel. We were thrilled to be at this event!

Sterling Essentials

Sterling Essentials is based in the Pacific Northwest and offers gentle, non-irritating, effective Leather Cleaners and Leather Conditioners that will keep tack in mint condition for years. Specially formulated to match the pH of leather, Sterling Essentials’ products reduce premature tack degradation, helping protect your tack investment. All products are developed with the well-being of your horse in mind, so the cleaners and conditioners are animal friendly due to the use of gentle natural food grade ingredients.

Read more: AETA Trade Show Features New Equestrian Products and Designs

If you are considering locations for a vacation this year, Ireland should be at the top end of your shortlist. The European country has a long and rich history with horse racing as many of the leading thoroughbreds in the world have a link back to the Emerald Isle in their breeding. Today, there are 26 racecourses across Ireland. Here is a look at the leading five tracks you can visit on your trip to Ireland.

Curragh

Based in County Kildare, the Curragh is arguably Ireland’s most important racecourses on the flat as it holds all five of the Classics in the country, including the Irish Derby which was won in 2017 by Capri. Some of the best Group horses from around the world visit the course each season - therefore, the quality of racing tends to be high. The opening meeting of the year takes place in March and the course hosts race days through to September.

Read more: Choose Ireland for a Vacation This Year – Ireland's Best Racecourses

by Heather Wallace

Breeding Excellence into Dutch Sport Horses

There is not an equestrian worldwide who has not heard of the KWPN Warmbloods. Their intelligence, athleticism, character, and technique are renowned in the world of show jumping. “Golden Genes”, a documentary film from Annette van Trigt Productions and 2017 Film Selection for the Equus Film Festival, provides a behind the scenes view into breeding practices of sport horses in The Netherlands.

“Show jumping horses bred in the Netherlands are some of the best in the world. It is no coincidence that foreign riders won gold and silver medals in the Olympic Games of 2008 on Dutch horses. This is big business and passion”. Golden Genes

From the perspective of five breeders, three of whom are in their 70’s, we see an array of methods and best practices but one focused goal- the breeding excellence of this horse. Some breeders have a more monetary focus, while others have seemingly a more emotional approach to their horses, but most are a combination of both. Tom Vullers sums it all by saying breeding is “80% knowledge and 20% intuition”.

The primary difference in the breeding of sport horses from race horses is using artificial insemination and embryo transfer rather than live cover. To be registered for The Jockey Club it is mandatory for the thoroughbred mare to be inseminated by live cover. As a result the desired thoroughbred traits are slower to be bred into new generations and studs may charge higher rates for breeding rights.

Read more: “Golden Genes: The Secret of Dutch Jumpers” Film Review

by Bonnie Marlewski-Probert

We’ve all met those couples. The wife is horse crazy and the husband thinks the whole sport is nutty or it is the husband who spends all his free time in the barn and the wife doesn’t understand the attraction to smelly animals that slobber on you every chance they get!

When I initially met my husband, I knew that he had no experience around horses and didn’t have any feelings about them, one way or the other. I saw that as an advantage because he didn’t hate them YET. In order to encourage his interest, I invested in a secret weapon (mint flavored Tic Tacs). I had little boxes of those things all over my house so that when he came for a visit, I was ready. I would invite him down to the fence line and ask him to shake the plastic box that the tic tacs come in. Since all the horses knew what that was, he could stand safely outside the field fence, shake the little plastic container and a whole herd of horses would come charging to see him and they would happily stay at that fence line as long as he was willing to provide the little mint treats. Of course, I taught him first how to feed with a flat hand (last thing you want to do is have him lose some fingers!)

Read more: So, Your Spouse Doesn’t Love Horses?

by Patricia N. Saffran

After the first night of the September 2017 Rolex Central Park Horse Show in New York City, we interviewed Rob Bick of RBC Show Horses of Smithfield, North Carolina, a nationally recognized top trainer and rider of Arabians, and winner of the Arabian Western Pleasure Pro/Am class, presented by Aljassimya Farm.

“I had a lot of fun on PA Kid Khan. He’s a Palmetto Arabians farm-bred stallion from Timmonsville, South Carolina. He’s an amazing horse. He made me look good,” says Rob Bick of RBC Show Horses of Smithfield, North Carolina, winner of the Arabian Pleasure Pro/AM on the first night of the five day show at the Rolex Central Park Horse Show on Wednesday, September 20, 2017. Mr. Bick continues, “I started training Kid Khan as a three year old and he’s been trained exclusively at RBC Show Horses. Nobody else rides him except me and our office secretary once in a while for the amateur in the combined pro/am class, Janie Heslep. He picks up every little move or shift of my weight. If I talk he knows what I want. The noise and distraction of Central Park didn’t bother him. I brought him up where I eased off the pressure when he was going correctly and he has a feel now for what I want. Kid Khan is very trained. His transitions are effortless, like shifting gears in a Ferrari. He has a high tail and a short back so it’s easy for him to gather himself underneath my weight. When he moves he has a floating action. I had nothing to do with that – God made him that way. I only use light plates on his front feet and no shoes on the back feet. I’ve ridden a lot of horses but not a lot like Kid Khan. He’s special - he’s the horse of a lifetime. I love him.”

Read more: EIE Exclusive Interview with Rob Bick, Winner of the Arabian Western Pleasure Pro/Am Class in the...

by Patricia N. Saffran

Saturday night, September 23, 2017, Olympian, and other top international three-day-eventing riders, CCI 4, entered Wollman Rink for the first time for Arena Eventing and the audience cheered on the pairs of competitors with wild applause. With dressage competitors canceling just 2 ½ weeks before the start of the show, Mark Bellissimo, CEO of Equestrian Sport Productions and International Equestrian Group LLC and show president, Michael Stone, discussed the situation and decided to try the new format of arena eventing. It had already been tried in the UK and Devon this year but mainly with movable show jumps and fixed cross country jumps in separate areas.

Mark Bellissimo decided to combine them for the small arena in the Rolex Central Park Horse Show (RCPHS) and asked eventing designer, Captain Mark Phillips, to design a safe but challenging course. The result was a rousing success with Ryan Wood (AUS) on Alcatraz and Dominic Schramm (AUS) on No Objection racing, cutting corners, and jumping to first place for Team East Village. Thrilling the audience with their second place finish were Holly Payne-Caravella (USA) on her speedy Thoroughbred, Never Outfoxed, and Boyd Martin (USA) on Kyra for Team Times Square. Making their appearance for the first time in the New York City with borrowed horses were William Fox-Pitt (UK) on Indian Mill and Oliver Townend (UK) on Prince Renan for Team Chelsea. Mr. Townend had just won the Burghley Three Day Event CCI 4*. In Central Park the pair finished third.

Read more: Rolex Central Park Horse Show 2017 Inaugurates an Exciting New Class – Arena Eventing

Waterford Crystal’s rich heritage spans centuries, with origins that date back to 18th century Ireland. Traditional cut crystal originally crafted by Waterford Artisans represents the roots of the brand. Over the years, developments of new and innovative techniques have pushed the boundaries and bring ever-growing recognition for Waterford Crystal.

Each sport has its great events and championships, and each has its great trophy to mark them. And in many sports around the world, these great trophies originate with the craftsmen of Waterford Crystal. Though these craftsmen devote maximum attention to every item they create, few things give them more satisfaction than working on a trophy for a world famous sporting event- especially as such prizes challenge their creative and crafting skills to the limit.

Waterford Crystal has created trophies for sporting events in golf, tennis, horse racing, rugby, sailing, snooker to name just a few.

BUDWEISER IRISH DERBY

The single finest event in Irish Racing – continuously run for more than a century. This is the richest race in the Irish season. Ireland is synonymous with horse racing and therefore with the Irish Derby. This race is an unbroken tradition of racing at the Curragh of Kildare for more than 100 years.

The Curragh Race Course commissioned Waterford Crystal is 2008 to produce a trophy, we then pioneered a new hand-painting technique using platinum to decorate this new crystal design.

The Irish Derby has been firmly established as one of the worlds leading international races and in recent years this showpiece event has become synonymous with the world’s best racehorses, glamour, fashion and first class entertainment.

Read more: Waterford Crystal's Rich Heritage: Horse Racing Trophies

by Patricia N. Saffran

An exhibition at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, Saratoga Springs, NY
Racing’s Greatest and America’s Oldest: Selections from the Tony Leonard Collection, 46 photos are on view July 21, 2017 for at least one full year.

“Historically, I don’t think there’s a more important collection of Thoroughbred photographs in the world because of the era that Tony’s photos represent,” says Bobby Shiflet, one of the owners of the Tony Leonard Collection of over 500,000 negatives and photographs. He is also the owner of Frames On Main, an art and photography gallery in Paris, KY. He continues, “Tony took his photos during the Golden Era of racing. He photographed Triple Crown winners Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed and other famous horses like Alydar, John Henry, Cigar, Sunday Silence and Mr. Prospector. He loved to drop over to Claiborne Farm to photograph Secretariat, the Elvis of horses, in his paddock, not just on race days.” Hall of Fame jockeys Chris McCarron, Chris Antley, Jorge Velasquez, Pat Day and many others were Leonard’s subjects and are included in the exhibit.

Read more: EIE Exclusive Interview with Bobby Shiflet on the Renowned Tony Leonard Collection

by Kimberly Gatto and Victoria Racimo
Review, by Marion E. Altieri

On August 16, 1977, Elvis Aaron Presley left the building, for good. When he died, he left a legacy that was so big—so iconic—that, like the man, himself—the Earth was too small to contain it, or him. It was hard for anyone on this planet to wrap our heads around the concept that The King no longer stood on this Earth. Elvis, like his lore, simply could not die—so the harshness of this reality was like a bolt of lightning to the Collective Unconscious of the entire world.

Even the sadness into which The King had fallen in his latter years could not take the tarnish off all that he had achieved, and all he had become. So his death was especially hard for those who just knew in their hearts—that The King was still inside there. Still the man with whom the world had fallen in love in the 1950s. Still, and always—Elvis.

Without going into specifics or writing a theomusicological dissertation, we can note here that Elvis’ talent, drive and yes—his underlying sadness—became the foundation of both his international (intergalactic?) fame and his personal quest for internal, quieting peace.

An extraordinary book, All the King’s Horses: the Equestrian Life of Elvis Presley, will rock ‘n roll (be released formally) on August 14th, 2017.

Read more: All the King’s Horses: the Equestrian Life of Elvis Presley