Cross-country

For 60 days straight over the winter at Will Walden's Palm Meadows base in Florida, MGISW Rhetorical (Not This Time) underwent a different kind of training. Instead of being turned out for the off-season like so many horses, his trainer decided that it was time to unveil a new project where skills like dressage would be emphasized. The work that the gelding put in over those months has paid off and now the New York-bred Horse of the Year owned by Gary Barber, Cheyenne Stable and Wachtel Stable will point...

Supply, Meet Demand Producing horses with exceptional speed inherently produces many more lacking that singular talent. Everyone in the business knows this by-product is the primary cause of the aftercare problem. The volume of over-supply is enormous. Visibility, awareness and legitimate concern over what happens to these unwanted horses grows constantly. The social license implications of this dilemma are intensifying into a serious threat to an industry already buffeted by other storms and controversies. Everyone understands these facts and many feel this intrinsic challenge may be insurmountable. Yet fundamentally, the...