News

2019 VHSA Annual Meeting & Convention
The 2019 Virginia Horse Shows Association's Annual Meeting and Convention will be held at the beautiful Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia, the weekend of December 6, 2019.

The weekend kicks-off with various meetings on Friday, December 6th. On Saturday, December 7th, there will be numerous informational meetings and forums. Cedar Creek Farm, Jenny and Mike Graham, will be sponsoring a Junior Members Skating Party on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Please join us for fun skating along with hot chocolate and cookies.

Saturday evening will be the President's Reception which is sponsored by Virginia Trainers in appreciation of their students. This will be followed by the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. We are pleased to announce that the following well deserved individuals and horses will be inducted this year:

Ms. Mary Braga
Mrs. Wendy Mathews
Mr. Eggie Mills
Mr. Don Stewart, Jr.
Automation, owned by Ms. Kats Clarke Firestone
Sketiton, owned by Mr. Walter J. Lee

Sunday morning, December 8, 2019, will begin with various meetings, including the Membership meeting at 10:30 a.m. where all current Senior members will vote for the 2020 VHSA Board of Directors. The Awards Luncheon will also be held this day to celebrate all of the winners for the 2019 Season beginning with the Awards Reception from 12:00 ~12:30 p.m., immediately followed by the Awards Luncheon. Awards will be given 1st through 6th place. If unable to attend, Champion and Reserve ribbons will automatically be mailed to the winner. For 3rd through 6th place, the winner must e-mail the VHSA office (vhsa@verizon.net) to request the ribbons be mailed to them at no charge. In the e-mail, please include name of horse/pony, name of owner/rider, placement and the address where the ribbon(s) should be mailed to. Ribbons will be mailed after the Convention.

It is up to the individual to make their own room reservations with The Homestead by either calling Group Reservations at 540-839-7420 or using the following link

https://www.omnihotels.com/hotels/homestead-virginia/meetings/va-horse-shows-association

Guest Rooms are very limited this year, so please make your reservation as soon as possible.

Tickets are required for all events, with the exception of the Junior Members Skating Party. and will be available on this website in the near future.  

ALL TICKETS MUST BE RESERVED IN ADVANCE. The following is the breakdown of ticket prices:

Full Registration (includes meetings, Hall of Fame Dinner and Awards Luncheon) $185.00
Meetings and Forums Only $ 30.00
Hall of Fame Dinner (Saturday, December 7th) $100.00
Awards Luncheon (Sunday, December 8th) $ 65.00

Again, the tickets will be available on this website in the near future and we will put a link here when they become available.

 2019 VHSA/EMO Medal Finals Festival

Congratulations to the winners of the 2019 VHSA/EMO Medal Finals held August 8th ~ 9th at the Lexington National Horse Show.  We would like to thank our sponsors:

The EMO Agency, Inc.
Champion Saddlery
Equip Equine 

Also, a big thank you to the 2018 Medal Final Winners who graciously helped with presenting the awards to the 2019 Medal Final Winners:

Jacqueline Needle
Jordan Toering
Haley Redifer

Congratulations to the 2019 VHSA/EMO Medal Final Winners

Children's Medal
1st  - Emily Longest
2nd - Shannon Maguire
3rd  - Avery Valentine
4th  - Victoria Gustafson
5th  - Mary Ellen Keating
6th  - Daisy Bishop
7th  - Agnes Hahn
8th  - Annabele Whitehead

Championship on the Flat
1st  - Emily Longest
2nd - Clare O'Brien
3rd  - Annabele Whitehead
4th  - Mahalia Alascio
5th  - Victoria Gustafson
6th  - Charleez Simcik
7th  - Madison Smyth
8th  - Alexis Seiden

Hunter Seat Medal
1st  - Addison Reed
2nd - Clare O'Brien
3rd  - Katie Triantos
4th  - Emma Pell
5th  - Hugh Turner
6th  - Helen Marie Lohr
7th  - Riley King
8th  - Anna Ordonio

Junior Horsemanship
1st  - Clare O'Brien
2nd - Helen Marie Lohr
3rd  - Addison Reed
4th  - Riley Hogan
5th  - Hugh Turner
6th  - Emma Pell
7th  - Riley King
8th  - Kayla Wolfe

Amateur on the Flat Champion
1st  - Bobbie Jo Adsit
2nd - Holly Longest
3rd  - Lindsay Milligan
4th  - Melissa Kirkpatrick
5th  - Gillian Aiken
6th  - Madison Busey
7th  - Karly Clayton
8th  - Lily Peterson

Adult Medal
1st  - Lindsay Milligan
2nd - Bobbie Jo Adsit
3rd  - Bridgett McIntosh
4th  - Gillian Aiken
5th  - Holly Longest
6th  - Jessica Ropelewski
7th  - Martine Hartogensis
8th  - Stephanie Guerlain

Congratulations to all of the winners!

 
2019 VHSA/LMCF PONY MEDAL FINALS
Thank you to the Warrenton Pony Show, The Lindsay Maxwell Charitable Fund, and Champion Saddlery for making the 2019 VHSA/LMCF Pony Medal, Pony Equitation on the Flat and the Children's Pony Medal Finals such a wonderful success this past Friday, June 28th.

A special thank you to all of the volunteers and especially the Junior Committee who did a fantastic job with the presentations.

Congratulations to the 2019 Winners!

Pony Equitation on the Flat Winners
1st  - Skylar Boehm
2nd - Kacy Baumgart
3rd  - Rylan VanCourt
4th  - Isabella Jaovsky
5th  - Skyler Ward
6th  - Lexi van der Woude
7th  - Sage Wolf
8th  - Sabrina Daniels

Children's Pony Medal Winners
1st  - Isabella Janovsky
2nd - Kelly Kiser
3rd  - Scarlett Mortenson
4th  - Caroline Zandler
5th  - Byrdie Paisley
6th  - Catherine Cary
7th  - Kendall Deagle
8th  - Beatrice VanSant

Pony Medal Winners
1st  - Skylar Boehm
2nd - Addy Wingate
3rd  - Sarah Semko
4th  - McKenna Gregorio
5th  - Caroline Pennington
6th  - Kenidee McCormick
7th  - Kacy Baumgart
8th  - Vivienne Noel

 2019 VHSA ASSOCIATE DOUBLE JUMPER POINT HORSE SHOWS

The VHSA Associate Summer Horse Show will be held June 28th ~ 30th at the Deep Run Horse Show Grounds in Manakin-Sabot, Virginia. This show will strictly be a Hunter Show with no jumper divisions offered. The VHSA Associate Summer Show will also be recognized by the Battlefield Horse Show Association, Capital Horse Show Association, DC Area Horse Show Series, Greater Richmond Horse Shows Association, Hampden Roads Horse Show Series, Middle Peninsula Horse Show Association, Southwest Virginia Hunter/Jumper Association and the Virginia Beach Horse Shows Association.

For the Associate Jumper Divisions the VHSA will recognize four regional horse shows in Virginia which will offer double points strictly for the Associate Jumper Divisions. A horse can only be awarded double points at just one of the following shows:

7/9-10/19   House Mountain Horse Show in Lexington, Virginia
7/21/19       Central Virginia Show Jumper Association Show in Manakin-Sabot, VA
8/3/19         BHSA Benefit Horse Show in Spotsylvania, Virginia
9/8/19         Sandstone Farm Horse Show in Millwood, Virginia

In order to have one of these horse shows count as an individual horse's double point jumper point show the owner/rider must complete the form that will be available at each of these horse shows designating that specific horse show as their one double point show. This form must be completed at the show and must accompany the horse show results that the Show Secretary will send to the VHSA office. If the VHSA office does not receive a form for your horse, then no double points will be awarded. There will be no exceptions - It is the owner/rider's responsibility to make sure to complete the form at one of the four horse shows of their choice.

The VHSA is pleased to announce that we are now recognizing the Pre-Adult Hunter and the Pre-Children's Hunter Divisions as part of our year-end awards program.  We will go back through rated horse shows that have been held thus far this year and add those division points into our system.  We will get these points updated as soon as possible.  The Specifications for these two new VHSA recognized divisions are:

Pre-Adult Hunter. Open to horses only. To be shown by an amateur. A rider in the Pre-Adult Hunter Division is not eligible to cross enter in any other division where the fences exceed 2'6" at the same show except VHSA Medal classes. Course shall not consist of no less than eight fences. Fence height shall be 2'6", spreads not to exceed height of fence. No combinations allowed. To be judged on manners, performance, soundness and suitability as an Adult Hunter. A minimum of three (3) classes shall be held in any section in which a championship is offered. In the event there are less than three entries in either of the Pre-Children’s Division or the Pre-Adult Division, these divisions may be combined at management’s discretion.

Pre-Children’s Hunter. Open to horses only. To be shown by a junior exhibitor. A rider in the Pre-Children’s Hunter Division is not eligible to cross enter in any other division where the fences exceed 2'6" at the same show except VHSA Medal classes. Course shall not consist of no less than eight fences. Fence height shall be 2'6", spreads not to exceed height of fence. No combinations allowed. To be judged on manners, performance, soundness and suitability as a Children’s Hunter. A minimum of three (3) classes shall be held in any section in which a championship is offered. In the event there are less than three entries in either of the Pre-Children’s Division or the Pre-Adult Division, these divisions may be combined at management’s discretion.

Fae  Cordova (Savannah Cordova) - NSF Check
Olivia Fuller - NSF Check
Lauryn E. Haynie - NSF Check
Paul Logan, Pachanga Farms - NSF Check & Rule Violation
Susie Mansell (Show Place Farm, LLC) - NSF Check
Kathy Martin Grumulski - NSF Check
Veronica Lorraine Martin (Kelly Davenport) - NSF Check
Andrew Kenneth Milne (Anna Milne) - NSF Check
Margaret Elizabeth Morris - NSF Check
Shannon Simmons - Outstanding Debt
Amanda Smith - NSF Check
Jesica Warthen (Alexis Warthen) - NSF Check
Jeanette Whitehurst (Carrie Ellis) - NSF Check 

VHSA 2019 Yearling Futurity 

The 2019 VHSA Yearling Futurity Competition will be held at the Warrenton Horse Show on Wednesday, August 28th in the morning.  We are pleased to announce once again that the Virginia Horse Industry Board has awarded the Futurity Program a $5,000 grant that will be used solely for Prize Money to the Virginia Bred Yearlings who place 1st through 8th place.  Currently we have ten Yearling who are eligible to compete in this years Futurity Competition:

                                                                               Covering
      Owner                        Mare                              Stallion  

1.   Snowden Clarke        Hummingbird                Mapleside Wish List
2.   Diana Dodge             Hanna                             Popeye K
3.   Diana Dodge             Sincerely Yours              Nob Hill
4.   Diana Dodge             Acclaim                           Nob Hill
5.   Mary Beth Donnelly  Saintly                            Quarterback
6.   Frazer Hendrick        Brezel                             Brilliant Intuiten
7.   Frazer Hendrick        Goldieboxx                     Musical Marque
8.   Frazer Hendrick        So Random                     Timbre
9.   Phyllis C. Jones         D.D.                                Friend or Foe
10. Phyllis C. Jones         Stephanies Castle         Mapleside Wish List

Total Eligible Yearlings = 10

The Entry information will be mailed to all eligible yearling owners in July.

 Equine Nutrition Basics    by Kayla Wolfe

At the Lexington Spring Welcome Horse Show at the Virginia Horse Center, the VHSA’s Special Events Committee presented a lecture led by Emory and Henry’s Jessica Denniston on Equine Nutrition Basics. Highlights of the lesson included the functions of the foregut and hindgut, essential nutrients, and how to choose a diet for a specific horse. The equine has one stomach that is composed of a foregut and hindgut. The foregut of the horse digests fats, proteins, and sugars through enzymes while the hindgut breaks down fiber. Horses need certain nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, and fat to fulfill their diet. Water, being the most vital nutrient for the horse, is used for transportation of nutrients and between eight to twelve gallons of it is consumed each day. When deciding on a diet for a horse, the age, workload, weight, and ability to consume grass should be evaluated. A horse that is doing a lot of exercise may need higher quantities of a certain nutrient to maintain a good balance. The weight, or body condition score should be considered when deciding both the type and quantity of food given to the horse. Access to hay or grass is necessary and must be recognized while choosing a diet for a horse. Roughage should be the primary source of food for the equine, followed by grain to assure that all the nutrients are given. Jessica Denniston explained and showed us the affects of a bad diet on a horse. 

For further information, please see the Equine Nutrition Basics Handbook which can be downloaded HERE!