Danville, Ky: Piedmont Sundance, a 16.1 hand 8-year-old half bred, (Balumllo's Beacon x Kitties and Cash TB) bred by Vanessa Morgan and owned by Marion Caldwell is headed for the American Eventing Championships Preliminary Horse Division in September. Marion says, “Experienced young rider, Marty Whitehouse, is taking him for our 16 year old daughter, Laura Burns, who will be competing with him at the Preliminary Division later this year in October. Everyone watch the score board along with us and cheer them on!”

S. Royalton, Vt: Aluinn Durango, 5 y.o. stallion (Aladdin's Denver X *Patty’s Meridith) finished first on his dressage score of 36.4 at Beginner Novice with his rider Sarah McRae at Hitching Post Farm. He was a perfect gentleman only whinnying once during his dressage test. Cross country and stadium were a breeze so Sarah and Durango will now be moving up to Novice.

County Galway, Ireland: Karen Vicencio sent this report of her latest adventure in Ireland. “Today I participated in a Guiness world book of records event. Brannigan (Balius Derring Do) and I made the three hour trek down to the Tipperary Racecourse, along with 265 other groups with horse drawn vehicles. We participated in what will go down in the Guiness world book of records as the most horse drawn vehicles in a parade. It was loads of fun, despite a monsoon blowing through right in the middle of things. It rained so hard many of the horses just turned their butts to the rain and put their heads down. We just had to wait it out. Lucky for us, it was warm, so even though we were all soaked to the skin, no one got very cold. We got through the event without any major incidents…..My one incident was when a mini pony driven by two little boys cut the turn, and their cart got caught in the spokes of my wheel. Several people had to help pull the cart to the side to untangle it from mine. No damage was done, Brannigan and the mini stood patiently while people sorted out the problem. And then jokes were made that the young drivers were going to be made to put "L" plates on their vehicle(L plates are a big red "L" that is required to be put on learner driver's cars, until they pass their full driving test. There were horses of every size and shape there, from tiny minis (my dogs are bigger than some of them!), to Connemaras all the way up to Fresians and then Clydesdales. One of my favorite vehicles was a flatbed farm cart pulled by a shetland pony. Some kids were driving it, and they'd gotten tired of sitting on the hard floor, and had put an old mattress on it. One time they drove by, and on the back of the cart was a small child, probably 3 years old or so, sound asleep!”

Creedmor, NC: Denise Hill has sent the following report: “On Thursday, July 3, the North Carolina Hunter-Jumper Association hosted a "Pet-A-Pony" day during the NCHJA Annual "AA" Horse Show at the Gov. J.B. Hunt horse complex in Raleigh, NC. The objective of the day was to share our sport with children and adults from the Triangle area. The general public, as well as day-care centers, day camps, print and TV media etc., were invited to join us for horse care demonstrations and ringside spectating. It proved to be a great opportunity to introduce the public to the excitement of show jumping, the elegance of show hunters, the skill of a farrier, a bit of education from a veterinarian, and the incomparable softness of a pony's nose. Many horse-experienced volunteers made the day a success including representatives from the NC State School of Veterinary medicine, and several local riding stables with 4-H programs. Ponies for Pet-A-Pony day were provided by Trade Mark Stables of Apex, NC and Connemara Pony breeder Denise Hill from Seaborne Farm in Creedmoor, NC. Seaborne Farm junior riders Charlotte Yarbrough of Raleigh and Gentry Safriet-Ellis of Wake Forest were on hand to pass out brochures about the Connemara pony, tell of there personal experiences riding a Connemara Pony and why they love them. Seaborne's Dory was a "model" Connemara Pet-A-Pony and two other purebred Connemara's from Seaborne Farm, Seaborne's Tell Tale and Kilfenora Rosie O'Day demonstrated beautiful form over fences in actual competition at the show in the Childrens Pony Hunter division.

Gentry Safriet-Ellis meets and greets local children at the NCHJA Annual "AA" Horse Show Pet-A-Pony day

NC State University Veterinary student explains how ponies hear to a young audience. The vet school also provided a equine scull, hoof, and various other skeletal parts of the horse.

Colville, Wa: Kelsie Staeheli of Jolley Fir Line Farms has sent this picture of JFL Rebel Master ( Wildwych Strider X Bien Mallin's Legacy ) and Kelsie’s niece Shawna. Kelsie says, “I also have been blessed with family & neighbors that have joined to help me in getting our barn build while I mostly watch still recovering from a fall on the ice march first.” We wish Kelsie a speedy recovery.