Riverside Equestrian Center at Sonoma Horse Park
7600 Lakeville Highway • Petaluma, CA 94954
(707) 328-2959 cell
hugh_white@msn.com

---

Life's a Beach

Congratulations to Hugh and June Bug for their win in the $5,000 Julie Grey Memorial Jumper Classic at the Almaden Farms show at Pebble Beach! Connolly and Fan Fair took home a blue ribbon in the 1.00m jumpers, and Joan and Princess earned a 3rd place in the competitive 3'3" Modified A/O Hunters. Debby and Gypsy scored a green ribbon out of more than 30 entries in their warm-up class. Lindsey Forbes rode Fiona in the Novice Flat Equitation and placed second.

Back home at the HMI August Classic, Hugh and Fiona were Reserve Champion in the Baby Green Hunters, giving Fiona another tricolor to add to the Baby Green Championship she earned at Sonoma Horse Park earlier this year. Hugh also won the 1.00m jumpers aboard Fan Fair and took the blue in the 3' Hunter warmup on Arcos. Connolly Bottum took over the ride on Fan Fair for the rest of the week, earning ribbons in the jumpers and medals. On Friday night, June Bug jumped brilliantly in the $10,000 Jumper Derby, but had a few rails down and finished out of the ribbons. Kelsey Talkington was 2nd and 3rd in two of the very competitive Children's Hunter classes, while Debby Burke and Gypsy took home ribbons in the Low Adult Hunters.

You can get all the details and see more great photos from the recent horse shows on the HWTS Facebook page, which you can visit by clicking here.

New Dressage Test!

Sonoma Horse Park 2012 Show Schedule schedule, class list, entry form | online entry | results | SHP website Giant Steps Charity Classic (C) August 1 – 5, 2012 HMI August Classic (A) August 22– 26, 2012 Strides & Tides (A) September 12 – 16, 2012 Results for the 2012 Show Series will be available online at showgroundslive.com Sonoma Horse Park ad design by Jody Werner and Misfit Designs.

 

 

go back to top

Find out what's REALLY been happening int he barn. Happy, sad, embarrassing or incriminating, we don't care. Email news and gossip to us here. If you can't think of anything newsworthy, just make something up, our fact checkers suck.

 

Birthday Barbeque on August 12

Hugh's birthday barbeque will take place on Sunday, August 12. Kat Ripley, our equine masseuse, will be offering the humans complementary 15-minute massages in appreciation having her work on so many of our horses. As with all our barbeques, it will likely degrade in to drinking, one-upmanship, and double-dares that involve using horses in manners for which they are not intended. If you'd like to attend, please sign and return a copy of the liability release form in Hugh's office along with a copy of your health insurance, "in case of emergency" contact, and your preferred bail bond service. Our "human pinata" idea went over really well last year too, so we will need a volunteer for that as well. Last year's human pinata, Connolly Bottum, offered the following advice: "The sooner you can make candy fly out of your butt, the sooner people will stop hitting you."

Hooligan: 1 Bench: 0

Four-year old gelding Hooligan was declared the winner in an unexpected altercation that took place during a recent barn barbeque. Executing his best "Walker, Texas Ranger"-style spin/roundhouse/double back kick, Hooligan took out the unsuspecting bench, along with its very surprised occupant, Joan Pont. "Holy Shit," she exclaimed, "one second I was sitting and enjoying a chardonnay on the bench, the next I was on my ass on the ground." While the bench was totalled and Ms. Pont suffered hoof-shaped bruises, the chardonnay was unharmed.

The Dangerous Kitchen

By order of the Petaluma Health and Safety Commission, the refrigerator in Hugh's office has been cleaned, sanitized, and rid of expired beer, food products, medications and unidentifiable objects. Hugh expressed mixed emotions as the HazMat team loaded up their biohazard containers and completed the final inspection of the refrigerator. "I'm going to miss the crunchy bread things and the squishy meat things," he admitted. He had to be shot with a tranquilizer dart before he would let the disposal team remove frostbitten corn dogs and chip the frozen burritos off the freezer wall. When asked for an official statement, the Hazmat team leader said "It was easier to clean up after the Hindenburg." Jody's M&Ms were not confiscated. "She looked a lot scarier than the M&Ms," the team leader commented. "We decided not to push our luck."

Braiding BooBoo Mangles Mane /

Trashes Tail / Fouls Forelock

Panic ensued at the Pebble Beach horse show when the braider accidentally used perm solution in place of braid-fix spray. Debby Burke was horrified when no amount of washing and rinsing could remove the frizzy curls from Gypsy's mane and tail. "He looks like he's got a mullet!" she opined. "I've tried everything to get rid of it. He's going to have to wear a fly mask and a tail bag until it grows out."

In the meantime, Gypsy has booked a gig doing backup vocals with a heavy metal horsey Hair Band called Capote and the Drunken Armadillos.

 

Public Service Announcement.

Antonio - lay off the bleach. We mean it.

HWTS Rider Still Missing After Strange Incident

A HWTS rider is still unaccounted for after what may be the first documented case of human spontaneous combustion. Authorities suspect that a dangerous combination of chardonnay, a cigarette, and fish fumes from canned cat food may acted as an incendiary device. "We really don't know what happened," said one witness, who did not wish be identified. "One minute, Lisa was standing there feeding the cat, and the next minute.....bam!" All that was left was gloves, half chaps and a pile of orange fur. "I told her to stop buying the barn cat that canned food," Hugh complained. Antonio, who was busy scraping scorched Salmon Delight off of all the tack, was mumbling things in Spanish that we cannot print. In a possibly related story, Duncan McFarlane was hit in the head by a flying cat food can and failed to pass through the timers after the jump off in the Grand Prix, thus costing him the win.
go back to top

ATTENTION FANS OF "DEAR MURRAY!" Murray now has his own Facebook page where he answers questions horses in his advice column. Visit Dear Murray by clicking here and "like" him. Over 500 people "Like" him so far. This is a lot more people than have ever "liked" US.

go back to top

 

ARE YOU A FAN OF THE HW JUMPING CLINIC?
We've created a compendium of all your favorite columns. Click here for The Best of the Hugh White Jumping Clinic in PDF format.

If Synchronized Suicide becomes an Olympic sport, my money will be on you to win the gold medal. Ditching your horse in the middle of a combination sets the teamwork bar at an all-time low. Clearly, you’re the type that would wrestle the life preserver away from your grandma and row away with the last lifeboat on the Titanic. Assuming that ‘hurl your body to the ground between 3a and 3b’ was not one of the tests noted on the course diagram, I’m guessing a tack malfunction may have caused your dilemma. Of course, I could be wrong – perhaps this is some amazing Cavalia-esque stunt where you catapult yourself out of the saddle over the first element, touch to the ground, and then bounce yourself back in to the saddle over the second element. More likely you were busy checking your text messages instead of your girth and now you’re getting tossed like a human hacky-sack. If you’ve still got your smart phone in your pants pocket, I hope it's got an app that will butt-dial 911.

It’s nice to see that your eyes are up and at least one of your heels is down.  Your outfit is pretty snazzy, too – too bad this is the last time those pants are going to be white. Your horse looks to be an intelligent type who is maintaining a cheery outlook despite the fact that the two of you are about to level that second element like a six-legged bowling ball. I can’t see what company logo is embroidered on your saddlepad, but I’m sure they’ll be yanking their sponsorship before you can change your FB status to in a relationship with the ground.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE CONSIDERED for future installments of the Hugh White Jumping Clinic, email photos to art@misfitdesignshq.com. If you would like a big black box put over your face, include $50. If you want to be assured that you will NEVER appear in the Hugh White Jumping Clinic, send $1000 in small, unmarked bills. Sorry, no checks or credit cards accepted.
go back to top

 

Hello, people and horses! I am thrilled to have my very own column in the HWTS Newsletter. In each issue, I will take a look at the fascinating origins of everyday things that both horses and humans take for granted. You may be surprised. Or not. I really don't care what you think. What's important is, I have my own column!

Horses, at the Symphony?

And why not - considering how they contribute to the instrumentation. Where would Paganini, Jasche Heifitz and Anne-Sophie Mutter be without their horse-hair bows?  How could strains of sublime, wistful music be delivered with such expression and clarity without the unique architecture of horse hair?

The most exacting bow makers prefer the tail hairs from stallions living in Mongolia. The super cold winters encourage thick long hair.  White hair is preferred, as it produces a smoother sound.Black hairs, often used in double bass bows, produce a rougher sound.  Only 10% of the hairs are satisfactory - straight and long are key elements. Between 150-200 tail hairs are used in an average violin bow - slightly fewer tail hairs than are used for the average barn swallow nest. (The barn swallows, by the way, have no preference as to color, gender, or origin of the donor hair.)

Without a bow, a stringed instrument would have to be plucked like a guitar, or a violin played pizzicato. Drawn against the violin string, the bow produces a long and steady sound, like the barn cat when you pull his tail. Whereas the latter is primarily for frightening the barn swallows, the former is pivotal in creating smooth legato melodies. One would assume that the scalation on the surface of the horse hair produces the sound when drawn across the strings.  Au contraire.  It is now thought that the rosin (a sticky resin derived from the stumps or sap of pine trees) is the sound-producing element.  The outer layer of keratin on the horse hair is able to hold the rosin firmly in place to produce the stick-slip motion of the string. The bonding capacity between the hair surface and the rosin depends on the chemical properties of the hair's cuticle and not on the shape of the plates.

So there.  Next time you see a trailer parked in front of Davies Symphony Hall, you will know that at least one audience member had some skin in the game.

go back to top

 

2012 Horse Show Schedule - Updated July 2012

Once again, Sonoma Horse Park will host 7 horse shows, including the AA-rated HMI Equestrian Classic and the Strides & Tides show (featuring the NorCal Equitation Classics and Hudson Medal Finals).

Check out some of Northern California's popular show facilities by clicking the blue links below.

Murieta Equine Complex, Rancho Murieta, CA	Woodside Horse Park, Woodside, CA
Starr Vaughn Equestrian, Elk Grove, CA	Leone Equestrian Center, Sacramento, CA
Pebble Beach Eq. Center, Pebble Beach, CA	Menlo Charity Horse Show, Atherton, CA
Brookside Equestrian Park, Elk Grove, CA	Sonoma Horse Park, Petaluma, CA

                      2012 NorCal Horse Shows

Newsletter designed and written by JL Werner and MISFIT DESIGNS.

go back to top