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Real Rider Cup Lexington Raises Over $90,000 For Thoroughbred Aftercare

Real Rider Cup welcomed 30 horse and rider combinations along with hundreds of spectators to New Vocations at Mereworth Farm Saturday, July 9, for an evening of lively competition and entertainment. Created by Anita Motion, the charity show jumping competition brings together personalities from across the breeding and racing industry to increase awareness and raise funds for Thoroughbred aftercare, with each rider pledging to raise at least $1,000.

Offered for the first time in Lexington, the racing community embraced the Real Rider Cup concept in phenomenal fashion, nearly doubling the event's previous fundraising record, bringing in over $90,000 and counting. Riders, mounted on off-track Thoroughbreds and wearing the silks of their employers, colleagues, and clients contended a winding course of fences with the fastest clear rounds taking home top honors.

Connections and institutions represented included WinStar, Godolphin, Stonestreet, Pin Oak, Lane's End, Bonne Chance, Airdrie, Stone Farm, BloodHorse, a 1/ST Racing team lead by Aaron Gryder, Churchill Downs, Hagyard Equine Medical Institute, R. Brisset Racing, an entire team headed up by Rosie Napravnik, and more.

Noteworthy horses included the first son of Zenyatta, Cozmic One, with Hidden Brook Farm's Sergio de Sousa in the tack, 5* event horse Sound Prospect, piloted by John Ennis, and Discovery Stakes (G3) winner Sticksstatelydude expertly ridden by Kristin VanMeter.

“The voice of Fasig-Tipton,” Terence Collier served as emcee, providing color commentary.

Awards were given for individual results, as well as teams (riders were given the option of forming their own team or to be assigned to one based on their industry background).

Individual results: Win: Jesslyn Woodall on Lead Player, Place: Keira Nygaard on Judge Johnny, Show: Tara Coombs on Baptizo

Team Results: Win: Team Blood-Horse (Woodall, Ennis, and Gash), Place: Team Breeding & Bloodstock (Nygaard, de Sousa, and Brooks), Show: Team Off-Track Sporthorses (Napravnik, Crow, Swirsky, Buckberry, and Czerwonka)

“We are totally overwhelmed by the response to the Lexington event,” said Real Rider Cup founder Anita Motion. “It is so apparent that retraining and aftercare are at the forefront of people's minds and we are incredibly grateful to all the riders and sponsors that worked so hard to make the show possible and to all that came to cheer them on. Lexington really threw down the gauntlet, and we're excited to return to our home in Fair Hill to see how the mid-Atlantic region will respond.”

With the second leg of the Real Rider Cup to be held at Fair Hill September 16th, the games have just begun on there is still plenty of time to get involved. Rider registration is open through September 9th with a variety of sponsorship packages available.

View full results and learn more at www.therealridercup.com.

Proceeds of the Real Rider Cup benefit the Retired Racehorse Project, New Vocations Thoroughbred Adoption and the Fair Hill Thoroughbred Show.

Fair Hill Thoroughbred Show is a 501c3 organization supporting riders of Thoroughbreds by providing affordable show fees, scholarships, stakes classes and prizes in every division. By supporting their riders, we are helping more OTTBs find second careers.

The Retired Racehorse Project (RRP) is a 501(c)3 charitable organization working to increase demand for off-track Thoroughbreds in the equestrian world. In addition to producing the Thoroughbred Makeover and National Symposium the world's largest and most lucrative retraining competition for recently-retired racehorses, the organization also publishes Off-Track Thoroughbred Magazine, produces the Master Class retraining clinic series, and presents programming at major horse expos and events around the country. The RRP maintains an educational library of content to empower more equestrians to ride a Thoroughbred.

Founded in 1992, New Vocations has grown into the largest racehorse adoption program in the country. Its mission to rehabilitate, retrain and rehome retired Thoroughbred and Standardbred racehorse has led to the placement of over 7,000 individuals, with 500 retirees entering the program each year. With facilities in Kentucky, Louisiana, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania, New Vocations serves over 40 racetracks, working directly with owners and trainers in need of aftercare options.

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Horses And Hydration: Five Important Equine Water Requirements

There are six nutrients in a horse's diet: carbohydrates, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and water. Each of those is considered essential, yet water is king of the hill.

“A horse can live for almost a month without food, but within a mere 48 hours without water a horse can begin to show signs of colic and can quickly develop an impaction, lethargy, and life-threatening sequelae. A horse can only survive about five days without water,” shares Dr. Peter Huntington, director of nutrition at Kentucky Equine Research (Australia).

Consider these five points to ensure the proper quantity and quality of water is being offered to your horses year-round:

Horses normally consume between 5 and 15 gallons of water in a 24-hour period. The individually stabled horse is usually easy to monitor for water intake if you are filling five-gallon buckets two or three times a day. If a horse is kept on pasture or in a herd on pasture, assessing water intake becomes increasingly challenging, but not impossible.
“Hydration can easily be assessed in individuals within a herd by feeling their gums to ensure they are moist and pinching a small area of skin on their neck or shoulder to watch it bounce back to its normal position,” advises Huntington.

Field-kept horses obtain moisture from pasture. In fact, fresh pasture is approximately 60 to 80 percent moisture, meaning they obtain a substantial amount of water while grazing. In contrast, grains, concentrates, and baled hay contain far less moisture, which means horses need to drink more to meet their water needs. Another factor to consider in a herd situation is pecking order. If you suspect that one or more horses are being chased away from the water trough, consider adding a second trough.
Weather and exercise can impact water consumption. Typically, horses consume more water during the hot, humid summer months. That said, some horses actually drink more water in the winter than in the hot summer (recall that the quality of forages is generally not as good as in the summer, with less moisture). It's also important to bear in mind that horses are different and do not need to consume the same amount of water to remain healthy.

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Underlying health issues can impact water consumption. Diarrhea or chronic kidney disease in particular can cause increased water losses from the body that need to be replaced. Such horses will need extra water to facilitate recovery and maximize quality of life.
“Natural” sources of water such as streams or ponds should not be used as the horse's primary water supply. If they choose to drink from those sources, it is not usually a concern, but they should still be offered fresh water. The quality of streams and ponds cannot be guaranteed, and pollution or algae blooms can impact the safety of those water sources at various times throughout the year. Horses can also have difficulty accessing the water in ponds and streams if the shores are muddy or frozen.

Reprinted courtesy of Kentucky Equine Research. Visit ker.com for the latest in equine nutrition and management, and subscribe to Equinews to receive these articles directly.

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Zenyatta’s Offspring Shining In Show Ring

Cozmic One (Bernardini) and Ziconic (Tapit) are the first two foals out of Hall of Fame racemare Zenyatta. Though neither followed their dam to the winner's circle on the racetrack, they each have found wins of their own in showjumping competition.

Originally campaigned by Isabela de Sousa, Cozmic One is now being shown by Isabela's father, Sergio, of Hidden Brook Farm. The duo compete in jumper shows, often in the Take2 program, which focuses on registered Thoroughbred hunter/jumper competition at United States Equestrian Federation (USEF)-sanctioned shows.

Showing mostly around Kentucky, Sergio hopes to compete the 10-year-old gelding at the Kentucky Horse Park throughout the summer and at the Take2 Finals there in the fall.

Ziconic is currently on the West Coast and under the care of Linda Moss and George Bedar, who said the gelding is incredibly smart and playful. Ziconic began showing under Sarah Pollock in 2020, but his competition schedule was interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic and an equine herpes virus outbreak.

Moss is hopeful that Ziconic will return to the show ring this fall in the .80 and .85 jumpers.

Fact Or Fiction? Horses Should Not Be Fed Before Exercise

The horse world is filled with “rules” many horse owners and caretakers follow, often without knowing why. One such myth that has been followed for years is that horses should not be fed before exercise, reports The Horse.

With updated research, that mindset has shifted: now, scientists suggest that feeding forage before a ride may be beneficial.

Feeding forage before a ride keeps the gastric acid in the horse's stomach from splashing around, Dr. Robert Jacobs of Purina Animal Nutrition told The Horse. This reduces the risk of gastric ulcers and gastric ulceration, he said.

Jacobs does advise delaying working three to four hours after a horse has had a large grain concentrate meal, however. This relates to the insulin response a horse has after he consumes a grain meal.

Peak insulin response is two to three hours after consuming a meal; insulin returns to a baseline level about four hours after the meal is ingested. This is important as the mobilization of glucose is necessary for the horse to perform well.

If circulating insulin is high, like after a grain meal, the mobilization of glucose becomes very difficult, which can reduce the horse's athletic performance.