Virginia Tech Students and Horses Win Big at Dressage at Lexington!
As part of the Virginia Tech Equine Science Summer Internship program, four undergraduate student interns prepared and presented horses owned and bred by the Virginia Tech Foundation at the Dressage at Lexington Breed Show on July 11, 2008. The show is one of the largest breeding shows in the area, with more than 70 entrants from some of the country's top breeding farms. Read more here...
Virginia Tech Students go to Germany!
For two weeks in May 2008, 18 Equine Science students from Virginia Tech traveled to Germany as part of an exciting new study abroad course. The purpose of the trip was to educate them about the sporthorse industry in Germany, and was held in cooperation with the International Sporthorse Registry/Oldenburg Registry NA. The girls participated in the German Reitabzeichen, which tested their technical knowledge and riding skill in both showjumping and dressage. The group performed brilliantly in front of the German judges, and all earned their certification with a very high group average! The girls were treated to many daytrips to top breeding centers, and guided tours of Verden, the German National Equestrian Federation and the Olympic Training Center at Warendorf. Other special events included mare shows, a Bundeschampionat qualifier for young event horses and an extraordinary mare and stallion show at Neustadt/Dosse. The trip was highly successful in educating and inspiring these students and we are looking forward to the next tour of Germany in 2010.
Virginia Trainer to Donate Foal in Memory of April 16th Victims
In the wake of the April 16th tragedy at Virgina Tech, Cira Giunti, a dressage trainer at Smooth Sailing Equestrian Center in Williamsburg, VA, wanted to help the healing process and memorialize victims Nicole White and Emily Hilscher. Shortly before the tragic events, Nicole had been a equine emphasis student in the Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences, and Cira had ridden with her before her college years. Freshman Emily Hilscher had been a current equine student in the Department, and a member of the Virginia Tech Equestrian Team. Cira and her parents, Richard and Donna, generously volunteered to breed the outstanding mare Bella Mia to Virginia Tech's stallion Royal Appearance at their own cost, and donate the resultant foal back to the Equine Science program. Bella Mia is a five-year-old mare sired by top dressage star Bugatti Hilltop, and is out of a Contucci/Langata Express mare. She was bred by Hilltop Farm and has shown successfully at many shows, including Dressage at Devon. We are truly touched by this gesture and thank the Giuntis for their generosity!
Students raise nearly $60,000 in the 13th annual Hokie Harvest Sale
On Friday, October 26th, 2007, Virginia Tech sold 16 horses at its annual production sale. This year we were pleased to offer outstanding prospects, broodmares and riding horses by Bugatti Hilltop, Noble Champion, Art Deco, Concerto Grosso, Baladin d'Oc, Royal Appearance and more! Proceeds will help support the equine teaching programs on campus and departmental activities. Read more about the 2007 sale here...
Virginia Tech Foal is Highest-Scoring Colt in North America!
On September 15, 2007, the Virginia Tech-bred Windsor VT was named Champion Colt at his ISR/Oldenburg NA inspection with an outstanding overall score of 8.6. We are recently pleased to find out this outstanding youngster finished 2007 as the highest-scoring colt on the entire inspection tour! ISR/Oldenburg is the largest independent warmblood registry in North America and registers nearly 600 foals each year. He is sired by Wild Dance, of Horses Unlimited.
This tops off an extremely good year for Windsor VT. In July, our rising seniors Alison Parker, from Herndon, VA and Sierra Pollock, from Heathsville, VA, both majors in Animal and Poultry Sciences participating in the Summer Sporthorse Breeding Internship held annually at Virginia Tech's Smithfield Horse Center, exhibited the colt to titles of Reserve Champion Colt/Gelding, Champion Young Horse and finally, Reserve Grand Champion at Dressage at Lexington !
Above: Windsor VT at Dressage at Lexingon, July 2007. Photo by Sheryl Van Gundy.
Right: Windsor VT and Alison Parker at Dressage at Devon. Photo by Vidal Photography.
Filly born April 16th is named in honor of fallen Hokies
April 16th, 2007 is forever marked in the lives of anyone associated with Virginia Tech. We lost 32 members of the Hokie community in an unbelievable day of shock, horror, confusion and grief. Here at the Smithfield Horse Center, while under lockdown for most of the day, we were also looking after a mare in the first stages of labor. She delivered a beautiful filly a few minutes before midnight - a small bright spot in an otherwise horrific series of events that struck our campus. Because naming conventions dicate that her name needed to start with the same letter as that of her sire Royal Appearance, it seemed only fitting to name her Remember VT to honor the memories of those we lost, including two students associated with our Equine Science program. She is a lovely filly, and very outgoing, and a very welcome addition to the rest of our 2007 foal crop.
Virginia Tech Broodmare earns National Honors!
In November 2007, we learned that our Hanoverian mare Dom Perignon* had been ranked by ISR/Oldenburg NA as the 4th-highest scoring mare on the East Coast for the entire 2007 Inspection Tour! She earned 109 points, the highest any Virginia Tech mare has ever scored. Dom Perignon is a former breed show Grand Champion (as a weanling) and High Score Hanoverian mare who was Champion Mare at her AHS inspection. She is also the dam of Windsor VT, the highest-scoring Oldenburg NA colt in North America in 2007, and a breed show Champion in his own right. Dom Perignon was donated in 2005 by Hanoverian breeders Dr. Steve and Bettie Carroll of Sullivan Farm in North Carolina.
Virginia Tech foals earn Championship titles at ISR/Oldenburg NA Mare and Foal Inspection
On Saturday, September 15, Virginia Tech hosted its 10th annual International Sporthorse Registry/Oldenburg Registry North America (ISR/Oldenburg NA) Mare and Foal Inspection, at the Alphin-Stuart Teaching Arena on the beautiful campus of Virginia Tech. The student-run event was hugely successful, with Virginia Tech horses earning many top honors despite tough competition.
Nine of the Virginia Tech-bred foals were named Premium, a new record! Championship Colt honors went to Windsor VT, sired by the recently-imported Wild Dance. Virginia Tech's own senior stallion, Baladin d'Oc, sired the Reserve Champion Colt (Big Pikture VT) and Reserve Champion Filly (Bella Sera VT). Our second stallion, Royal Appearance, was represented by three Premium foals, including 3rd High Score Colt Roadster VT. Championship Filly honors went to the beautiful Scimitar daughter Stardust, owned by Angela Hartsog, who tied for the highest-scoring filly in North America from the entire 2007 tour!
Read more about the 2007 inspection here !
