SCMS Give Norwegians A Go

After more than a decade of airing the outrageous and typically ridiculous human experience, reality TV is still a runaway success.  Since MTV first aired its Real World series, we’ve seen everything from mining coal to swapping wives.  But unlike some of the broadcasts with tiresome manufactured drama, shows like Dirty Jobs took the bend of having people try something unusual on camera that they had never done before, with ample risk of injury or at least embarrassment.  Such was the reason our local mounted shooters club, the Sin City Mounted Shooters, spent Thursday afternoon at the BCHA arena with a Norwegian film crew and two fearless show hosts.

Umberto Strives For HOY

The first full weekend of 2012 kicked off with a chilly but exciting schooling Dressage show at Cooper Ranch.   New competitors mixed with veterans as they tested from Introductory level all the way up to Grand Prix.  Walking around the immaculate grounds, I’m always mesmerized by the sleek, clipped horses and their dapper riders.  A beautiful silvery horse moved through the warm-up arena and caught my eye, stepping gracefully and bending at his rider’s invisible command.  His name is Umberto, aka “Bernie”, and he is one of the Horse Of The Year nominees with the Las Vegas Chapter of the California Dressage Society (LVCCDS).  I caught up with his owner, Kara Pack, who admits it has been a relationship of ups-and-downs.  But after years of “couples counseling”, they are finally a successful team and the sky is the limit.

Women & Horses: A Win-WHIN Combination

Several years ago, my sister gave me a book for Christmas – GaWaNi PonyBoy’s “Of Women And Horses”, a beautiful compilation of photographs and essays describing the undeniable synergy that exists between these two soft yet powerful beings.  It’s no surprise then, that roughly 67-75% of active riders are women, and that many of them have chosen to make a relationship with horses into a career.  From authors to artists, breeders to nutritionists, ranchers to rescues, the list is endless of ways in which a life among horses can also be a successful business….thus the inspiration to form the Women’s Horse Industry Network (WHIN), by Catherine Masters.