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Horses and People brief items
CRC festival upcomingThe Smithsonian Zoo's Conservation and Research Center in Front Royal will be open to the public Oct. 4 and 5 during the CRC's annual Autumn Conservation Festival from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. both days.
The event offers visitors a unique opportunity to learn about the zoo’s endangered species conservation programs underway at the 3,200-acre facility.
The festival is a family event with tours, live music and other activities — all designed to exhibit the zoo’s conservation facility on the only two days it is open to the public per year.
The $30 car pass, for up to six people, can be purchased at www.fonz.org/acf.htm or at the Front Royal visitor’s center.
One year, and counting, for Sprieser Sporthorse
Sprieser Sporthorse near Orlean will host a one-year anniversary open house on Sunday, Oct. 5 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. There will be riding demonstrations, feed representatives, refreshments and more at the free event.
New and prospective students, friends and neighbors are invited. Drawings for free lessons will be held hourly.
Colleen Meyer of Advanced Saddle Fit will conduct a saddle-fitting clinic on Nov. 21-22 at Sprieser. Dressage medalist Lendon Gray will teach a clinic at the facility Dec. 13-14. Farm trainer Lauren Spriser encourages early registration for the Gray clinic, which she believes will overfill.
Log on for details: www.spriesersporthorse.com.
Art auction Sunday
The Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation will host its annual Art at the Barn art auction and sale Oct. 5, 3-5:30 p.m. at the black barn at the Montpelier estate in Orange County. Proceeds go to support the TRF at Montpelier. E-mail for ticket details: sjh58@hotmail.com.
Trailblazers to meet
The Trailblazers Trail Club will meet Thursday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. at the Denny's restaurant in Warrenton. Guest speakers will be David and Anita Hasbury, a British couple who rode across America last year, riding trails in 40 states. New and prospective members are invited to attend the free event. For more information, call (540) 341-4992.
Ride benefits Phoenix program
The Phoenix Rising Therapeutic Equestrian Program will host a benefit trail ride at 10 a.m. Oct. 12 at Fair Winds Farm in Orlean. Lunch will be served after the ride. Call (540) 359-5074 for more details on the ride or for information on volunteering for the therapeutic riding program.
'Thinking horse' clinic
Jan Snodgrass will teach a "thinking horse" clinic Oct. 25 at her Lightheart Farm near Marshall. Snodgrass will teach participants "how to improve their ability to work with horses by learning to understand both their behavior and the ways they learn best."
Snodgrass will teach the ways horses are learn, including associative learning, habituation, operant conditioning and whole-brain learning, and how a rider can use them to change or develop behavior.
The clinic runs 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Call (540) 364-7673 or visit online www.theexcellenthorse.com.
Foxhunting clinic
An Oct. 21-23 foxhunting clinic will be held at Hilltop in The Plains. Irish trainer Aidan O'Connell will teach horses and riders at all levels how to improve balance and accuracy cross country and over fences.
O'Connell has hunted with more than 100 packs of hounds, ridden in 150 jump races in Ireland, England, Germany and South Africa — including three times in the Grand National at Aintree. He won a show jumping class at the Royal Dublin Horse Show.
Call (540) 364-3706 to sign up.
Orange County team event
The Orange Count Hunt will host its annual cross-country team event Oct. 26 beginning at 9 a.m. at Old Whitewood in The Plains. Divisions for hilltoppers, limit and genuine hunters are planned. Details are available at (540) 253-5356.
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