by Jamie Rucker, USTA Outreach Program

Columbus, OH — Equine Affaire Inc., known as the “nation’s premier equine exposition and equestrian gathering,” will be held April 12-15 in Columbus, Ohio, and the USTA will be in attendance all four days to promote the Standardbred breed, both as a racehorse and the versatile pleasure horse.

The USTA and the Standardbred Pleasure Horse Organization of Ohio will host a breed demonstration on Friday, April 13, at 5:15 p.m. in the Voinovich Breed Pavilion show ring. Among the Standardbreds to be showcased are Gallo Blue Chip, No Homework, Veruca Salt, Militant Mischief, Just Like Sunny, Nuclear Dawn, I Feel Lucky Today and Fire In Her Eyes. Each horse will either be ridden or driven in the arena while spectators listen and learn about the All-American breed.

Equine Affaire is held annually in California (February), Ohio (April) and Massachusetts (November). The event features clinics, demonstrations, seminars, a breed pavilion, a youth pavilion, trade show, horse training and evening entertainment.

Making a special appearance in the Youth Pavilion on Saturday, April 14, Gallo Blue Chip and Nicole Kraft, editor of Hoof Beats magazine, will teach the children about harness racing and the breed in general. Gallo and Nicole will make their presentation at 4:45 p.m. in the Celeste Center.

Also on Saturday, visit the USTA booth as illustrator Liz Ball will be on hand to sign copies of the new USTA activity book, “A Standardbred Star, Learn about Harness Racing with Star and Friends.” Liz will be at the USTA booth (B42) in the Voinovich Breed Pavilion from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Also joining the USTA in the Voinovich Breed Pavilion is the Standardbred Pleasure Horse Organization of Ohio and the New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program. In addition to the breed demo horses, Standardbreds will be showcased at the booth. Those Standardbreds include Spin Doctor, Tangoto Vegas, Jet’s Tradition and Scud’s MacKenzie.

Equine Affaire is open from 9:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday and from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday. Daily tickets are $13 for adults and $8 for children; children 6 and under are free. For more information on Equine Affaire, visit http://www.equineaffaire.com/ohio/index.html.