from the Wisconsin Harness Horse Association

Madison, WI — The USTA District 4-B and Wisconsin Harness Horse Association’s annual meetings were held Saturday (Jan. 25) at the Howard Johnson in Madison, Wis.

The day was filled with opportunities for local horsemen to listen and learn from some of the highest profile people in their field. The first speaker was Dr. Phil Kapraun, who travels the nation with his fluoroscope to scan young horses in training and who also shared his views on tying up, EPM, basic horse care and more. After his presentation, Kapraun was recognized with the James Lair Memorial Award for Excellence.

Later that afternoon, the United States 2013 Trainer of the Year Ron Burke spoke to more than 80 people about training methods and candidly spoke about his career in harness racing.

During the WHHA annual meeting, board members Jay DeLong and Susan Schroeder were re-elected to the Board, while Nichole Glynn, after being the webmaster for the past two years, was newly elected. The 2014 tentative racing season was passed out which showed the Marquette County Fair hosting harness racing for the first time in 11 years; the total number of fair tracks to host racing in the state will be seven with 14 days of racing.

Shortly thereafter, the USTA District Meeting vote on rule change proposals saw rules 9, 10, 14, 16 and 18 pass. USTA Outreach Coordinator Jessica Schroeder then demonstrated the online entry platform that will be unveiled this spring and will be available for use for those horsemen racing at the Wisconsin fairs.

A night of celebrating the 2013 racing season followed, along with a silent and live auction. To view the slideshow of all the evening’s award recipients, click on this link and click on the “2013 Year in Review” video.