The Near Side: This Week in Horses — April 24, 2015

Happy Friday, everyone! Here’s what’s been happening in the horse world this week.

• It’s Rolex Week, which is our favorite holiday here at Horse Illustrated HQ. Keep checking back here on HorseChannel for updates from the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, and watch it live on USEFNetwork.com.
• April is a busy time for horse sports. Last weekend was the FEI World Cup Finals for dressage and show jumping, held in Las Vegas. One of our contributors wrote about seeing Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro’s victory there, among other highlights.
• Need another reason to love Beezie Madden? Here’s a story about her longtime friendship with fan Katlyn Oaks, a teenager in Las Vegas who has a terminal illness.
• Here’s a touching story about a 98-year-old woman in hospice care who had a final wish fulfilled: She took a horse-drawn carriage tour around downtown on her birthday. Lots of photos at the link.
• The much-anticipated racing debut of Zenyatta’s first colt, Cozmic One, took place this week. How’d it go? Well, not everyone can be a champ every time out. I see big things for his future dressage career.
• I heard this story about the horses of Mackinac Island on the radio yesterday and started mentally planning my vacation.
• Remember that guy who evaded police on a stolen horse until he fell off and was then brutally beaten by a mob of officers? He’s getting a $650,000 settlement from the county. Have I mentioned that I hate everything about this story? I hope that settlement ultimately gets funneled to the owner of the horse he stole and his alleged identity theft victims. (ICYMI: The horse had some injuries, but was generally okay.)
• This video of the world’s snuggliest foal has been everywhere this week, and with good reason.
• Is this your horse? A Miniature Horse was found grazing on a lawn in a residential area of Knoxville, Tenn. She’s being cared for by animal control, but they’d really like to return her to her owners.
• Now I have to worry about sinkholes? A yearling colt in Fayette County, Kentucky (where my horse and I live) was rescued from a sinkhole earlier this week. He’s expected to be fine.
• And finally, to prepare for next week’s Kentucky Derby, find out what your Derby horse name is using this helpful tool. I’m Kale Julep.

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Leslie Potter is Sr. Associate Web Editor of horseillustrated.com. Follow her on Twitter: @LeslieInLex.