Horse Illustrated Magazine

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

• We’re big fans of this story about firefighters, police, a veterinarian and a horse owner working together to rescue a massive Percheron named Tom who had slipped into a muddy pond and gotten stuck.
• Thank you to Horse Racing Nation for bringing us this profile of an Appaloosa track pony named, adorably, Applesauce.
• The number of stories about lost or stolen horses can be pretty disheartening at times, so it’s always great when we can feature one with a happy ending. Such is the case with Hayden Ratliff and her horse, Big John.
• You may have heard that the great Valegro would be retired after the Rio Olympics next year, as rider/trainer Charlotte Dujardin had suggested as much. However, Valegro’s co-owner and Charlotte’s mentor, Carl Hester, says not so much. Also, he references “Charlotte and her big mouth.” So.
• I hope Valegro sticks around for 1,000 more days because I’d really like to see him in person just once and I’d also really like to go to the Bromont 2018 World Equestrian Games, which are now just under 1,000 days away. (The latter wish isn’t impossible, but I’d be pretty surprised if the former did.)
• I will read the long form version of this story that I hope someone writes when it comes out, but until then, take a look at this article about two teenage girls who ran away from home and went missing for two years. Turns out they’ve been living at a horse farm in Minnesota for some of that time.
• And finally, we reach the celeb gossip section of this week’s news roundup. Here’s Lee Pace being thrown off his game by his antsy horse on the set of “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.”
• And here’s Jennifer Lawrence, being her usual your-weird-but-hilarious-friend-from-middle-school self with a horse named Coal during a photo shoot for Vogue.

That’s it for this week. Enjoy your weekend!

Back to The Near Side

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