They were involved in harness racing, raising horses and racing them. Skiles said his family first had horses for recreational riding, then got into barrel racing. In barrel racing, the horse and rider must enter the ring at a run, circle each of three barrels arranged in a triangular pattern, then race back out - all without toppling one of the barrels, which voids the time for the run. Each horse is allowed only one run in an event per round, but riders may compete on more than one...

Courtney Dobson was the region's all-around champion and won the breakaway roping title, Sierra Thomas dominated the region in barrel racing, and Texie Rose led a 1-2-3 Weber sweep of the top spots in goat tying. Thomas, a former national high school champion and the fourth-place finisher in barrel racing at last year's CNFR, had a tremendous start to her season and backed off in the season's final few weeks to keep her horse healthy. She was ninth in barrel racing last year. There are too...

I would consider eating horse meat as long as the horses were transported and slaughtered humanely. Turning dung into energy: how a group in Canada are attempting to perform equine alchemy You've heard of turning water into wine well, now an association in British Columbia in Canada is looking at ways of converting horse dung into horsepower. The Bio Products Association, which promotes the use of alternative fuel, is trying to trap the methane given off when horse manure decomposes in...

Carnevale is also able to give grieving horse owners a foal after their horse has died by scraping ovary follicles for eggs within eight hours of the horse's death. It's a process that makes some horse owners nervous, as embryos with winning genetics are implanted into average horses. Elaine Carnevale, who helps aging world champion horses have babies when it seems their window of opportunity has otherwise closed. At the behest of clients who come from around the country to the highly...

But the horse racing industry, be it the thoroughbreds or the harness horses, just isn't as significant to the American sports culture as it was in, say, 1950. Essentially, horse racing has become largely dependent on a one-armed bandit to keep it going. A spectator sport from a bygone era, the industry has for decades seen a steady decline in interest and is now dependent on revenue from video lottery terminals or slot machines for its survival. Thoroughbred racing has suffered a direr...

But for trainers, jockeys, grooms and all of professional horse racing's hangers-on, landing an entry in the 20-horse Derby field is an all-consuming passion. For most casual horse racing fans, the Kentucky Derby is an annual two-minute excuse to throw a party. In their compelling, expertly paced documentary "The First Saturday in May" (which will be screened locally as part of the Silverdocs festival), brothers John and Brad Hennegan, ages 38 and 35, follow the trainers of six standout...