2009 Bates Horsemastership Sweepstakes Winners Announced

Three lucky winners have been selected for the first Practical Horseman Magazine/Bates Horsemastership Sweepstakes of 2009. The sweepstakes ran from January to May 1, 2009, on EquiSearch.com as a bonus element to January’s George Morris Horsemastership Training Session.

Entrants were asked to review Practical Horseman’s Horsemastership handbook and then take a nine-question horsemanship quiz. A Bates Next Generation Elevation saddle, one ton of Purina Mills horse feed and a framed, signed poster of eventer Phillip Dutton along with three containers of Cosequin ASU from Nutramax Laboratories were awarded to the winners, who were chosen at random.

Rachel Fanta of Remington, Va., won the Bates saddle. She had ridden in a Bates saddle before and loved it, so when she saw the opportunity to win one for herself, she entered the sweepstakes right away. Her horse has high withers and is hard to fit for saddles, but the new Bates saddle fits him perfectly.

“With my new well-fitting saddle, I can continue training for my ‘B’ Pony Club rating,” Fanta says.

The one ton of Purina Mills feed went to Eileen Matz of Riverhead, N.Y., who says she entered the sweepstakes when she realized that she didn’t know many of the answers to the quiz questions.

“I decided that if my horse, Tonka Toy, could give me 14 years of horse showing every weekend, I owed him some well-spent minutes out of my day to read Practical Horseman’s Horsemastership http://secure-us.imrworldwide.com/cgi-bin/b?ci=us-primedia&cg=equisearch_pd f&tu=http%3A//special.equisearch.com/downloads/sweeps/PHHorsemastership09.pd f> handbook,” Matz says. She is looking forward to starting her horse on a new feeding program.

The signed poster of Phillip Dutton and the three containers of Cosequin ASU from Nutramax Laboratories were awarded to Donna Tresslar of White Heath, Ill. She is grateful because her horse is getting to the age when a joint supplement will really help.

“My 16-year-old mare is starting to get arthritis, and I’ve wanted to start her on a joint supplement,” says Tresslar. “I have high hopes that the Cosequin ASU will help her move more comfortably so that she will continue to enjoy trail riding for many more years to come.”

Those who entered but did not win are invited to enter the 2nd Chance Bates Horsemastership Sweepstakes at www.EquiSearch.com/about/giveaways before August 1.

While there, visitors can also enter two related contests for a chance to win a week with U.S. dressage Olympian Lendon Gray or a week with John and Beezie Madden, along with Bates saddles.