Horses

Late on Friday, May 7, the day before the running of the 2022 Kentucky Derby, a chestnut-colored colt named Rich Strike made the race’s lineup after, literally, another horse withdrew from the competition at the last minute.

As the management of the Chicago Bears is getting ready to present plans for the former Arlington International Racecourse in Arlington Heights, a group of harness horse racing devotees is working to make sure the Illinois horse racing and horse breeding industry stays alive.

Michigan animal health officials announced the first case of eastern equine encephalitis in a 3-year-old horse just across the Michigan-Indiana border. According to Indiana’s Board of Animal Health, horse owners in Indiana should be aware of the disease.

The centennial of the Du Quoin State Fair is being honored in many ways when the fair kicks off, and one of the ways is a slate of significant improvements to the historic Perry County venue that has hosted the fair and many other events, the Du Quoin State Fairgrounds.

From its signature event — horse racing — to the fair itself, the Du Quoin State Fair has survived to celebrate 100 years. This year’s event is marking 100 years of being the state fair for southern Illinois in several significant ways.

Remember when you were a kid and your parents said your missing dog or cat had gone to live on a farm? Believe it or not, that farm actually exists — sort of.

Investigators were trying to determine the cause of a fire that ripped through a barn and killed several animals including horses at a ranch southeast of Sacramento, authorities said.

Day after day, 14-year-old Molly Weinzierl sat in the sand, a pile of hay on her lap, waiting for the perpetually spooked horse resting nearby to get hungry enough to come over.

Heat and humidity didn’t deter thousands of visitors from filling the runways and taxiways of the former Chanute Air Force Base for the Half Century of Progress to see historic farm equipment in action.

Over the course of its 50-plus year history, the American Horse Council has conducted numerous national economic impact studies of the U.S. horse industry, with the most recent study completed in 2017. The next study will take place in 2022.