<p align="right"><font size="2" color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">April
19, 2002</font>
<p align="left"><font size="2" color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> Since
he was a young child, William Shatner has had
a deep love of horses. Through the years, his
dreams have been realized through his involvement
with American Saddlebreds and Quarter Horses
as an owner, breeder and competitor. Bill currently
competes in both saddleseat and reining events,
two entirely different riding disciplines. </font>
<p align="left"><font size="2" color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The
traditional western saddle has a deep seat,
the trademark saddlehorn and wide stirrups.
The saddleseat has no saddle horn, a very narrow
seat and stirrups made of thin iron and are
commonly referred to as "irons." While both
Saddlebreds and Quarter Horses are both very
athletic, they are judged quite differently.
Saddlebreds are shown in two directions of the
ring. Most compete at the walk, trot and canter.
Some are trained to perform two additional man-made
gaits, the slow gait and the rack. The trademark
rack is a smooth, fast gait and can be compared
to riding in a fine sports car! </font>
<p align="left"><font size="2" color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Reining
horses are judged by their successful completion
of various "patterns" which include small slow
circles and large fast circles as well as their
skill at making flying lead changes, roll backs
over the hocks, 360 degree spins to the right
and to the left, and a sliding stop. </font>
<p align="center"><font size="2" color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">
</font>
<p align="left"><font size="2" color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Saddlebred
classes typically consist of multiple riders
competing in the ring simultaneously. Reining
horses compete individually with only one rider
in the ring at a time. Customarily, Saddlebred
riders wear a suit with shirt and tie, long
stirrup pants, a long suit coat and an English-style
hat. Reining competitors wear a traditional
Western shirt, jeans, chaps and a cowboy-style
hat. </font>
<p align="left"><font size="2" color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> The
one exception in Saddlebred riding, we can thank
and attribute to William Shatner! </font><font size="2" color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Bill
had a strong desire to bring new areas of competion
to the breed and he actively and diligently
pursued the American Saddle Horse community
to create a Western Pleasure class, and it was
aptly named in his honor. It's called the William
Shatner Western Pleasure Class. The finals are
held each fall in Kansas City at the American
Royal Horse Show. There, the two breeds join
hoofs! The riders wear Western attire and compete
in the more traditional English gaits. </font>
<p align="left"><font size="2" color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">
Bill has always been a great competitor, and
learning both of these riding disciplines with
the limited time he has to train is no small
feat! Through the years, he has shown great
ability to compete with many of the best "amateur"
riders in the country who spend a good portion
of their time training for competition. He does,
in fact, compete very successfully on a world
class level. Bill has great balance on a horse
and to quote from Star Trek V, he's "one
with the horse!"</font>
<p align="left"><font size="2" color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">
If you have a chance to see him compete, by
all means do so! It's a totally very experience
than seeing him on TV or in the movies. Bill
generally competes in Western classes on the
West Coast (with reining Quarter Horses and
Saddlebreds). On the East Coast, he mostly competes
in Saddlebred horse shows. This weekend, he
will be at the Del Mar National Horse Show.
Then, it's on to the Hollywood
Charity Horse Show April 25-28th. For information
on future events, check the online calendar.
It is updated on a regular basis.</font>
<p align="center"><font size="2" color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"> </font>
<p align="left"><font size="2" color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Our
congratulations to Bill for achieving his dreams
in the horse world. We wish him the best of
luck in all of his future competitions! </font>
<p align="right"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2" color="#FFFFFF">Contributed
by Sandy Moruzzi and Jane Singer</font>
<blockquote>
<hr size="4" />
</blockquote>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="" size="2"><font color="#FFFFFF"> Shatner
& Friends International is William Shatner's
official fan club. We are a community of friends
drawn together by an appreciation of William
Shatner, the actor and the man. </font></font>
<font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">O</font><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">ur
first newsletter, The
Best of Times, is posted online. Each issue
features the latest news about Bill and his
activities, exclusive interviews, articles,
lots of candid photos, charity updates and much
more. The next one will be published in the
end of March.</font>
<font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">
We will post time sensitive information concerning
Bill's appearance schedule within Bill's online
calendar. It's updated regularly, so keep
checking back. </font>
<p align="left"><font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2"> <font size="-1">If
you're interested in joining the Club, annual
membership includes a beautiful autographed
8x10 photograph of William Shatner as Captain
Kirk, a copy of Bill's credits, a short biography,
a subscription to The
Best of Times and the opportunity to participate
in our annual Shatner Weekend. Membership also
grants access to the Captain's Club, an exclusive
members-only part of WilliamShatner.com which
includes a bulletin board and Club merchandise.
Click here to join.</font></font>
<font color="#FFFFFF" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">We
are excited to be part of WilliamShatner.com
and will be making regular contributions to
the website.</font> |
