There’s a faint collective gasp all around me the instant ten pale horses break from the darkness and tear, as a herd, through a clearing dappled with soft light.

Earlier this week, in making plans to attend the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show with girlfriends, the invitation was extended to the men in our lives.

Arizona’s biggest horse event of the year offers an evening of free family fun. Watch Arabian horses vie for the internationally coveted Scottsdale Champion title, enjoy a meal or browse the shopping expo.

Time to shine those shoes, clip that facial hair and grease up those rippling muscles - the 57th annual Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show and Shopping Expo has begun.

Time to shine those shoes, clip that facial hair and grease up those rippling muscles — the 57th annual Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show and Shopping Expo has begun.

Imagine trying to hit a 3-inch ball with a wooden mallet through a pair of goalposts nine football fields away. Now picture doing it at breakneck speed on the back of a horse that’s been trained to turn on a dime and stop dead in his tracks at a split-second’s notice — all while seven other riders try to get at that same tiny ball.

The 56th annual equine extravaganza opens with a couple thousand horses, lots of competitions to watch, behind-the-scenes barn tours and a shopping expo. Opens 8 a.m. Thursday and runs through Feb. 27. WestWorld of Scottsdale, 16601 N. Pima Road. $7-$15. (480) 312-6802 or scottsdaleaz.gov/westworld.

 Scenes from the beloved story will come to life Sunday at The Black Stallion Show in Scottsdale. It’s a traveling production put on by performers and horses from Arabian Nights. The show is also a fundraiser for The Black Stallion Literacy Foundation, a nonprofit started in 1999 to get first- through fifth-graders hooked on reading through interaction with live horses and Walter Farley’s books.

Two New River residents were arrested for animal cruelty after a horse was killed by a pool acid injection and another was found starving.

Queen Creek could spend more than $1 million improving and marketing Horseshoe Park & Equestrian Centre in an effort to bring more money into the town, based on two items in front of the Town Council Wednesday night.

Even the most emotionally closed-off children at Sunshine Acres, a nondenominational Christian group home in east Mesa, can begin to open up if given the chance to work with animals, said Cindy Humphrey, the facility's operations director.

THE WHITE HOUSE

THE WHITE HOUSE

High school students considering an equestrian career and young kids just wanting to pet a horse for the first time are in luck this weekend.

Mark Scarp: Walter Cronkite’s name put Arizona State University’s journalism school on the media map. Since Cronkite became the “face” of ASU journalism in 1984, the school began a quarter-century of improvement and expansion of its curriculum, the addition of top-flight faculty and in 2008, a new six-story building in downtown Phoenix, as well as growing amounts of private philanthropic support.

Mark Scarp: Walter Cronkite’s name put Arizona State University’s journalism school on the media map. Since Cronkite became the “face” of ASU journalism in 1984, the school began a quarter-century of improvement and expansion of its curriculum, the addition of top-flight faculty and in 2008, a new six-story building in downtown Phoenix, as well as growing amounts of private philanthropic support.

Picture a circus family, and a furry pack of South American wolf-children may come to mind, but not Tina Miser.

Looking for things to do this week? Check out our list of museum events and festivals, theater performances and family fun. There is something for everyone. 

For years, New Year's Eve in the Valley has been much more than one year giving way to the next. It's been a time to come up with activities for hordes of out-of-staters to do while they're here for bowl games.

Scottsdale could lose tourism dollars to other Valley communities if two planned hotels on Bell Road are not allowed to build taller than previous zoning permitted, city officials claimed Tuesday.

Scottsdale is temporarily scaling back several major roadway projects over the next few weeks to make it easier for drivers to do their holiday shopping. The city will be reopening some traffic lanes this month at the Scottsdale Road/Frank Lloyd Wright Boulevard intersection, and on Indian School and Camelback roads.

The National Festival of the West is returning to Scottsdale in March after holding the past three events at the new Rawhide at Wild Horse Pass.

Final approval to carve up a key property in Scottsdale's Arabian horse history is scheduled to be considered during Tuesday's City Council meeting.