Lexington, KY – The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) is pleased to announce the continuation of a multi-year partnership with Markel Insurance to sponsor the USEF Young Horse Dressage Program. This sponsorship also includes the Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage National Championships and the Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Selection Trials.

“Markel came on board to sponsor this program early in our strategy to build our developing horse and rider programs which are critical to our future success in international competition,” said John Long, USEF Chief Executive Officer. “This young horse program has been extremely successful and we thank Markel for their vision, enthusiasm and continued support."

Built on more than 40 years of comprehensive equine coverage, the reputation of Markel is unsurpassed in the field of equine insurance. With the continued support of Markel Insurance, 2006 was a banner year for the Young Horse Dressage Program, including a record number of applications, qualifying competitions and Selection Trial and National Championship entries. Through the support of Markel Insurance, a four-year-old division was added along with the hiring of Scott Hassler as USEF Young Horse Dressage Coach.

“It was a natural for us to be interested in the Young Horse Dressage Program,” said John Seger, Director of Agent Development for Markel. “We really love dressage, and I think it’s important to recognize the ability Americans have to train young dressage horses. Trainers should consider U.S. trained dressage horses as viable options when they’re buying horses for their clients.”

The Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Program promotes the importance of selective breeding and correct training of horses in the United States and encourages participation of breeders, riders and trainers of young horses (four, five and six-year-olds) in dressage competition. The purposes of this program are to encourage the properly structured development of young dressage prospects through the training scale, to identify and recognize outstanding talent and the training of international-caliber horses, and to prepare these horses for future careers at the FEI (international) level and participation on U.S. High Performance teams.

“I support this program and am excited about it,” Seger said. “We’re very pleased to be a sponsor of the USEF. It’s a vital part of the equestrian community.”

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~~~For more information, please contact Stacey Meier, Director of National Marketing at (859) 225-6974 or via email at [email protected].