by Joanie Morris

Wellington, FL - The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Ad Hoc Committee on Selection has approved naming the horse/rider combination of Armani/Jeffrey Welles to the Show Jumping Short List for the 2008 Olympic Games in Hong Kong August 8-24, 2008.

As per the USEF Selection Procedure for the Show Jumping Team, the Selectors have the discretion to recommend up to four of the ten horse/rider combinations to the Short List regardless of their participation or placing in the Selection Trials. The remaining six combinations will be chosen according to their ranking at the conclusion of the Selection Trials which run February 27 – March 9 in Wellington, FL.

Armani and Welles jumped two immaculate clear rounds in the first two legs of the USEF Selection Trials for Show Jumping currently underway at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL. This combination joins Authentic/Beezie Madden and Sapphire/McLain Ward who were named to the Short List in February.

Armani, a 13-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding, is owned by Kimmel Yeagar Equine and Triton Ventures

The Short List will travel to Europe and compete at CSIO’s La Baule, Rome, St. Gallen, Rotterdam and Aachen before Selection for the 2008 Olympic Games is finalized in early July.

For more information please contact Lizzy Chesson, USEF Director of Show Jumping, High Performance Programs at 908.326.1166 or [email protected].