Lexington, KY— The UPHA has initiated a new program designed to reward saddle seat equitation riders for their community service involvement and fundraising efforts for approved charitable organizations. Jim Taylor describes Ribbons of Service as “a shared-commitment program that encourages riders to show an American Saddlebred, Arabian (including Half-Arabians), Morgan or National Show Horse in saddle seat equitation competitions, and encourages donors to pledge funds for charity for each...

Press release provided by the American Hackney Horse Society Foundation. Lexington, KY— The American Hackney Horse Society Foundation’s (AHHSF) goal is to preserve the past, promote the future and improve the breed of the American Hackney. To help accomplish this goal, the AHHSF announces the 2009 Adult Amateur Driving Challenge to help promote the showing of five-year-old and older Hackney ponies by adult amateurs at the smaller shows in a designated area. There are 15 competitions...

The Syracuse Sporthorse Invitational featuring The National Horse Show held an informal meeting on January 28 at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Club. The meeting, led by a panel made up of Leo Conroy, John Madden and Mason Phelps, was held as a forum to help the organizing committee gain information and feedback from the professionals concerning all aspects of the Syracuse/National Horse Show. The group, made up of mostly hunter riders and trainers, had an overall feeling that last...

Peter Wylde, 2004 Olympic Team Gold medalist for the USA, rode Esplanade 7 to his first grand prix win of the 2009 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival on Thursday, January 29. The pair took the fourth leg of the $30,000 Braman Motorcars WEF Challenge Cup Series under lights at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. Fifty-seven combinations started the class with 15 going clear to move to the jump-off. Six pairs posted clear rounds in a thrilling dash around the shortened course. Wylde, who...

Isabelle Leibler and her German Sport Pony, Going West, won the FEI Pony Individual class at the ESP Wellington Dressage Show recently, and the pair also rode away with special recognition from the American Shetland Pony Club (ASPC). Leibler, who trains with Lars Petersen, won the class with a score of 63.474%. Leibler, who just started in the FEI division, purchased her pony five years ago in Europe. Her mother, Rene Leibler, said she believes ponies are ideal for children in dressage. “On...

Stadium Jumping, Inc.'s Tampa Equestrian Festival will feature three weeks of world-class equestrian competition at the Bob Thomas Equestrian Center in Tampa, FL, March 18-April 4. As the conclusion of the 2009 winter show season, the festival is set to host some of the top horses and riders from all over the country for big-money classes and prizes. The competition is divided into three weeks, with the Suncoast Internationale, March 18-22, the Tampa Classic CSI***-W March 25-29, and the...

The focus groups formed by FEI Anti Doping and Medication Commission members, selected experts and FEI staff have begun their work. Four working groups were created: Lab Group, Legal Group, List Group, and Communications and Education Group. Three groups—Lab, Legal and List—met on January 29-30 and February 4, respectively. The remaining group—Communications and Education—will meet on February 9. The groups' composition and main tasks are as follows: Lab Group The main...

The Unwanted Horse Coalition’s (UHC) National Speaker Program is up and running. If you are an equine group with an upcoming event and would like to have someone speak about the UHC, what it does and the problem of unwanted horses, the UHC has a program to provide you with this support. The UHC has volunteers across the country who may be able to attend your event and present information from the Coalition. If you have an equine-related event coming up, please contact the UHC to request a...

The 2009 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions will be held in Gladstone, NJ, June 18–21. This Festival of Champions will once again feature the national championships for the Grand Prix, Intermediaire I, Young Adult “Brentina Cup,” Young Rider, and Junior divisions. Applications of Intent for all divisions are now available on the Federation website at www.usef.org/Contentpage2.aspx?id=dressage . High-performance (Grand Prix & Intermediaire I) applications, qualifying...

The World Games 2010 Foundation announced a revision to the competition schedule for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG). The new schedule moves the reining competition to September 25-30, and shifts the vaulting competition to October 1-10. No other discipline schedules were altered. As an added benefit, NBC Sports will extend its coverage of the 2010 WEG on September 26, adding an extra 30 minutes of Games programming. The broadcast, tentatively scheduled for noon-1:30 p.m.,...