Prior to Sunday's $50,000 Purina Mills Grand Prix, HITS handed out its Spring Circuit Awards to the most accomplished equestrians who participated at HITS Saugerties this spring. The overall and reserve circuit champions in 68 divisions were awarded during a special Parade of Champions celebration in the grand prix ring at HITS-on-the-Hudson to cap off three exciting weeks of competition. It was a very successful spring for trainer Cynthia Williams of New England Farms, and it showed on Sunday...

Foals showing in the Kentucky & Kentucky Amateur Futurity Weanling Divisions must have applications for registration received in the American Saddlebred Registry office on or before Wednesday, June 25 by 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. No exceptions. A rush fee of $50 will be assessed for any such applications received June 26 or thereafter. The added fee will be billed to the applicant and will be due and payable immediately. This is to ensure a conditional registration number is assigned by the...

The Arabian Horse Association (AHA), an equine breed organization that serves 37,000 members and registers more than one million Arabian, Half-Arabian and Anglo-Arabian horses, is pleased to announce that Glenn T. Petty of Wake Forest, NC, will take over as executive vice president, effective July 1, 2008. Petty brings nearly 40 years of equine industry experience to the position, including over 30 years as a show manager, 15 years as North Carolina’s State Horse Specialist and years of...

Todd Minikus and his ride Ultimo Van Ter Moude cruised past the star-studded field of 38 starters to secure $7,500 in prize money in Thursday's $25,000 Ariat Grand Prix at HITS Saugerties. Course designer Doug Russell sliced the large first-round field to 12 for the jump-off, making it a very competitive race over fences. “I was happy to have 12 come back for the jump-off," said Russell. "To be honest with you, I thought we had the right 12 come back. None of them got scared and they all walked...

The World Games 2010 Foundation announced that Matt Reiter has been selected as marketing coordinator for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. A native of Sandusky, OH, Reiter is a recent graduate of the University of Kentucky, where he earned a BA in Business Administration with an emphasis in marketing. Reiter has held internships at the World Games 2010 Foundation in marketing and sales, at the University of Kentucky Athletics in media relations, at the Cincinnati Reds in marketing...

Horse enthusiasts in 4-H District 5 Area will soon be able to enjoy permanent seating at the Mighty Mustang Arena in Green County because of funding from the Kentucky Horse Council (KHC). The Horse Council $10,000 grant supports the materials and construction of bleachers, which will seat as many as 320 spectators at the new facility. Despite the fact that no seating was previously available, over 3,000 area horse owners and 4-H club members used the partially completed arena in the past year....

After his spectacular success at the 2007 Stallion Performance Test, where he earned the highest score in the history of U.S. testing, 164.86, Little Bit Farm’s homebred Rashka took some well-deserved time off. At his first show of 2008, Rashka remained true to his early promise by winning all seven of his classes at the May Dressage at Lamplight show, where he was high score of the show with an 80.4%, champion at T4, and reserve champion at First Level. With an additional T4 score of 75%, he...

At the Oaks Blenheim Classic, Karen Healey's riders were major players and very successful. Starting with the jumpers, in the $5,000 1.45m classic, Hannah Selleck of Thousand Oaks, CA, and her horse Bauer rode their way to victory. In addition, her name has been added to the Young Riders team for Zone 10 at the 2008 North American Junior and Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC). Shelby Wakeman of Westlake Village, CA, and Pandoer, were named as the alternates for the junior team. They finished...

David Holmes of Great Britain has been appointed to the key position of FEI Executive Director, Sports. In this role, Holmes will lead the FEI Sports Departments and manage their planning, financial, and operational activities. He will monitor the liaison with the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee, and the Organizing Committees in charge of the Olympic, Paralympic, and Youth Olympic Games and will coordinate the FEI World Equestrian Games, Regional Games,...

The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) has issued revised criteria, effective immediately, for youth members nominated for the USDF Youth Volunteer of the Year Award to allow volunteer hours accumulated between September 1 of the previous calendar year and August 31 of the current calendar year to be included in the required number of hours. This is a change from the previous requirement that volunteer hours must have been accumulated in the current membership year. Nominations for the...