The 121st National Horse Show enjoyed it’s third successful year at the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club in Wellington, FL and this year the Nations top hunter, jumpers and dressage horses shared the limelight with some little stars--Shetland ponies and miniature horses. During the Family Festival held at the show on December 4-5, Shetland ponies and miniature horses strutted their stuff in four educational demonstrations hosted for spectators. “I think most people were impressed by the...

James R. Wolf has been selected by the USEF to assume the leadership of the Federation’s High Performance discipline programs as the Executive Director of High Performance. He had been serving as Interim Executive Director. Jim has many years of administrative and competitive experience in horse sports. Prior to joining the USEF staff full-time, he managed the USET’s three-day eventing squad at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, where he was responsible for the coordination of the...

Lexington, KY —Competing against a record number of submissions from across the country, 12 outstanding entries have emerged victorious in the 2004 United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Awards for Media Excellence. The winning entry in each of the six individual categories will go on to compete for the Daniel P. Lenehan Trophy , a capstone award celebrating outstanding achievement in media excellence. In addition, the Federation is pleased to introduce the President’s Award ,...

For 2005 the FEI has recognized the CCI** as a CIM, as defined in Appendix D of the FEI General Regulations. Due to this classification, under FEI General Rules, Article 139.2, horses taking part in CIMs in their country of residence are not required to have an FEI passport. Therefore the passport requirements are as follows (the star designation applies to CICs and CCIs): • All horses entered in a *** or **** competition regardless of location must have an FEI passport. • All U.S. owned horses...

Appendix 2 in the printed version of the USEF rule book incorrectly lists the Dressage Tests for Training Level as Novice C and Novice D. The correct tests for Training Level are Training Level C and Training Level D. A corrected version of the rule book will be available online at www.usef.org. For questions or additional information please contact Torri Nahorniak at [email protected] .

Gail Abele of Highland Village, TX, has been named the 2004 USDF/Dover Adult Medal National Champion. Awarded for the first time in 2004, the year-end award is presented jointly by the United States Dressage Federation (USDF) and Dover Saddlery as part of the USDF/Dover Adult Medal program, which is designed to acknowledge and reward adult amateurs riding at Second Level. To be eligible for the year-end award, a rider must win at least three USDF/Dover Adult Medals, which were presented at over...

Prince Bernhard, the President of the FEI from 1954 to 1964, passed away on December 1, 2004. He was 93 years old. Prince Bernhard, husband of Queen Juliana, who reigned from 1948, and father of the present Queen of the Netherlands, Beatrix, was born on June 29, 1911. In 1937 he married the then Princess Juliana. The couple had four children, all girls. One of them, Irene, became a successful jumper rider, competing as a member of the Dutch team at the European Junior Championships of 1956....

At its recent meeting in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the FEI Bureau decided to establish a task force to reassess the policies necessary for the elimination of abusive and illegal performance enhancing drugs and to review the general medication control of horses. The Task Force will be composed of the following members: Sven Holmberg, Sweden, Chairman Philip Billington, Great Britain Breido Zu Rantzau, Great Britain David Distler, United States Peter Wylde, United States Marco Danese, Italy The...

Oklahoma City, OK —Setting the pace for the rest of the world, the two reiners representing the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) made history December 2, winning the first Gold and Silver Medals ever awarded at the inaugural FEI World Reining Masters, presented by Netjets. Bringing home the Gold in the open division, Todd Crawford of Blanchard, OK, and Matt Dillon Dun It (owned by 3 Peaks Ranch) finished with a top score of 220.5. The win entitled the pair to $17,906.25 in...

Wellington, FL —With seven World Cup slots hanging just out of reach, and the possibility of two wild cards factoring in, East Coast League riders hold a collective breath as the latest round of qualifying points is tallied. After eight rounds of competition, the rivalry stays ever close, with McLain Ward emerging the new leader as the group takes a short recess for the Winter months. Closely following Ward’s 92 points are Kimberly Frey with 81, Laura Kraut with 72, and Lauren Hough...