Lexington, KY —As the year comes to a close, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) is pleased to announce the 2004 Equestrians of Honor. Of these seven honorees, one will be selected by the USEF membership, as the 2004 USEF Equestrian of the Year. On-line voting begins today, and all members in good standing are invited to log on to www.usef.org to cast their votes. Just click on the “Equestrian of the Year” icon on the right side of our homepage. The seven finalists...

Horse owners who frequently travel out of the state of North Carolina with their animals for horse shows and festivals can take advantage of a new agreement between Southern states that will eliminate the need to obtain monthly animal health certificates. The agreement between Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia will allow horse owners to apply for an Equine Event Permit that will be good...

Six of America’s top Grand Prix Riders will perform at the “Fete Cheval,” a first of its kind event, to be held on Saturday evening, February 12, 2005, during the 2005 Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL. --Molly Ashe, Winner of the Devon, Harrisburg, Tampa and Berlin Grand Prix, and the RBC Cup at Spruce Meadows. Two-time winner of the Budweiser Invitational. --Margie Goldstein-Engle, Eight-Time American Grand Prix Association Rider of the Year and member of the Sydney Olympic Show...

The 54th annual Garden State Horse Show returns to the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta, NJ, May 4-8, 2005. Presented by the Junior Essex Troop, Inc., the Garden State Horse Show is the largest horse show in New Jersey. New for this year, the Garden State Horse Show will have a dedicated hunter area, featuring three newly-installed arenas. Work on the new hunter area, which measures 320 feet by 500 feet, is nearing completion and the space will be ready to use at the horse show. The Garden...

The December 14 landslide approval by Oklahoma City voters to increase the hotel/motel occupancy tax has ensured Oklahoma City will have the world-class facilities befitting the "Horse Show Capital of the World." Raising the current hotel/motel occupancy tax from 2% to 5.5% is estimated to generate $4.5 million annually, which will be dedicated to funding an estimated $55 million in proposed improvements to the horse show facilities at the Oklahoma State Fair Park. "First and foremost, I want...

Lexington, KY —Meagan Drew may not have started out as a cookie cutter equestrian, but then again, her break-the-mold approach may have been the leg up she needed to claim success in and out of the show ring. “I cleaned stalls two summers in a row every day so I could ride horses and take lessons,” says the 18 year old Drew. “It wasn’t my mom writing a check—it was something I had to do. It made me appreciate the lessons I did get and it made me work harder....

Lexington, KY —The USEF Executive Committee, on December 21, 2005, approved extraordinary rule changes to the Federation rules regarding the Foreign Rider License. These changes will become effective on January 1, 2005 in conjunction with the new FEI General Regulations. These changes, which can be viewed at http://www.usef.org/documents/rules/ruleChanges/2004/ApprovedEC12-1-04.pdf , now provide that a non–U.S. Citizen may compete in USEF national competitions with proof, in...

USEF Archive ( ) For the past nine months the USEF Competition Date Approval Task Force has worked on a major overhaul of the current “Mileage Rule” which dictates how competition dates are awarded to horse show organizers. As the Task Force examined the process it became apparent that several other important issues involved in the awarding of dates were critical to the improvement of equestrian competition in the United States. These involved the licensing of competitions; establishment and...

The Organizing Committee of the World Endurance Championships, which are taking place next month in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, have confirmed that they have received definite entries for 188 horses from 41 nations. The horses are all due to start arriving in Dubai around January 8, allowing them time to acclimatize ahead of the competition which takes place on January 26-27, 2005. At the final trial, which took place in Dubai last weekend held at the Dubai Endurance Village, the...

The FEI Task force on Doping and Medication Control held its first meeting in Lausanne on December 15, 2004. Chaired by Sven Holmberg (Sweden), the Task Force heard submissions from the FEI Legal Department, the FEI Communications department, the Chairman of the FEI Medication Sub Committee Andrew Higgins (Great Britain), and the Chairman of the FEI Judicial Committee Ken Lalo (Israel). The areas covered in the day long meeting included: - The difference between Medication Control and Doping -...