Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian is pleased to announce the continuation of its partnership with Hodges Badge Company for 2023. Hodges has renewed their support as the Official Ribbon Supplier of US Equestrian through the 2026 competition season. “We are so appreciative of Hodges Badge Company’s ongoing partnership and support of US Equestrian,” said US Equestrian CEO Bill Moroney. “Hodges is known for their quality products and excellent customer service, and we...

Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian is pleased to announce the four athlete-and-horse combinations selected to represent the Adequan ® U.S. Para Dressage Team at the Wellington CPEDI3*. The CPEDI3* will take place January 26, 28, and 29, 2023, at the Adequan ® Global Dressage Festival Week 3. The following combinations are listed in alphabetical order: Beatrice de Lavalette (Loxahatchee, Fla.) and Sixth Sense , a 2010 Oldenburg gelding owned by Elizabeth & Nicolas de Lavalette...

Lexington, Ky. – The USEF Board of Directors met on Saturday, January 14, at the 2023 US Equestrian Annual Meeting in Lexington, Ky. During the meeting, Judy Werner was elected Vice President and Ellie Brimmer was added as an athlete representative. Judy Werner (Waterloo, Ill.) brings a long history of service in US Equestrian governance, having served on numerous committees and councils, including as Vice President of the Executive Committee, Hearing Committee Co-Chair, Audit Committee...

Following Annual Meeting and a review of requirements for foreign athletes competing in USEF national competitions as well as USEF athletes competing in foreign national competitions, an amendment to Bylaw 203 has been proposed requiring all foreign athletes wishing to compete in USEF national competitions to comply with USEF membership requirements. The proposed amendment to the USEF Bylaw 203 will be considered by the USEF Board of Directors following a 21-day consultation period during which...

Ju’Riese Colón is the Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. Center for SafeSport with a professional background in children’s safety policy and education. She spoke at the USEF Annual Meeting about participant protection and SafeSport in the equestrian community. Here are five takeaways from her presentation. 1. The equestrian community has become a leader in participant protection efforts. The U.S. Center for SafeSport was designated in 2017 as the nation’s safe sport...

Sydney Moriarty is a lifelong hunter/jumper rider and a second-year medical student at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine. In 2021, she graduated with a B.S. in Clinical Neuroscience from Virginia Tech, where she worked at the Helmet Lab assisting on the Equestrian STAR helmet rating project . Moriarty gave a presentation on the history, future, and current research around equestrian helmets, body protectors, and air vests. Here are five key takeaways from her presentation: 1....

Sarah Hamilton from strategic communications consulting firm Kivvit gave a presentation on social media to kick off Friday’s Workshop Sessions. She reviewed the basics, different platforms, strengths and weaknesses of social media, and best practices. Hamilton concluded by fielding questions from the audience for a thoroughly informative session. Social media is a communication tool “Social media is just one tool in a larger communications and marketing external relations plan that...

Ellen Ahearn and Eric Markell at Badminton. We became involved in the sport of eventing when our daughter, Alexandra Ahearn, became an eventer. She started in Michele Pestl’s program in Renton, WA on an older horse named Sir Frederick. After a couple of years, it was clear that Alex had advanced as a rider to the point she needed a younger, more vibrant horse. So, off Michele and Ellen went to Munich, Germany, where we were fortunate enough to locate and purchase Mai Baum at the...

Jane Hamlin My journey as a judge has led me from northern New England all around the world, including judging at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. It’s been an exciting ride starting when two friends and I traveled down monthly to the New England Dressage Association dressage judges’ program. This was prior to the USDF “L” program. We had the good fortune to spend a weekend a month for nine months learning from different judges before taking our final exam to become a...

Lexington, Ky. - Following a review of Area VI community feedback, modifications to the 2023-2027 U.S. Eventing Calendar were recommended by the Eventing Strategic Calendar Task Force to the Eventing Sport Committee, who in turn recommended the modifications to an Ad Hoc of the Board of Directors. Due to hardships demonstrated for qualification under the current structure and criteria, and to limit the travel to achieve those qualifications in the interest of horse welfare, the following...