Lexington, KY— The fourth annual USEF Dressage Seat Medal Finals were held during the Golden State Dressage Warm-Up and Cool-Down Show in Rancho Murieta, CA, July 28-30. Junior dressage riders from across the country competed in their respective age divisions of 13 & under and 14 to 18 years of age. The purpose of the Dressage Seat Medal Program is to promote and reward excellence in equitation, including correct seat, position and use of aids in the sport of dressage. Junior riders in these...

PhelpsPhotos.com/USEF Archives (On the first day of the USEF Pony Finals National Championships, 14-year-old Amber Henter, of St. Petersburg, FL, was in first place in the medium green pony division with a score of 250.) Lexington, KY – Excited children were all abuzz today at the Kentucky Horse Park with their favorite ponies by their sides, all hoping for an experience at this year’s Pony Finals that they will remember for a lifetime. This is the first year that Pony Finals is observing a...

The American Horse Council (AHC) will be holding an issues forum in Austin, TX, to discuss current issues facing the horse industry, such as the National Animal Identification System and its impact on horse owners. This meeting will also address the recent equine viral arteritis (EVA) outbreak, new developments in taxes for horse owners and breeders, the Unwanted Horse Coalition and access to trails. The meeting will conclude with an “Ask the Experts” panel. “The AHC believes it is critical for...

At its meeting on Monday, July 31, the Executive Committee of the American Saddlebred Horse Association (ASHA) for the first time designated regional championship competitions throughout the United States, for both 2006 and 2007. The initiative to develop both regional championship competitions for the entire nation and an annual Regional High Score Awards Program was announced after leadership meetings held in October 2005, and has been under consideration by the newly formed Charter Club...

Mighty, mild and marvelous, the rare Cleveland Bay is Breyer's newest equine sculpture. This British breed is on the critically endangered list of the Rare Breed Survival Trust, along with the Bengal tiger, the snow leopard and the giant panda. Less than 550 Cleveland Bays are thought to exist today, and only 220 are mares of breeding age. Sculpted by artist Karen Gerhardt, the Breyer Cleveland Bay is depicted mid-trot and captures the strength, power and substance of this rare breed....

Casa Lusitana's third annual Labor Day tribute to the beauty and abilities of the magnificent Lusitano and his Portuguese heritage takes place this year on Monday, September 4, 2006, from noon to 4 p.m. Held in Tyngsboro, MA, this grand party includes a day of open barn celebrating with Lusitano horses, demonstrations of classical riding and working equitation, in-hand horse presentations and descriptions, live music, food and a small vendor fair. Casa Lusitana welcomes the local and national...

Wilhelm Genn of Lebanon, OH, cleaned house at Horse Shows by the Bay Series II by winning both the $10,000 Open Jumper Welcome Prix and the $25,000 Grand Traverse Bay Grand Prix on Happy Z and Chantal, respectively. Grand Prix Ring Designer Pierre Joliceur’s course produced four clean rounds out of 22 in Friday afternoon’s (July 21) Welcome Prix. Genn guided Happy Z to the win by skimming all of the turns and jumping diagonally across several of the verticals, beating out Quendo and Erin Haas...

The Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games at the Kentucky Horse Park are now officially scheduled for September 25 to October 10, 2010. The official name of the games has also been finalized as the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. “We’ll have a great deal more information to share in the coming weeks,” said John Nicholson, Executive Director of the Kentucky Horse Park and President of the World Games 2010 Foundation, Inc., “but for the time-being, we want to get this on everyone’s calendars and...

The Horse Park at Woodside in Menlo Park, CA, will mark its 25th anniversary in August as a venue for the sport of three-day eventing with the reopening of its most challenging cross-country jumping course and a reception/fundraiser. The August 11-13 Event at Woodside Summer is the first Horse Park event in a half decade to offer an advanced division; this level of three-day competition requires that horses jump obstacles up to four feet tall and six feet wide on a winding, and often hilly,...

(Lexington, KY) – The USEF Board of Directors met in Lexington, KY, on July 11 and addressed a relatively light agenda with few proposed bylaw or rule changes. In their respective reports, USEF President David O’Connor and Chief Executive Officer John Long announced that a new strategic planning process will begin in the next several months with the objective of guiding the Federation for the next decade. It will address such issues as grassroots support and development; the rule creation and...