Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian (USEF) is pleased to announce that the USA Equestrian Trust has once again committed to supporting the U.S. Saddle Seat Team program. Funding from the Trust will include substantial grants in the 2018 and 2019 competition years to support the 2018 Saddle Seat World Cup Team and World Cup Competition, as well as the 2019 Young Riders Team. Lori Nelson and Bob Bell at 2018 USEF Annual Meeting (Taylor Pence) Bob Bell, member of the USA Equestrian Trust Board of...

Dear Fellow Members, We just finished our Annual Meeting in Lexington, Kentucky where we reported on the great results of the first year of our Strategic Plan. I was happy to report that we grew membership for the first time in years, increasing almost 30% to over 105,000 members. We also reported strong financial results, growing financial reserves, 23 signed and/or re-signed sponsors, new initiatives launched to strengthen the developmental pathway for horses and riders, increased access to...

Leaders from collegiate and scholastic organizations gathered Friday at US Equestrian’s Annual Meeting to share ideas, discuss marketing and promotional opportunities, and learn more about US Equestrian’s many resources for educational partners. “We wanted to get together to discuss how we can promote participation in equestrian sport, how we can assist the scholastic and collegiate groups in raising awareness of what they do, what their formats are, what the opportunities...

The United States Equestrian Federation’s 2018 Annual Meeting, which ended Saturday, celebrated the achievements of equine and human athletes and provided reason for great optimism about equestrian sports’ future. Themed “Bringing Joy, Embracing Change,” this year’s convention honored champions, delivered updates on key strategies and initiatives, hosted a number of popular educational forums, and welcomed lively open discussion on topics of interest to members and...

Representatives from the United States Equestrian Federation’s 29 breed and discipline affiliates convened Friday at the Annual Meeting in Lexington, Ky., for a vibrant Affiliate Roundtable discussion on a broad range of topics. The Roundtable agenda was based on feedback from the affiliates, who submitted topics of interest they’d like to discuss. The meeting covered such subjects as opportunities for collaboration, growing membership, and sponsorship ways to improve communications...

Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian (USEF) is pleased to announce Old Salem Farm as the host site for the 2018 Dressage Adequan® FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North (NAJYRC), as well as the 2018 and 2019 Jumping Adequan® FEI North American Junior Children and Young Rider Championships (NAJChYRC) presented by Gotham North pending FEI approval. Rebecca Farm will host eventing, the NAJC and CICOY in 2018 and 2019, pending FEI approval. Photo...

The USEF Intercollegiate and Interscholastic Equestrian Team Awards took place Saturday during the President’s Luncheon at the US Equestrian Annual Meeting. The awards recognized the 2017 championship team for each of the USEF-affiliated collegiate and scholastic organizations. Each winning team, its coaches, and its individual team members showed great commitment and dedication to reach their achievements in 2017. SCAD assistant coach Abbie Gibson and US Equestrian President Murray...

Lexington, Ky. – The U.S. Para-Equestrian Dressage Team presented by Deloitte will compete in its second competition of the Adequan Global Dressage Festival (AGDF) winter circuit, taking place January 19-21, in Wellington, Fla. The U.S. will compete against Canada beginning with the FEI Team Test for all grades on Friday, which will count 50% toward the overall team score. The FEI Individual Test for all grades follows on Saturday, which will count 50% toward the overall team score. In...

Mark Bellissimo, the guiding force behind the FEI World Equestrian Games Tryon 2018 (WEG), gave a presentation to US Equestrian Annual Meeting attendees on Wednesday. He provided his background, the vision for his properties, and details about the WEG and accompanying World Equine Expo. Bellissimo and his team operate five equestrian venues, including the Tryon International Equestrian Center, the home of the 2018 WEG, and several major competitions, such as the 12-week Winter Equestrian...

US Equestrian’s "Competition & Member Summit: Facing Challenges Together" got the organization’s Jan. 17-20 Annual Meeting started a day early on Tuesday in Lexington, Ky. The summit grew out of feedback from US Equestrian’s members, competition organizers, licensed officials, experts, and staff. It brought the equestrian community together to address some of the issues expressed by individual members, licensed officials, competition organizers, experts, and staff...