Week in Review - U.S. Equestrian

The 2010 FEI Games in Kentucky will make international equine history. For the first time ever, para-equestrian events will be part of the FEI Games.

“This is a new chapter for the FEI Games, not only will the games be held off the European continent, but all eight disciplines will take place in one venue,” said Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher. “Our commitment to the games and to the magnificent facilities at the Kentucky Horse Park will help the para-equestrian portion of the event achieve this historic milestone.”

For day-by-day coverage of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by Farnam, visit www.usef.org. EQUESTRIAN magazine's editor, Brian Sosby, will be writing a daily end-of-day report of the action from the Kentucky Horse Park.

Marcus Ehning and Sandro Boy Sail to First Place Finish in 2006 FEI World Cup Jumping Final - Round One

In the first round of the first-ever FEI World Cup Jumping Final held in Asia, Germany’s Marcus Ehning and the stunning bay stallion Sandro Boy easily jumped to the top of the leaderboard over 34 other competitors. April 27marked the start of the 2006 World Cup Jumping Final in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and there will be two more rounds on Friday, April 28, and Sunday, April 30, will see the world’s best horses and riders compete for the title of World Cup champion.

The already reduced United States squad for the FEI World Cup Final of Jumping scratched the West Coast horse Mc Guinness, who was running a fever Wednesday.

Ten U.S. riders, seven from the East Coast and three from the West Coast, were selected to compete against 40 other riders from 22 countries in the 28th annual indoor riding championships.

Shawn Flarida and Rowdy Yankee Take Gold at Adequan/USEF Open Reining Championship Qualifier

Shawn Flarida and Rowdy Yankee took Gold in the Adequan/USEF Open Reining Championship Qualifier at the National Reining Breeders Classic (NRBC) in Katy, TX, on April 21, 2006. The pair marked a 226.5 to win the qualifier as well as the NRBC’s $25,000 Added Open on Friday evening. Rowdy Yankee is a 12-year-old Quarter Horse stallion owned and bred by Keith Crawford. He was the 1997 National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Non-Pro Futurity Champion and the 1998 NRBC Non-Pro Champion.

As a reminder to all junior dressage riders, the 2006 USEF Junior Dressage Team Championship, sponsored by Collecting Gaits Farm, the Dutta Corporation and Performance Sales International, will be held at Pebble Beach Dressage and CDI***, July 6–9. In order to be eligible for this championship program, an Application of Intent must be submitted to the USEF office by Monday, May 15. Applications are available on the Federation website at www.usef.org/content/equestrianSports/disciplines/international/2005-JR-Dressage-Team-Champ.php. For more information, contact Jennifer Keeler, National Director of Dressage, at jkeeler@usef.org.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm called Lasko, announced a voluntary recall of the certain box and pivoting floor fans that may have a faulty motor that can cause a barn or house fire. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed. For more information, visit www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml06/06085.html.

Young Equestrians to Get “Taste of Olympics” at CN North American Junior and Young Riders’ Championships

Young equestrians from all reaches of North America will get a feel for what it’s like to compete in the Olympic Games when they compete in the CN North American Junior and Young Riders’ Championships (NAJYRC), at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, VA, August 1-6, 2006.

This will mark the second appearance in the mid-Atlantic region for the NAJYRC, the premier equestrian competition in North America for Juniors and Young Riders, ages 14-21. Young equestrians come from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Caribbean Islands to vie for team and individual championships in the three Olympic equestrian disciplines of show jumping, dressage and eventing.

USRider Urges Drivers of Horse Trailers to Use Caution at Railroad Crossings

To enhance the safety of horses and those who travel with horses, USRider has worked with Drs. Tomas and Rebecca Gimenez, experts in large animal emergency rescue, on a research project to gather and analyze data about horse trailer accidents. Conclusions and recommendations from this study will be released to the public soon. However, during the course of the study, USRider and both experts noticed a hazardous trend involving gooseneck horse trailers, of which they want to caution the public immediately. While studying more than 200 incidents involving horse trailers, the researchers noticed an inordinate number of incidents involving gooseneck horse trailers becoming stuck on railroad crossings. Almost all of these incidents resulted in the loss of human and equine life.

Horse owners now have available from their veterinarian the FDA-approved complete treatment regimen of seven 5 mL vials of Adequan® i.m. (polysulfated glycosaminoglycan) in one convenient package. The new 1/4/7 package provides the recommended treatment regimen of one dose every four days for seven treatments of Adequan® i.m.

For the full story, click here.

A new summer-long series of major jumper competitions is slated to debut in Kentucky, with the first of the seven events scheduled for the Kentucky Spring Horse Show. The $30,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic Grand Prix will kick off this series on Thursday, May 11, 2006. The Hagyard Challenge Series, featuring $170,000 in prize money, will continue the following Thursday at the Kentucky Spring Classic. The Hagyard Challenge Series will run throughout the summer at the Horse Park. The final event, the $50,000 CSI-W Lexington, at the Kentucky National Indoor Horse Show on September 22, 2006, is a U.S. East Coast League World Cup Qualifier.

For the full story, click here.

In an effort to raise funds for the Texas 4-H Center in Brownwood, TX, the Texas 4-H Council is holding a charity silent auction at the Texas 4-H Roundup in June at Texas A&M University. The council is looking for donations for the auction and is seeking a horse to be able to auction. Any breeders that are willing to donate a show quality, registered horse that is appropriate for a 4-H-er should contact Logan Nichols at breakawayridgeranch@yahoo.com. The donor should send four to five photos of the horse. All interested in donating must be in Texas, or if out of state, provide transportation of the horse to Texas.The winner would need to be responsible for picking up the horse. The donor will receive publicity at the auction, which is a good opportunity for a breeder. If requested, the Texas 4-H Foundation will provide documentation of the donation for tax purposes.

The vision of USEF is to provide leadership for equestrian sport in the United States of America, promoting the pursuit of excellence from the grass roots to the Olympic Games, based on a foundation of fair, safe competition and the welfare of its horses, and embracing this vision, to be the best national equestrian federation in the world.