Week in Review - U.S. Equestrian

Shadow Lane Farm in Aiken, SC, will offer their first-ever Aiken Eventing Camp on the first week of February. A whole barn-full of talented horseman and well-known professionals will offer their services during this fun week of learning and horsemanship.

Hosted in the middle of Aiken's winter eventing schedule, the camp will blend lessons, demonstrations, lectures and educational activities, culminating in the opportunity to compete at the Sporting Days Horse Trials. Top notch facilities, gourmet meals, and good company will make for a great week.

Craig Thompson has been involved with event horses all of his professional life, first as a rider, then as a trainer and coach, and most recently as a course designer and horse trials organizer. A gifted rider and trainer, he started the careers of many talented event horses, such as Kentucky and Burghley finisher Sloopy, Pan American Games medalist Shared Dreams, and Radnor winner Nicki Henley. Lately, Thompson has enjoyed a great deal of success with his advanced horse, Orion, and several of his young horses, as well. Last year, he introduced the Aiken Event Horse Sale to the eventing community—a concept created to bring together event horse sellers and buyers in one convenient, enjoyable setting.

2008 American Morgan Horse Association Awardees Announced

The American Morgan Horse Association (AMHA) is pleased to announce those members who will receive the top awards at its Annual Convention in February. For the first time, awardees are announced prior to the convention, with hopes that friends and family will be able to join them for this special recognition before the Morgan community. The 2009 AMHA Annual Convention will take place in Sacramento, CA, February 18-21.

Man of the Year and Woman of the Year Awards honor those individuals for their continued support of the breed throughout the year. This year's honorees are Harry Sebring and Sara Foy.

Kass Booth will be awarded the Cecil Brown Memorial Sportsmanship Award, which is given to a Morgan exhibitor who has displayed outstanding sportsmanship throughout the past year.

Inducted into AMHA's Hall of Fame are Thomas Caisse, the late F.O. "Ted" Davis and Lisa Nyberg. These three individuals have promoted the breed on a national level for many years.

Input is Still Needed in Unwanted Horse Coalition Nationwide Survey

The Unwanted Horse Coalition’s (UHC) National Survey to assess the magnitude of the problem of the unwanted horse will remain open until the end of January 2009. This is your final chance to participate.

The Study on Contributing Factors Surrounding the Unwanted Horse Issue will be instrumental in filling factual gaps with actual data. The UHC still needs as many people as possible to fill out the 15-20 minute online survey.

Again, the UHC is asking everyone with an interest in the welfare of horses to take this online survey at http://survey.ictgroup.com/uhcsurvey.

History has shown that when the economy falls on hard times, animals are among the first to suffer. Numerous media reports suggest that the problem of unwanted horses is growing by the day. Some might even go so far as to say the horse community is in uncharted territory with the issue. People can argue about why the numbers are increasing, but the current state of the economy has left many horse owners in serious financial hardship, forcing them to make the decision to part with their horses. The bottom line is too many of these horses need a place to go.

American Shetland Ponies Donated to Hong Kong are Loved By Many

Thanks to the vision of the American Shetland Pony Club (ASPC), children in Hong Kong are enjoying the love and companionship of two very special Shetland ponies. The ponies, FMF Imagination and PC Karmel Kid, were donated in the summer of 2008 as a way to salute Hong Kong’s efforts in hosting the 2008 Equestrian Olympics.

“Karmel Kid is doing really well. He has been given the stable name of Bear and is loved by all. He has been fabulous with the lead rein kids and has also enjoyed a little jumping and dressage work with the other more advanced kids,” reports Nicky Loiterton of the Clearwater Bay Equestrian Center.

Johnny Robb, Marketing Director for the ASCP, is thrilled that the Shetland ponies are happy and have become welcomed ambassadors of the breed. “It is exciting to hear six months later that both ponies have adjusted, are doing well and loved by so many. It couldn’t have worked out more perfectly.”

Seven of the world's top riders and their horses take to the show jumping ring in one of the most unique competitions in all of equestrian sport and airing on Animal Planet this Saturday at 3 p.m. ET during the World Sporthorse Championships series.

The show takes place from the OnCenter in Syracuse, NY, a hotbed of equestrian activity, and features Olympic Gold and Bronze medalist Beezie Madden who hails from Cazenovia, NY, a short drive from Syracuse.

2009 American Saddlebred Horse Association Convention, Youth Conference, Saddlebred Ball Set for February 12-14

The American Saddlebred Horse Association's (ASHA) Annual Convention and Youth Conference will be held Thursday, February 12, through Saturday, February 14, at the Griffin Gate Marriott Resort and Spa in Lexington, KY.

With registration set to begin on Thursday morning, the convention will consist of open meetings, forums, youth events and multiple vendor exhibits, culminating in Saturday night’s Saddlebred Ball, also set to be held onsite at the Griffin Gate Marriott.

Thursday afternoon the Charter Club Council will conduct a workshop, followed later that evening by a welcome reception, sponsored in part by the FEI Disciplines Committee.

United States Hunter Jumper Association Has Record Breaking Annual Meeting

The United States Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA) closed 2008 with a successful Annual Meeting in Nashville, TN, December 8-11 at the Hilton Downtown. The annual convention saw a record number of attendees with 250 members sitting in on rule change forums and open committee meetings. Many members, affiliate organizations and equestrian businesses donated either their time in the form of lessons or sponsored various clothing, artwork and equipment items to the silent auction that raised over $5,000 to benefit the USHJA Foundation and NARHA.

World Games 2010 Foundation Names New Chief Executive Officer

The World Games 2010 Foundation announced that it has selected Jamie Link as the new Chief Executive Officer of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

Link has been serving as deputy secretary of the Kentucky Tourism, Arts and Heritage Cabinet since December 2007 and prior to that spent several months as the Deputy Executive Director of the Kentucky Horse Park. In his current role, he has served as an ex officio member of the World Games 2010 Foundation board of directors and has been actively involved in the ongoing construction projects at the Kentucky Horse Park and major vendor selections related to the Games.

Limited Time Discount Offered on Lifetime Memberships to the International Friesian Show Horse Association

The International Friesian Show Horse Association (IFSHA) now has a limited-time discount offer on IFSHA Lifetime Memberships through the end of July 2009. The normal IFSHA Lifetime Membership fee is $1,000. If you join IFSHA now through July 2009 you will receive a 50% discount, allowing you to join IFSHA for your lifetime, for only $500. This offer is available to new and renewal memberships.

Good news awaits when you renew your membership online for 2009! If you were an amateur, professional or junior member in 2007 or 2008, you will be able to renew online using our new Quick Renewal. Just log in to your My USEF Account and select the Quick Renew option. All of your membership information will be there. All you have to do is review it; edit it, if necessary; submit payment; and print out a copy of your 2009 card.

In addition, the membership process has been further streamlined by doing away with the breed/discipline dues. The new USEF Competing Equestrian Membership due for all Senior Active and Junior Active members is $55. With that, you will be able to participate at all USEF Licensed Competitions, as well as receive automatic insurance and MemberPerks.

There are also two new member categories for individuals not participating in USEF Licensed Competitions. The USEF Equestrian ($35) includes the automatic insurance and access to the MemberPerks program, while the Club Equestrian ($15) includes access to MemberPerks.

If you have any questions about the new memberships, please call one of our Customer Care Agents at (859) 258-2472.

Once your membership has been processed you will be sent a membership card as well as key fobs. You are required to present proof of current USEF membership in order to compete in USEF Licensed Competitions. If you do not have your membership card, a key fob or a copy of your membership card, you will be required to pay a $30 non-refundable non-member fee. You can print a copy of your card from www.usef.org. Please note, effective 12/01/08 you will no longer be able to sign a membership affidavit in lieu of paying the non-member fee.

Your USEF membership also verifies your amateur status. If you wish to compete in amateur classes and you have not presented proof of USEF membership with Amateur Certification, you will also be charged the non-member amateur fee of $30.

Competitions that are also recognized by an Affiliate organization may require membership in the Affiliate organization to be eligible to compete. You may be required to show proof of membership in the Affiliate organization, e.g. USHJA, USDF, USEA, AHA, AMHA, ASHA, IALHA, AHHS, IFSHA and others.

USEF Membership information can be verified online, however, should the competition office not have the opportunity to verify your membership information online, you will be assessed the relevant non-member fees.

Check Your Points in the Farnam®/Platform™ USEF Horse of the Year Program to see if you have won an award for 2008.

Please check your points and standings in your respective division(s) by:

Calling the Horse Report Hotline at (859) 258-2472, or
Ordering a copy of your horse’s point report via e-mail or mail (faxed copies will incur an additional charge), or
Checking your standings online.

Current Standings of a Few National Champion Divisions (as of December 18, 2008)

Division	Horse	Owner
Andalusian/Lusitano Youth	Centello H	Jessie Shields
Arabian Hunter Pleasure Open	C.A. Napostar	Shelley Sutter
Pleasure Driving Single Pony	Smoke	Sherri Dolan
Friesian Saddle Seat	Jolmer Fan Tusken De Dobbin	Friesian Thunder
Hackney Roadster Pony Amateur	Regal's Star Attraction LF	Jeoff Bodenhorst
Half-/Anglo-Arabian Hunter Pleasure Open	Crackerjack NA	Brianne Parsons
Green Conformation Hunter	As Always	Becky Gochman
Six-Year-Old Jumper	Da Vinci	Robert Castro
Morgan Hunter Pleasure Open	Be My Rocky Mount	Barbara Nesse
National Show Horse Five-Gaited	Major Good	Rosemarie Pelfrey
Roadster Horse To Bike	Mr's Bones	Charles Jones
American Saddlebred Five-Gaited Junior Exhibitor	She's Fancy Free	Rachel Vetter
Welsh Pony Adult Hunter	Glynhafan Hermione	Elizabeth Hofer
Trail Junior Exhibitor	Lucky Charm	Shannon Lana Vuillemot

Joining the program is as easy as filling out an application, which may be found on the USEF website here, or may be obtained at any recognized horse show, or by contacting the USEF office at (859) 258-2472.

The United States Equestrian Federation®, Inc. (USEF), as the National Equestrian Federation of the U.S., is the regulatory body for the Olympic and World Championship sports of dressage, driving, endurance, eventing, reining, show jumping, and vaulting, as well as 20 other breeds and disciplines of equestrian competition. As the country's largest multi-breed organization, the Federation has over 90,000 members and recognizes more than 2,800 competitions nationwide each year. It governs all aspects of competition, including educating and licensing all judges, stewards and technical delegates who officiate at these shows.

The vision of the United States Equestrian Federation® is to provide leadership for equestrian sport in the United States of America by promoting the pursuit of excellence from the grassroots to the Olympic Games, based on a foundation of fair, safe competition and the welfare of its human and equine athletes.

Craig Thompson and Allison Springer Offer Eventing Camp in Aiken

2008 American Morgan Horse Association Awardees Announced

Input is Still Needed in Unwanted Horse Coalition Nationwide Survey

Blog Update
Lipizzans in Presidential Inauguration Parade; Riding in College; Greats of Olympic Competition

American Shetland Ponies Donated to Hong Kong are Loved By Many

2009 American Saddlebred Horse Association Convention, Youth Conference, Saddlebred Ball Set for February 12-14

United States Hunter Jumper Association Has Record Breaking Annual Meeting

World Games 2010 Foundation Names New Chief Executive Officer

Limited Time Discount Offered on Lifetime Memberships to the International Friesian Show Horse Association

Craig Thompson and Allison Springer Offer Eventing Camp in Aiken

2008 American Morgan Horse Association Awardees Announced

Input is Still Needed in Unwanted Horse Coalition Nationwide Survey

Blog Update Lipizzans in Presidential Inauguration Parade; Riding in College; Greats of Olympic Competition

American Shetland Ponies Donated to Hong Kong are Loved By Many

2009 American Saddlebred Horse Association Convention, Youth Conference, Saddlebred Ball Set for February 12-14

United States Hunter Jumper Association Has Record Breaking Annual Meeting

World Games 2010 Foundation Names New Chief Executive Officer

Limited Time Discount Offered on Lifetime Memberships to the International Friesian Show Horse Association

Blog Update
Lipizzans in Presidential Inauguration Parade; Riding in College; Greats of Olympic Competition