President Bush has signed into law the $300 billion federal highway funding bill, known as SAFETEA-LU, approved by Congress just before it broke for the August-Labor Day recess. The controversial legislation took over two years to agree to and enact, requiring numerous Continuing Resolutions extending the prior federal highway bill past its expiration. Recreational Trails Program Funding Favorable funding for the Recreational Trails Program (RTP) was included in the legislation. The total...

Qualifying classes for the finals in the 2005 ASHA Junior Exhibitor Driving Challenge at the Kentucky State Fair World’s Championship Horse Show August 21-27 have resumed with a slew of upcoming shows. The complete schedule of qualifying classes can be found online by clicking visiting www.asha.net/Youth/DrivingChallenge.pdf . To qualify for the 2005 ASHA Junior Exhibitor Driving Challenge Finals, the horse must place in two official qualifying classes in the same division, either fine harness...

Despite a previous week of sunshine when the field of 30 competitors began the Gulf Coast Mid Winter $10,000 Open Welcome, Mother Nature decided to add another challenge to Anthony D’Ambrosio’s course. A deluge of rain began as the first horse passed judges Fred Brown and Mike Christian. David Q Wright’s Step Right Up did just that. After a clear first round the 14-year-old Thoroughbred gelding from Murfreesboro, TN, gave a repeat performance in a jump-off field of eight with a speedy 34.494...

Red Hills Horse Trials is preparing to host a major international event with an FEI World Cup Qualifier as well as being part of the USEA Gold Cup Series at the Elinor Klapp-Phipps Park near Tallahassee, FL, March 11-13, 2005. A total of seven divisions will be held during the three days with prize money reaching $20,500. Now in its eighth year, Red Hills welcomed over 37,000 visitors to the event in 2004 to watch some 200 competitors and is anticipating another hugely successful event. Over...

The December 14 landslide approval by Oklahoma City voters to increase the hotel/motel occupancy tax has ensured Oklahoma City will have the world-class facilities befitting the "Horse Show Capital of the World." Raising the current hotel/motel occupancy tax from 2% to 5.5% is estimated to generate $4.5 million annually, which will be dedicated to funding an estimated $55 million in proposed improvements to the horse show facilities at the Oklahoma State Fair Park. "First and foremost, I want...

Lexington, KY —Meagan Drew may not have started out as a cookie cutter equestrian, but then again, her break-the-mold approach may have been the leg up she needed to claim success in and out of the show ring. “I cleaned stalls two summers in a row every day so I could ride horses and take lessons,” says the 18 year old Drew. “It wasn’t my mom writing a check—it was something I had to do. It made me appreciate the lessons I did get and it made me work harder....

USEF Archive ( ) For the past nine months the USEF Competition Date Approval Task Force has worked on a major overhaul of the current “Mileage Rule” which dictates how competition dates are awarded to horse show organizers. As the Task Force examined the process it became apparent that several other important issues involved in the awarding of dates were critical to the improvement of equestrian competition in the United States. These involved the licensing of competitions; establishment and...

Prepare to be dazzled when the World Cup Finals of Dressage and Jumping light up Las Vegas like never before, April 20-24, 2005. Tickets are still available for two of the world’s most prestigious and glamorous equestrian events, but they are selling fast. For the first time ever, the two World Cup Finals will be held concurrently in one location, the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, NV. Plenty of good seats remain for the Las Vegas World Cup Finals, but Las Vegas Events President Pat...