Traverse City, MI - February 16, 2011 - Horse Sports by the Bay, Inc. and Flintfields Horse Park are pleased to announce details for the upcoming 2011 Horse Shows by the Bay Equestrian Festival, which is expanding to five contiguous weeks this year. Held each summer in beautiful Traverse City, MI, the Horse Shows by the Bay Equestrian Festival features some of the country's best horses and riders competing in the hunter, jumper, equitation, and dressage disciplines. Events will be starting on...

Lexington, KY - Through the process of balloting by its members, the American Saddlebred Horse Association (ASHA) has elected new members to the ASHA Board of Directors. The newly elected members of the ASHA Board are: Bret Day (Kentucky), Lisa Duncan (Kentucky), Robert (Bob) Funkhouser (Massachusetts), and Tandy Patrick (Kentucky). Re-elected to the Board were Carl Holden (Kentucky) and Margaret McNeese (Texas). Leaving the board due to expiring terms are Victoria Gillenwater (Tennessee),...

Dressage The Palm Beach County Jim Brandon Equestrian Center in West Palm Beach, FL, hosted The Wellington Classic Spring Challenge CDI-W. On Friday, Tina Konyot and her partner from the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, Calecto V, topped the field in the Grand Prix for Freestyle scoring a 70.043%. Elizabeth Austin riding Olivier and Shawna Harding riding Come On III collected second and third place honors. Konyot took another commanding win in the Freestyle, scoring a 75.300%. Harding...

Last March I made my inaugural visit to Wellington, FL and the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center for CSIO week, which included the USEF Selection Trials for the US Show Jumping Team for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and the $75,000 FEI Nations Cup presented by CN. My partner in crime, Melissa Davis, and I set-up our Merchandise “Fort” and sold-out of nearly all the USA and patriotic coats, polos and hats we’d shipped down. Unseasonably chilly temperatures for Palm Beach...

Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) will resume broadcasting live equestrian events to viewers across the country later this week on its premier multi-media platform USEFNetwork.com. Fifteen days of action-packed and on-demand programming will launch the 2011 broadcast season starting with the WCHR Palm Beach Hunter Classic Spectacular on Friday, February 18. The tentative schedule for USEF Network through May 1, 2011, is listed below. Please note that all times are...

Ocala, FL - February 15, 2011 - It wasn't just an illusion when Taylor McMurtry and her own Just An Illusion won Sunday's $50,000 EMO Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health. The horse-and-rider combination celebrated their first Grand Prix win ever to conclude the Ocala Winter Classic. "I'm so happy!" exclaimed McMurtry, 18, who found her way to the top on a beautiful sunny day at HITS Post Time Farm. "I'm overwhelmed. Especially since it was my goal to win a Grand Prix this year, I am...

Steffen Peters and Ravel. (Photo by Susan J. Stickle.) Wellington, FL - February 14, 2011 - Eight North American riders have been invited to the 2011 World Dressage Masters Palm Beach presented by International Polo Club Palm Beach, which will take place on March 9-11. The invitations include the world's leading American and Canadian dressage riders, Steffen Peters and Ashley Holzer. Peters, riding Akiko Yamazaki's gelding Ravel, won the individual Grand Prix Special and Grand Prix Freestyle...

Wellington, FL - February 14, 2011 - The FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) is bigger and better than ever in 2011, with more prize money and more opportunities for the world's best horses and riders to excel in the specialties of their sport. The World Championship Hunter Rider (WCHR) Hunter Classic Spectacular will be held for the 15th straight year at the FTI WEF beginning on February 18. The Spectacular first debuted in 1997 as an expansion of the popular World Championship Hunter Rider...

Burbank, CA - Riders who dream of competing at the Pan American Games will begin their quest at the Mid-Winter Dressage Fair CDI 1*/Y/J in Burbank, CA, February 24-27, 2011. As the first official qualifying competition on the West Coast, horses and riders will compete in front of FEI judges Jayne Ayers ("I" USA), Natalie Lamping ("I" USA), and Lorraine MacDonald ("I" CAN). In addition, this competition will serve as an early-season qualifier for the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Festival of...

Cleveland Heights, OH - February 11, 2011 - The Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA), in conjunction with the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA), will award a student-rider the inaugural National Sportsmanship Award during the IEA National Finals on April 30, 2011. The award will be presented annually at future IEA National Finals competitions. In addition to becoming eligible for the National Award, finalists-from across the United States-will gain additional opportunities...