The Swedish Warmblood Association of North America (SWANA) is pleased to announce the 2009 Sweden Equestrian Tour. SWANA and its parent organization, ASVH, and SwedeHorse are hosting an equestrian tour of southern Sweden from October 11-19, 2009. If you love horses, this is one of the most fun and educational tours you could imagine. Sweden is one of the most horse-centered countries in the world; their National Stud farm, Flyinge, is one of the oldest in Europe, and Sweden was the founding...

The Sanctuary Equine Sports Therapy & Rehabilitation Center recently hosted a Yearling Sale Preview Party for Central Florida Community College’s (CFCC) Horseman’s Society, a student equine club. Students from the club organized the fundraiser at The Sanctuary, which featured the presentation of two yearling prospects to buyers as well as a silent auction. “The students from CFCC were in charge of the Yearling Sale Preview Party and they did a fabulous job of hosting it at our facility,” said...

The American Saddlebred Registry (ASR) Sweepstakes classes were held recently at the All American Horse Classic (AAHC), with payouts expected to reach near record numbers. The ASR Sweepstakes’ estimated total payout of over $222,000 tops the 16-year high of $210,000 in 2008, and is the most prize money awarded in one year since the Sweepstakes all-time high set in 1992. This is in addition to the $160,000 in prize money expected to be paid out to top-placing Kentucky-bred horses, from the...

The High Roller Reining Classic (HRRC) is pleased to announce that it will be continuing its 2009 Stallion Services Silent Auction through December 5. The Stallion Services Silent Auction features the top reining stallions from across the country, and offspring will be eligible to win the Highest Placing Offspring award at the 2014 High Roller Reining Classic. The High Roller Reining Classic is the international "crown jewel" of Western riding competition, and featured over $200,000 in added...

Lyman, Maine - Paulien Alberts, a Dutch FEI competitor, trainer, judge and musical freestyle specialist, will be the featured clinician at a dressage, Para-Equestrian and musical freestyle clinic at Spring Creek Farm in Lyman, ME, October 23 to October 25, 2009. Organizers of the clinic are creating this opportunity to make the clinic accessible to all riders and horses from a variety of disciplines and ability levels: dressage riders; Para-Equestrians; people struggling to develop a good...

Three regional qualifying competitions were recently held for the 2009 ASPCA Maclay National Championships. They were the last Regionals held, and the final list of qualifiers is now available (please see below). The 2009 ASPCA Maclay National Championship will be held at the Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament on October 28-November 1, 2009. Zazou Hoffman was the winner of the Region 1 qualifier at the Grand Fall Classic in Westbrook, CT. Hoffman finished second at Regionals last year...

The Executive Committee periodically meets to review and approve extraordinary rule changes and rule clarifications. You can find summaries of rules approved by visiting www.usef.org/_IFrames/RuleBook/Changes/2009.aspx . These rule changes have also been incorporated into the online USEF Rule Book . The online rule book is continually updated with new rule changes and corrections; it is always the most complete version of the rules.

I have said good-bye to Kentucky and am making my way home to sunny California. I'm looking forward to being dry for an entire day! During the first leg of my journey, I thought about the past week and the memories I will be taking home with me. I thought about the Lexington area and the Horse Park, about not only how beautiful it is, but how there is so much to see there and I didn't see a fraction-I will have to go back when I can spend several days and see everything. I thought about...

Today at Arabian Sport Horse Nationals (SHN), my fellow Arabian horse lovers and I were treated to a preview of the new Arabian Horse Galleries at the Kentucky Horse Park's International Museum of the Horse. The Purebred Arabian Trust funded a 9,000 square foot building to be added on to the existing museum, although they are still requesting donations to finish the exhibit. Those of us at SHN were invited to a special presentation (with a sales pitch artfully thrown in) to see what the...

When I'm at home, I generally have a pretty good sense of direction. Even when I don't know where I'm going, I can apply logic based on where the mountains are, what direction the freeway is, etc., and keep from getting lost. My husband gets lost often, but I probably shouldn't tell you that because he's reading this. Anyhoo...something about flying to Kentucky has thrown me completely off kilter. I can't tell which way is north or south, in what direction our hotel...