The National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) has announced a strategic plan to re-align the NRHA, creating a National Governing Body for reining affiliates and its members in the United States. This new affiliate organization is currently named Reining USA. The worldwide governing body for reining will remain under the name NRHA. This strategic plan, endorsed by the NRHA Executive Board, was presented on February 16, to the attendees of the NRHA Annual Convention in St. Louis, MO. A final vote...

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society has named its 2007 Equestrian of the Year—Mindy Darst. The winner raised over $52,000 to support the society’s mission, and more than $125,000 was raised by the equestrian community in total. The Equestrian of the Year fundraising program is a multi-discipline campaign benefitting the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. The equestrian who raises the most amount of money wins the title, a trophy, a $1,000 gift certificate from EuroAmerican Saddlery and their photo on...

The Kentucky Horse Council (KHC), a statewide association for all horse owners and enthusiasts, is establishing an All-Breed Advisory Council, which will provide a unified voice for all breeds owners in Kentucky. The Council had its first organizational meeting at the end of February. “The Kentucky Horse Council recognizes the wealth of horse breeds owned by Kentuckians throughout our Commonwealth. This all-breed council will enable each of the breeds to identify common horse ownership and...

Effective immediately, Dr. Richard Wilkes, State Veterinarian with the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, has cancelled all public horse sales and auctions throughout the Commonwealth through Monday, March 5, 2007. This is one of the continuing efforts to stop the spread of Equine Herpes Virus-1 (EHV-1) currently present in Northern Virginia. The cancellation order is effective statewide. While EHV-1 is not harmful to humans, people can spread it on their shoes or with...

(Lexington, KY) - The United States Equestrian Federation, Inc.®, invites licensed dressage competitions to apply to become an official USEF “qualifying competition” for the 2008 USEF High Performance and/or Dressage Developing Programs. Competitions licensed for dates from June 4, 2007 – June 8, 2008 will be considered at this time. A completed application for each licensed competition must be submitted to the USEF office and received by April 16, 2007. Applications received after this...

The Arabian Horse Association (AHA) has announced that the Arabian Breeders Sweepstakes (Sweepstakes) program has paid more than $2.7 million in Sweepstakes prize money, Breeders Incentive and Nominated Sire payback to owners and breeders out of a $3.1-million pot of available prize money for 2006. More than $1.2 million was paid to owners who enrolled their horses in the annual Points program. More members received Sweepstakes earnings in 2006 than ever before. Payouts involved 5,922 horses...

Phillip Dutton, recently recognized by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) as a United States competitor, has been added to the USEF Eventing High-Performance A List with the horses The Foreman, owned by Ann Jones, and Truluck, owned by Ann Jones and Shannon Stimson. Dutton was also added to the USEF Eventing High-Performance B List with the horse Connaught, owned by Bruce Duchossois. Dutton will be invited to participate in USEF training sessions with Coach Captain Mark Phillips....

On Saturday evening, February 17, 2007, one of the most unique auction items will be the opportunity for one guest to join judges George Morris, Susie “Paula Abdul” Schoellkopf, Gene “Randy Jackson” Mische, and Mason “Simon Cowell” Phelps to select the top two finalists in the EQUUS Equestrian Idol competition. The celebrity lineup also features Robert “Ryan Seacrest” Dover, who will be the emcee and promises entertaining banter with the judges. The guests will ultimately be called upon to...

An exciting new program for potential hunter and hunter seat equitation judges was approved at the January 2007 USEF Board Meeting, with an effective date of April 1, 2007. The purpose of the mentor program is to assist qualified horsemen in the pursuit of a USEF judges’ license in the hunter and hunter seat equitation divisions. An additional component is to assist ‘r’ judges in obtaining ‘R’ status in hunter, hunter seat equitation, and hunter breeding. Information about and an application to...

The Paso Fino Horse Association (PFHA) hosted it’s annual judges and stewards clinic in Ocala, FL, February 2-4, 2007. Friday evening, three Applicant Judges attended a four-hour workshop that addressed calling classes and show etiquette. They ended the evening with a written test and a gait test. The next day 21 certified judges and stewards joined the applicants to learn more about illegal tack, ring management, positive judging, equitation and determining a horse's age by...