Pony Club teams from across the nation will be traveling to Virginia to compete in the United States Pony Club (USPC) Championships, held August 3-7 in Lexington, VA, at the Virginia Horse Center. Pony Club members qualified to compete by attaining top scores at rallies in 43 different regions in the disciplines of dressage, eventing, mounted games, polocrosse (a combination of polo and lacrosse), show jumping, tetrathlon (riding, running, swimming and marksmanship) and quiz, an unmounted...

Christian Rogge on board Monaco for owner Robert Skib of Tulsa, OK, won the $25,000 Juan Hernandez Memorial Grand Prix on July 16 at the Biltmore Estate Summer Classic. Rogge and the 11-year-old Selle Francais gelding had the first clear round among the starting field of 22 riders with a time of 77.453. During the jump-off, owner/rider Michael Tokaruk and Lord Byron of Cordova, TN, were edged into second place by a mere 0.07 seconds in the only other clean round of the jump-off. Course designer...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it has issued a license to Fort Dodge Laboratories, Inc., of Fort Dodge, Iowa, a division of Wyeth, for a vaccine to protect horses from viremia caused by the West Nile virus (WNV). The horse vaccine, which was developed through a collaboration of the Centers for Disease Control and Fort Dodge, is the first fully licensed WNV DNA vaccine for animals in the United States. The vaccine contains genes for two WNV proteins, and therefore, does...

Sharn Wordley returned to the 2005 Woodside Summer Circuit and once again captured all three major jumper classes. At the Woodside Circuit Opener, held June 23-26, he galloped to the first three spots in the $10,000 Woodside Jumper Classic aboard Cody in first, Gorki in second and Octupus in third. During the Bay Area Festival, held June 29-July 3, Cody once again led the victory gallop in the $20,000 Bayfest Grand Prix. “He is just an awesome machine,” said Wordley of the 18-year-old grey...

On October 20, 2005, the American Riding Instructors Association (ARIA) will host an American Riding Instructors Certification Program (ARICP) Test Center in conjunction with its National Riding Instructors Convention in Orlando, FL. The convention, October 20-23, features seminars, workshops and one-on-one consultations for instructors, equine business managers, stable owners, trainers and coaches. Those registering for both the convention and the ARICP Test Center pay a discount rate. The...

The annual mid-year meeting of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) ended in near-record time July 12th, owing to the cooperative spirit of more than 40 members of the USEF Board of Directors. The meeting, which has become a traditional mid-year “State of the Federation” report, played host to some 70 attendees in all at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Lexington, KY. The Board of Directors worked diligently to pass a number of rule changes presented to them, including one in...

The stars, both equestrian and celebrity, were out at the 2005 Lake Placid and I Love New York Horse Shows. Among the celebrities on hand were rock stars Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa, former National Football League star and current television sportscaster Ahmad Rashad, and CNN anchor Lou Dobbs to name just a few. The top stars of the equestrian competition were Kent Farrington of Southport, CT, who won the $60,000 Budweiser Grandprix of Lake Placid CSI** for the Whitney Perpetual...

Britain has been experiencing a heat wave in recent weeks, but the temperature is set to rise even further next week when the 2005 Samsung Super League series resumes at Hickstead on Friday, July 29. It's been a fascinating season so far, with the Americans dominating at the opening leg in La Baule and the British showing their class in Rome. The double Super League champions from France headed the line-up in St. Gallen, and then the Swiss swept to victory in Rotterdam before the series took a...

Suzy Stafford, first U.S. driver to take Individual Gold at FEI World Combined Pony Driving Championships (Jim Graham) Results from the 2005 FEI World Combined Pony Driving Championships Derbyshire, England – When Suzy Stafford set out to compete in the 2005 FEI World Combined Pony Driving Championships, she didn’t realize she was about to make history—as the first American driver ever to win an Individual Gold Medal at the World Championships. But the Bear, Delaware native...

Lexington, KY – Sarah Taylor of Davison, Michigan claimed the Championship title at the 2005 USEF Saddle Seat Adult Amateur Medal Finals July 15, riding Undulata’s Time To Shine. This year marked the fifth anniversary of the prestigious Medal Finals and once again, competitors enjoyed the scenic backdrop of the Red Mile in Lexington, home to the Lexington Junior League Horse Show. “I was really excited,” shares Taylor. “It was a really good experience. This is the...