The FEI has today given final sign-off on the footing that will be used for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian Events at Greenwich Park. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) conducted footing tests at a site near Preston in the north of England on 20 and 21 December 2011. The mix for the footing is now composed of non-waxed sand, felt and fibre. Testing of the new footing concluded on 21 December when international riders Geoff Billington...

Twenty one nations are celebrating their Olympic qualification today, 9 January, which marks the 200-day countdown to London 2012 and 100 years of equestrian sport in the Olympic movement. Eleven countries have now secured the opportunity to join the nine nations already qualified at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2010 in Kentucky and hosts Great Britain at London 2012 through a series of nail-biting qualifiers held around the world for their Olympic Group. Australia, Belgium,...

Lexington, KY —The popular helmet awareness campaign Riders4Helmets will be hosting the 3nd Riders4Helmets Safety Symposium on January 14th, 2012, at the Hilton Airport Hotel, Australian Avenue, West Palm Beach, FL (International Room), from 8.30am to 5pm. The symposium is being sponsored by Tipperary , Charles Owen , Samshield , Ovation , One K Helmets , GPA , Equine Risk Management Group LLC , Equestrian Collections and Point Two . For those who cannot attend the symposium in person,...

Wellington, FL Lauren Sammis and Sagacious HF competing at the 2011 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Festival of Champions at Gladstone. (Photo courtesy of Sue Stickle) – Pan Am Gold Medalist Lauren Sammis and Sagacious HF, a KWPN gelding owned by Al Guden and Hyperion Farm, have arrived in Wellington and are looking forward to a great New Year as well as a fabulous show season. Sagacious, a jet black gelding with his own Facebook page and a large fan following, is in top shape as he prepares...

Charlotte Dujardin and Valegro. Photo courtesy of British Dressage Wellington, FL - Organizers of the World Dressage Masters presented by Axel Johnson Group have been informed that the stallion Totilas and his rider Matthias Rath of Germany will be unable to attend the WDM Palm Beach presented by International Polo Club Palm Beach, which is set to take place January 26th to 28th. "I received a call this morning from Paul Schockemöhle, one of the owners of Totilas," said WDM Palm Beach...

2011 Recipients Named Oklahoma City, OK – January 5, 2012 – The National Reining Horse Youth Association (NRHyA) offers members an online program that rewards youth for leadership and community service activities outside of the show arena. The Varsity Reining Club (VRC) provides scholarships totaling $5,000, to be awarded to the most active participants in two age groups. In its sixth year, VRC will provide 13 youth scholarship monies, with the top-placing individual in each age...

Orlando, Florida - Olympian Peter Leone joined members of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) Board of Directors at their annual meeting held in Orlando, FL to celebrate the launch of his new book, Peter Leone's Show Jumping Clinic: Success Strategies for Equestrian Athletes. Leone's book, written along with Kimberly S. Jaussi, PhD, herself an avid rider, writer and leadership professor and coach, explores every aspect of riding from the basics of correct use of aids...

Wellington, FL - Equestrian Sport Productions (ESP) announces that the USEF Young Rider Forum will be held at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) on Friday, January 6 at 5 p.m. The USEF Young Rider Forum is held in conjunction with the 2012 George H. Morris Horsemastership Training Session presented by USHJA and Adquan, which will be held at the PBIEC on January 3-7. The USEF Young Rider Forum is open to all junior and young riders (under 25), their trainers, and families....

Shelburne, VT — The American Morgan Horse Association (AMHA) is pleased to announce it is seeking five young equestrians to apply for Team Morgan 2012. The three-part competition, which will be comprised of hunter seat equitation, saddle seat equitation, and driving, will take place July 4-7, 2012 at the Bluegrass Morgan Classic Horse Show in Lexington, Kentucky. Five riders will be selected to become members of this year's team. Applicants must be between the ages of 14-21 years of...

Everyone will remember something different from 2011: exactly how long seven-hundredths of a second can be, the vast desolation of the Abu Dhabi desert, the joy of going undefeated or the nagging ache of defeat. Whatever you recall, 2011 was a year of tremendous success for the USEF High Performance programs. When the dust settled over Guadalajara, Mexico the USEF's teams had recorded a record Pan American Games medal haul. Ten medals - that is every medal but two - came back to the United...