For the eighth time in her career, and for the third year in a row on Hidden Creek’s Wapino, Margie Engle raced to victory in the $65,000 Merrill Lynch Cleveland Grand Prix, the nation’s oldest show jumping classic. The class is still held at the beautiful Metropark Polo Field in Moreland Hills, OH, the site of the original Cleveland Grand Prix, first held in 1965. An enthusiastic crowd of over 5,000 braved a blistering hot 90-plus degree Sunday afternoon in the steamy Chagrin Valley. Twenty...

The Unwanted Horse Coalition, which started as the Unwanted Horse Summit during the American Horse Council’s annual convention in April, 2005, is being folded into the American Horse Council (AHC), announced Nick Nicholson, AHC Chairman. “The issue of ‘unwanted horses’ has faced this industry for some time,” said Nicholson, President of Keeneland Association. “It is an important and challenging national issue that faces all breeds and all activities in the horse world. Putting this initiative...

Ian Barnard and Got It Dun (Waltenberry) Lexington, KY – It was a good day to be a first timer at the 2006 United States Equestrian Federation® Youth Reining Championship. The winners in all three divisions were first-timers to the Championship. Taking the title in the 13 and under division was McKenzie Lantz, 13, from Fremont, MI with a score of 213.5. The blue ribbon winner in the 14-18 division was Ian Barnard, 17, of Kendallville, IN with the high score of 221. The gold medal...

Lexington, KY – Bracket-style national championships are well-known in the NCAA basketball world and will soon be second nature in the NCAA equestrian world as well. The Varsity Equestrian Steering Committee recently announced that the 2006 Varsity Equestrian National Championship will take on the bracket-style format, a welcomed change by fans, competitors and coaches. Visit www.varsityequestrian.com to view the 2006 Western and English (Hunter Seat) brackets. In the past, each individual...

Alison Hartwell/Phelps Media Group (Laura Kraut on Miss Independent) Wellington, FL – At the completion of the World Equestrian Games Selection Trials, the gutsy Margie Engle owns the top two spots based on the placings after five trials, despite only placing fourth and fifth in Trial #4 and fourth in Trial #5. Engle placed first overall after all five trials on Quervo Gold with only 11 faults and second overall on Hidden Creek’s Wapino with only 17 faults. Two of the ten total...

Harrisburg, PA – Brianne Goutal of New York, NY, defeated more than 200 of the nation’s top junior riders to win the 2005 Pessoa/USEF National Hunter Seat Medal Final, on Sunday, October 16, at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show. This marked the second largest field in history, with 279 riders vying for the title. Goutal received a Pessoa saddle, Gold medal and a custom USEF cooler for the win, and will have her name added to the Adrian Van Sinderen Memorial Trophy, joining famous...

Lexington, KY -- An outstanding field of five- and six-year-old dressage horses, including a record 16 horses bred in the United States, came together to vie for the nation's most prestigious FEI young horse title this weekend, the Dr. Edgar Hotz Memorial Trophy--during the 2005 USEF/Markel Young Horse Dressage National Championships, hosted by MSEDA Dressage at the Park in Lexington, KY, September 9-11. Winning the Six-Year-Old National Championship with an overall score of 8.452 was Sir...

(Lexington, KY) – Adrienne Sternlicht on the seven year old gelding Vanity Fair, won yesterday’s 2005 Wild Horsefeathers / USEF Green Pony Hunter Championship. The championship was held as part of the USEF Pony Finals being held August 10-13 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. As champion, the twelve year old Adrienne and “Coco,” a large pony, walked away with the Brownland Farm Perpetual Trophy, a Royal Rider Dress Sheet, a ten-inch Revere bowl keeper trophy and a Pessoa saddle. Her...

The Youth National Arabian and Half-Arabian Championship Horse Show (Youth Nationals) is celebrating its 13th anniversary in Albuquerque, NM, at Expo New Mexico on July 23-30, 2005. The Arabian Horse Association (AHA) of Aurora, CO, produces the weeklong event that features top-level competition, a shopping expo, the annual youth convention and daily activities. This year's show features more than 1,000 horses from across the United States, competing in 124 classes in a wide variety of...

Three days of seminars, one-on-one consultations and networking opportunities for equine business managers, stable owners, trainers, coaches and instructors are right around the corner. The National Riding Instructors Convention takes place October 20-23, 2005, in Orlando, FL, and the American Riding Instructors Association (ARIA) has announced the line-up of major speakers. This year’s keynote speaker is Susan Harris, best known for her work as a Senior Centered Riding instructor and...