Gladstone, NJ – The second leg of the National Intermediaire I Dressage Championship at the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Festival of Champions closed out the second day of competition in the Dick and Jane Brown dressage ring at the USET Foundation Headquarters in Gladstone, NJ. The hallowed grounds have been the proving grounds of champions for decades and although a facelift has led to brand new footing in the competition and warm-up areas, the historic relevance is impossible to ignore. Fresh...

Photo by ESI Photography (Kelsey Hart and Agostino in the $10,000 Devoucoux Hunter Derby. ) Kelsey Hart continued to break the hearts of the other exhibitors competing in the $10,000 Devoucoux Hunter Derby when she rode her horse Agostino to the top prize in Saturday's feature class for hunters at HITS-on-the-Hudson, in Saugerties, NY. The Junior Rider from Albany, NY, rode against 30 other starters on a course set by Rian Beals. In the first round, Hart scored a 77.5, which put her in fourth...

Mario Desluariers and Urico (Randi Muster/Mustphoto.com ) Dressage The prestigious Palm Beach Dressage Derby got underway on Thursday, March 4th with some of the nation’s top riders competing in Loxahatchee, FL. Tina Konyot and her Danish Warmblood Calecto V triumphed over the field of elite horse and rider combinations in both the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special. In the Grand Prix Freestyle Mikala Gundersen and Leonberg put in a winning performance with a score of 72.250%; Canadian...

2009 USEF Farnam/Platform Horse of the Year (Shannon Brinkman/USEF Archives) Louisville, KY – Annually, five of the USEF’s 130,000 registered horses achieve so much in a year that they are named USEF Horses of Honor and enter the running for the title of Farnam®/Platform™ Horse of the Year. In 2009 all five of these horses were nothing short of remarkable. But one forever changed the face of his sport, and with that, Ravel was voted the 2009 USEF Farnam®/Platform™ Horse of the Year. It began in...

With the 2010 season just weeks away, HITS, Inc., is preparing for full horse show circuits in Thermal, CA, and Ocala, FL. The 2010 HITS Desert Circuit in Thermal will have six weeks of competition from January 26 to March 14, while the HITS Ocala Winter Circuit will run two non-rated and six rated shows from January 19 to March 21. One of the best attributes of both venues is the availability of permanent stalls that are situated on the main show grounds in close proximity to the show rings....

Excellence in equestrian sport does not come easy. It takes an amazing sense of dedication, incredible skill and a courageous heart. And in 2009, five horses (and their riders, drivers and handlers) have shown the world exactly those qualities. For each of them, their hard work and brilliant talent has garnered them a nomination for the United States Equestrian Federation's highest honor bestowed upon a horse - the Farnam/Platform USEF Horse of the Year Award. The five nominees represent the...

A national Welfare Code of Practice has been endorsed by the American Association of Equine Practitioners, the American Quarter Horse Association, the Kentucky Thoroughbred Association, the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, the United States Equestrian Federation and the U.S. Trotting Association. The Welfare Code of Practice, drafted by the American Horse Council, outlines in generic terms what it means for an organization to be committed to the responsible breeding, training, care,...

For the second time this week the Grand Champion cooler was awarded to Confidential at the Washington International Horse Show. Hasbrouck Donovan and Confidential were the winners of this year's Grand Champion Junior Hunter prize, after winning three first-place ribbons and claiming the Small Junior 15 and Under Hunter Championship. This is Confidential's second Grand Championship win this week, after earning the co-Grand Amateur-Owner Hunter Championship title with Erin Stewart in the irons....

Lexington, KY – The Kentucky Cup Endurance Test Event for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games will bring Athletes from around the World to the Kentucky Horse Park October 14, 2009. Along with the Test Event, the USEF is hosting the North American Endurance Team Challenge (NAETC). The NAETC features riders from five US Zones and two Canadian Zones competing against each other. Thirty US Athletes and 12 Canadian Athletes will compete along with Athletes from more than 20 other...

Wayne, IL – The sun finally emerged at the spectacular Lamplight Equestrian Center to spotlight the nation’s future dressage talent in the six-year-old and developing horse divisions. It was a competition worthy of champions as presented to judges Linda Zang, Jeanne McDonald, and Hilda Gurney. In the Six-Year-Old division, U.S.-bred “Pikko del Cerro HU” made America proud by claiming the Markel/USEF National Championship with an overall score of 7.9. Ridden by Mikala Munter Gundersen of...