The American Saddlebred Horse Association (ASHA) has added additional items to its Youth Auction, held annually during the Kentucky State Fair (KSF) and World's Championship Horse Show (WCHS). Among the items up for bid at the 2009 ASHA Youth Auction are two tickets to the sold out Taylor Swift concert, scheduled for 7 p.m. on Sunday, August 30. Included with the concert tickets is a night's stay at the Crowne Plaza hotel on the evening of the concert. Another "big ticket" item that will be up...

Ailish Cunniffe is crowned Equisport Insurance/USEF Pony Medal Championship Final winner. (USEF Archive/Randi Muster) Lexington, KY—By midday Sunday, the Kentucky Horse Park began to look vacant. Ponies were unbraided and cooled, loaded trailers rumbled toward home and the usually lively vendor row was filled with merchants striking their tents and packing their wares. After four days of fierce competition in the Pony Hunters and Jumpers, the whirlwind that is the 2009 USEF Pony Finals...

Small equines from all across the nation turned out in a big way for the 121st Shetland Pony Congress Show, resulting in the largest competition in five years. The versatile Shetland Ponies competed at the Crossroads Arena in Cloverdale, IN, for national championship titles in classes such as driving, halter, jumping, youth and costume classes while owners competed for “best groomed” pony and youth members wrote essays hoping to win a Shetland Pony of their own. “Congress was a great...

Pony rider Emma Cullen and green medium pony, Silver Slippers, at the 2009 USEF Pony Finals. (USEF Archive/Randi Muster) Lexington, KY—It was a day many young riders have been waiting to come for months, and it was well worth the wait judging by their excited faces. The 2009 United States Equestrian Federation Pony Finals National Championships welcomed this year’s roster of ponies and their energetic riders who made the grade and were invited to participate in what is certainly the...

Event: The High Roller Reining Classic, Benefiting the Equestrian Aid Foundation—September 4-12, 2009 What: The High Roller Reining Classic (HRRC) is the international "crown jewel" of western riding competition, and will feature the world's top reiners competing for over $200,000 in added money and prizes. The competition is managed and produced by Brumley Management Group, LLC, a promoter of reining competition in the western region of the United States. Reining is the only western...

Lexington, KY – As the 2009 USEF Pony Finals National Championships get underway at the Kentucky Horse Park this week, the Pony Medal Final will have a new title sponsor. Equisport Insurance will sponsor one of the most coveted pony championships of the year; the Equisport Insurance/USEF Pony Medal Final is the only equitation class offered during Pony Finals and annually features some of the very best pony riders in the nation. “This is a great partnership,” said John Long USEF CEO. “Equisport...

Junior Competitor Jessica Deimler Recognized for EAF Fundraising Efforts Lexington, KY – Competitors of the North American Junior and Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC) enjoyed a chance to relax with a pizza party on Thursday night (7/23) hosted by the Equestrian Aid Foundation (EAF) and EAF board member Stephanie Riggio. The hospitality tent was full of fun and laughter as hundreds of pizzas and drinks were devoured by riders, trainers and supportive families. Giving Thanks In the midst of...

The Fifth International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot is pleased to announce that farrier Michael Wildenstein will be a featured speaker at this year's event. Wildenstein will be conducting a workshop on Foot Management Strategies for Laminitis with Dr. Mike Steward. The conference will be held November 6-8, 2009, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, FL. The goals of the Fifth International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the...

After two days of exciting competition, a new champion was crowned when Danielle Cooper rode her mount Amalfi to the Grand Championship at the 2009 USEF Junior Hunter Championship-East Coast on Wednesday afternoon at HITS-on-the-Hudson, in Saugerties, NY Coming out of the Small Junior Hunter 16-17 Division, Cooper and her mount outlasted last year’s winning rider, Jennifer Waxman, to earn the crown. “Danielle has been riding with me since September,” said trainer Frank Madden. “She has been a...

LEXINGTON, KY—Follow Kentucky Cup Vaulting through the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games online and social media starting on July 30, 2009. Live video streaming of the Kentucky Cup Vaulting Competition is available through the American Vaulting Association at www.americanvaulting.org/kvc . In addition to the live stream, staff from the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games Vaulting Committee will be posting competition updates on the site blog. Updates and photos will also be posted on the...