Longtime Saddlebred trainer and instructor Irvin Kaelin passed away on Saturday, March 13, 2010, at his St. Matthews home in Louisville, KY. At age 12, Kaelin won the Kentucky Equitation Championship, and a few years later began training and showing horses for the Howell Family at their Indian Hills Stable in Louisville, KY. Upon graduation from St. Xavier High School, Irvin purchased the Indian Hills Riding Academy from the Howells, and eventually instructed his 12-year-old daughter, Ava, to...

Photo Courtesy Jan Sharp (TS Black Tie Affair is one of four AHA Ambassadors.) The Arabian Horse Association (AHA) recently honored four outstanding horses with Ambassador Awards. Athena+++// (LS Zane Grey+// x Little Badger Baby), Gilet+/ (Gil x El Eta), TH Barbarian+ (Barbary+++ x TH Annimai), and TS Black Tie Affair (Tardar x EVG Lady Di) are all recognized for an outstanding achievement in representing the Arabian horse to the general public. To be named an AHA Ambassador, an Arabian,...

When 15-year-old Chelsea Dowdy entered one of Kentucky’s many county fairs in 2009 with El Diamante, she could feel their usual synergy. With all the fun she had, it was an easy decision to enter another. And another. By season’s end, they had not only claimed top honors and a collection of garlands and ribbons—they had amassed a respectable college fund totaling $10,799.31. That hefty chunk of change came courtesy of the Kentucky Breeders’ Incentive Fund (KBIF), earmarked for a...

Photo by ESI Photography (Emma Kennedy, the owner and rider of Summer Hill, captured Sunday's $5,000 Pony Commotion. ) The Ocala Winter Finals wrapped up another exciting week of show jumping that included two of the four remaining qualifying grand prix classes this winter for the Pfizer Million at HITS Post Time Farm in Ocala, FL. Maryland’s Tracy Magness captured the win in the $25,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, aboard Mr. and Mrs. John Barko’s Tarco Van Ter Moude for...

Week 10 of the 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) will welcome dressage riders from all over the world to Wellington to compete at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. Dressage competition will be showcased in the International Arena on Thursday, March 18, through Saturday, March 20. Competition will include performances from 34 renowned grand prix riders such as Shawna Harding (USA), Marco Bernal (COL), Arlene Page (USA), Todd Flettrich (USA), Melissa Taylor (USA), Jacqueline...

Dressage Dressage riders on the West Coast competed under the California sun this weekend at the Dressage Affaire CDI3* held at the Del Mar Horse Park. Steffen Peters continued to demonstrate his dominance in U.S. dressage, winning in all seven of his outings. With 2009 Horse of the Year, Ravel, Peters blew away the competition winning by nine percentage points in both the Grand Prix (77.660%) and Grand Prix Special (77.375%). Adrienne Lyle and Wizard put in two excellent performances to finish...

One year after the death of Kentucky Derby Winner Alysheba, the Kentucky Horse Park will unveil a memorial statue at his grave. The famous son of Alydar had resided at the park for only five months when he was euthanized as a result of an accidental fall in March 2009. The 25-year-old stallion was buried at the Hall of Champions. The public is invited to the Alysheba Memorial Statue Unveiling, Friday, April 16, at 2:00 p.m. "During the brief time he lived at the Kentucky Horse Park, Alysheba...

The annual Vermont Summer Festival will return to East Dorset, VT, for six consecutive weeks of competition running July 7 through August 15, 2010. New England’s largest “AA” rated hunter/jumper horse show, the Vermont Summer Festival offers more than $750,000 in prize money, making it the richest sporting event based on purse in the state. The competition attracts the best athletes, including Olympic medalists, from across the country and around the globe to vie for top honors. The first five...

Kentucky Horse Shows, LLC, the management company for hunter/jumper competitions at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, is pleased to announce that Hagyard Equine Medical Institute will be the proud sponsor of the Hagyard Challenge Series. The 2010 Hagyard Challenge Series consists of five grand prix show jumping competitions at the world-class horse park. These classes start in May at the Kentucky Spring Horse Shows and conclude in August at the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show. The rider who...

The 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) was full of top competition during week eight, held March 3-7, 2010. The week featured the USEF Selection Trials for the U.S. Show Jumping Team for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games #3, #4, and #5, presented by Fidelity Investments, and the $75,000 FEI Nations Cup, presented by CN, along with a full schedule of hunter, jumper, and equitation classes. The week eight title sponsor was CN. The $150,000 CN U.S. Open Grand Prix, CSIO**** was...