Lexington, KY— For the second year, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) will host the Youth Convention, which will take place Saturday, January 17, 2009 in Cincinnati, OH. Held in conjunction with the USEF Annual Meeting, this one-day event features many notable speakers including experts in the equine industry and equine-related careers. The convention will unite youth from around the country and help to grow equine interest and participation. Registration is still available for the...

Lifelong horseman Marty Mueller of French Lick, IN, died Friday morning, November 14, 2008, at age 96. During his life, he built a reputation as one of the top trainers of American Saddlebreds. Mueller was raised in the famous resort area of Indiana known as ”The Valley,” where his father was the head gardener at the fabled West Baden Springs Hotel. Marty grew up watching the horses at L. S. Dickey’s French Lick Springs Resort Stables, and he began working at Dickey’s as a stable boy,...

Canada’s Olympians had a rough go of it in the $50,000 Weston Canadian Open for International Jumpers at Toronto’s Royal Horse Show on November 14th. Americans McLain Ward and Laura Kraut, hot off their Team Gold at the Olympics, took first and third respectively, with Britain’s Michael Whitaker narrowly edging into the second position. Ward, with his 16-year-old veteran campaigner Goldika 559, executed the course in style, taking almost the identical route that teammate Kraut had taken 15...

Terengganu, Malaysia - Besting a Championship field of riders, Spain’s Maria Alvarez Ponton galloped home to Gold on Nobby, with a ride time of 8:48:06. Argentinean rider, Agustin Vita, riding Baraka Ibn Al Tamah won Silver, and Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem of the United Arab Emirates, gained the Bronze on Tazoul El Parry at the 2008 World Endurance Championship held at Terengganu, Malaysia, on the edge of the South China Sea. Nobby and Ponton were also awarded the Best Condition. The first...

Fifteen nations, 18 top riders, 18 quality reining horses = 1 night of high-caliber competition! The excitement is building for the 2008 $100,000 added FEI World Reining Masters. The competitors will strive to be named the sport of reining's best rider in the world. The FEI World Reining Masters is set for Thursday, December 4, and is definitely one of the most colorful "must-see" events during the 2008 National Reining Horse Association's (NRHA) Futurity & Adequan® North American Affiliate...

Esther Fiddes and her Morgan gelding, LBF Hickory Smoke, competed in the Kay Fullerton Memorial NEATO 25-Mile Competitive Trail Ride in Marlborough, Connecticut, November 2. The pair earned a perfect score of 100, the ride championship, and the high-score American Morgan Horse Association (AmHA) Morgan Award. Fiddes and "Pokey" have had a very successful season, earning many high ride scores and top Morgan awards. This ride certainly was the highlight of their year.

Over 140 riders and their families, and members of the Board of Directors of the National Horse Show attended the EQUUS Foundation "Deal or No Deal" event at the Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament and National Horse Show on Halloween, Friday, October 31, 2008, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Oncenter Ballroom. Hosted by Bates Saddles, the event featured many of the top junior riders competing in the coveted Maclay Finals as the Deal or No Deal Suitcase Models. Alexa Anthony, Carly...

The American Saddlebred Registry (ASR) Sweepstakes total payout of over $210,000 in 2008 tops the 15-year high of $199,424 in 2007 and is the most prize money awarded in one year since the Sweepstakes’ all-time high set in 1992. Coupled with its futurities, American Saddlebred Registry prize programs distributed close to half-a-million dollars ($473,744) over the course of approximately three weeks during the Kentucky State Fair (August 17-23) in Louisville and the All American Horse Classic...

For the second year in a row Friesian horses from all over the United States converged at the very center of the country in beautiful Lake St. Louis, MO. One horse and rider, Bernhard and Christiane Henrichs even traveled all the way from Germany to compete in a variety of classes, winning among others, the Prix St George test in dressage. This year the event was held in honor of International Friesian Show Horse Association (IFSHA) founder and longtime breeder Dr. Genevieve de Montremare who...

Hillary Dobbs, last year's Leading Open Jumper Rider, returned to defend her title at the Washington International Horse Show (WIHS) and retained it for the second consecutive year. The 19-year-old equestrian did this by taking the blue ribbon in the $20,000 Gambler's Choice aboard Marengo, her horse that won two classes last year. A rising star in the show jumping world and full time Harvard student, Dobbs of Sussex, NJ, and Palm Beach, FL, is the daughter of CNN reporter Lou Dobbs. Dobbs...