Katherine Schmidt and Striptease with coach Carol Gwin and Jill Townsend (Sportfot) Wellington, Fla. - Twenty one-year-old Katherine Schmidt, of Ridgefield, CT, emerged victorious from the Collegiate Equitation Championship on Friday evening at the FTI WEF. Schmidt is a junior at the University of South Carolina (USC), where she is a double major in Marketing and Management. Schmidt made it through the first round of the evening's competition after beating out Auburn University's...

Lexington, KY - The term Recognized Affiliate Association is reserved for one organization acknowledged by the United States Equestrian Federation to represent an International Discipline or the National Breed or Discipline that has a body of rules which has been approved by the USEF Board of Directors for inclusion in the Federation Rule Book. The Federation recognizes only one breed or discipline association for each of these sets of rules. The term International Discipline Association (also...

There is a happy end in sight for the 11 abandoned horses found in early September near Molalla, OR. At a public auction on September 10, six of the horses were purchased by good families. At the request of the Oregon Department of Agriculture, the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) purchased the five horses who did not receive bids from prospective owners. The HSUS will house all five horses at its Duchess Sanctuary, a 1,120-acre horse sanctuary and rescue facility in Douglas County,...

The Western Dressage Association® of America (WDAA) has designed Western Dressage Rules to be utilized across various breeds that are either affiliated with or operate independently of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF). Bitting requirements differ across the breed shows and events that host more than just Western Dressage. In order to design a universally inclusive discipline across all breeds and encourage equestrians to explore Western Dressage; WDAA felt obliged to respect...

Parker, Co. – The Western Dressage Association® of America (WDAA) is pleased to announce that the 2017 Western Dressage World Championship Horse Show will begin tomorrow, September 28, and run through Sunday, October 1, 2017, at the Lazy E Arena in Guthrie, Okla. The 2017 slate of judges includes Debbie Riehl Rodriguez, Dolly Hannon, Donna Longacre, and Lillian Evaniew-Phelan. Joyce Hamblin and Cindy Reid will serve as US Equestrian (USEF) stewards. The show is approved by USEF and...

It’s been four years since the first Western Dressage organizations were formed and began the process of formalizing a discipline that was no secret to great horsemen! We’ve come a long ways and, although Western Dressage is still inventing itself, there are plenty of opportunities to participate! Western Dressage is all about classical horsemanship as a foundation for any discipline and is designed to help western riders learn to use the training scale to provide a step-by-step...

Parker, CO – The Western Dressage Association® of America introduced its revised 2013 Western Dressage Rules for all breeds and 16 new WDAA authored Western Dressage tests today December 1st, 2012 via its website, https://westerndressageassociation.org/western-dressage-rules-tests/. The Rules were revised incorporating the WDAA mission, the training fundamentals of dressage, the rich western history, and the thoughts and feedback of our members, advisory board and representatives from...

A case of EHV-1 (neurological) has been reported in Ocala, Fla., similar in nature, but unrelated to the neurological strain of EHV-1 impacting Valencia (ESP) and other European countries. The horse was not shipped from Europe and was not on showgrounds at the onset of symptoms. USEF is working closely with the Florida Department of Agriculture and state authorities who are completing contact tracing and identifying the potential source of the virus exposure. The affected horse is in isolation...

What is the next frontier in the equestrian world? According to Dr. Jim Warson, Equestrian Medicine Specialist and author of The Rider’s Pain Free Back , “its rider health and development. The horses are as good as they are going to be in our lifetimes, so this is where the action is. Rider health and conditioning make us worthy of the horses that we spend so much time and money on”. Dr. Jim Warson with his beautiful horse, Gallahad Golden Warrior, “Trigger” Dr....

Courtney King-Dye, a member of the U.S. equestrian team's three-member dressage squad that competed at the 2008 Olympic Games in Hong Kong, China, rode Mythilus to a 13th place finish individually and helped the U.S. to finish in fourth place overall by placing seventh in the grand prix, the team round of competition. King-Dye was the highest placed U.S. rider in the grand prix. She qualified for the grand prix special and then was one of only 15 riders to qualify for the grand prix freestyle....