Mother Nature gave exhibitors a fine weather send off for the finale week of the Atlanta Fall Classics. And what a busy week it was with NCE Championships, a $10,000 Junior/Amateur Owner Jumper Classic, $10,000 Children’s and Adults Jumper Classic, and another $25,000 Grand Prix presented by EMO Insurance. The covered arena at the Georgia International Horse Park played host on Saturday evening to the Equestrian Travel sponsored National Classic Equitation Finals [NCE] with spectators enjoying...

Stadium Jumping, Inc., hosted a meeting in The Jockey Club at the Winter Equestrian Festival show grounds on January 4 to discuss the Equine Herpes Virus (EHV-1) outbreak. Approximately 500 concerned horsemen attended and many pertinent questions were asked of the panel. Dr. Doug Byars, former head of Internal Medicine at Hagyard-Davidson-McGee Associates in Lexington, KY, was brought in to monitor the progress and process in which the EHV-1 is being handled in Wellington. Dr. Byars is...

The American Horse Council (AHC) will be holding an Issues Forum in Austin, TX, to discuss current issues facing the horse industry, such as the National Animal Identification System (NAIS) and its impact on horse owners. Dr. Bob Hillman (Texas State Veterinarian and Executive Director of the Texas Animal Health Commission), Neil Hammerschmidt (USDA APHIS Veterinary Services Animal Identification Coordinator) and Equine Species Working Group members Dr. Billy Smith (Executive Director of...

Lexington, KY – In a conference call held today in cooperation with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), five members of the U.S. 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) team answered a wide range of general media questions. On the phone from Germany were dressage team members Guenter Seidel from Cardiff, CA, and Debbie McDonald from Hailey, ID; vaulting team members Elizabeth Ioannou from Saratoga, CA, and Blake Dahlgren from Sun Valley, CA; and on the phone from Florida was show jumper...

Kim Severson and Winsome Adante (A.K. Dragoo Photography, LLC) Allentown, NJ – On a day when most people would do anything to remain indoors in the air conditioning, 11 of the United States’ top eventing horse-and-rider combinations were at the Horse Park of New Jersey in 100+ degree weather performing all three phases of the mandatory short list outing for their spot on the team that will head to Aachen, Germany, for the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games. Amy Tryon and Poggio II were...

When will reining be in the Olympics? We have all heard the question. As the only Western discipline approved for Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) competition, reining is on the threshold of Olympic inclusion. While the threshold won’t easily be traversed, reining received a substantial and very encouraging boost when the FEI, during its 2005 FEI General Assembly, April 5-10, in London, England, proposed recommending to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) the addition of a fourth...

Lexington, Ky. – The USEF Pony Finals presented by Honor Hill Farms will take place August 8-13, 2023, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky. Members of the media who would like to request credentials to cover the event should submit a completed application form and waiver by July 28, 2023. Over 800 ponies from across the country come to the Kentucky Horse Park to compete with their youth riders in hunter, jumper, and equitation classes. The 2023 USEF Pony Finals presented by Honor...

Mounted stewards play an important role during the cross-country phase of the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS Equestrian™. (US Equestrian) Responsible for crowd control, public engagement, and rounding up the occasional loose horse, mounted stewards play a fundamental role in the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS Equestrian ™ , especially the cross-country phase. According to the event’s 2023 Mounted Steward Guidelines document,...

Herning, Denmark – The Dutta Corp. U.S. Dressage Team completed their first day of championship competition in Herning, with two of the four team combinations taking on Stuterri ASK Stadium today and the final two combinations set to compete tomorrow. The second half of the FEI Grand Prix will begin at 11:00 a.m. GMT+2/5:00 a.m. ET, with team medals being awarded following the conclusion of the competition. Katie Duerrhammer & Quartett ©ShannonBrinkmanPhotography Katie...

With the 2021 competition year winding down, we continue to face challenges in the equestrian community with the impact on the West coast due to the tragic wildfires affecting California, and other states in the West. In light of these devastating wildfires, concerns over air quality are ever-present since both humans and equines can be equally impacted. USEF believes the decision by organizers to operate, suspend, or cancel competitions due to compromised air quality is best made by each...