Wellington, FL - Week one of the 2012 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) continued at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, FL, today with more exceptional hunter competition. Showing in the Eugene R. Mische Grand Hunter Ring, the Horseware Products Adult Amateur Hunter 3'3" division presented championship honors. Twenty-three-year-old Allyson Blais, of Delray Beach, FL, guided her nine-year-old Warmblood gelding Camden Yards to the...

White Star Lexington, Kentucky - The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) has awarded the 2011 ‘ Hunter Sire of the Year Award ’ to the world-record breaking Elite and Premium Hanoverian stallion White Star (Weltmeyer/Glücksstern/Grande). Of interest to North American breeders, the German stallion is set to arrive in the US late February 2012 and will be standing at stud in Massachusetts. Based on the performance of a stallion’s offspring, the annual award is given...

Wellington, FL - Olympic gold medalist McLain Ward (USA) was able to beat a field of 39 competitors to take the first round victory in the $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup Series at the 2012 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival. He and Oh' D Eole triumphed in the jump-off over Charlie Jayne (USA) on Chill R Z and Darragh Kerins (IRL) with Hot Wheels. Today's grand prix marked the start of an exciting show jumping season, where riders will compete over 12 weeks to win bonus money in the...

Cian O'Connor and Everything Capture First G&C Farm 1.45m Jumper Victory Wellington, FL - The FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) kicked off competition today with hunter/jumper classes in 10 rings. In the International Arena, Olympian Cian O'Connor (IRL) scored the first win of the season with Everything, owned by Abdulla Humaid Al Muhairi, in the G&C Farm 1.45m Jumpers. The first week of the FTI WEF runs through Sunday, January 15, and is sponsored by Surpass....

Wellington, FL Lauren Sammis and Sagacious HF competing at the 2011 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Festival of Champions at Gladstone. (Photo courtesy of Sue Stickle) – Pan Am Gold Medalist Lauren Sammis and Sagacious HF, a KWPN gelding owned by Al Guden and Hyperion Farm, have arrived in Wellington and are looking forward to a great New Year as well as a fabulous show season. Sagacious, a jet black gelding with his own Facebook page and a large fan following, is in top shape as he prepares...

Orlando, Florida - Olympian Peter Leone joined members of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) Board of Directors at their annual meeting held in Orlando, FL to celebrate the launch of his new book, Peter Leone's Show Jumping Clinic: Success Strategies for Equestrian Athletes. Leone's book, written along with Kimberly S. Jaussi, PhD, herself an avid rider, writer and leadership professor and coach, explores every aspect of riding from the basics of correct use of aids...

Everyone will remember something different from 2011: exactly how long seven-hundredths of a second can be, the vast desolation of the Abu Dhabi desert, the joy of going undefeated or the nagging ache of defeat. Whatever you recall, 2011 was a year of tremendous success for the USEF High Performance programs. When the dust settled over Guadalajara, Mexico the USEF's teams had recorded a record Pan American Games medal haul. Ten medals - that is every medal but two - came back to the United...

Morton, IL – The American Shetland Pony Club, Inc., crowned its 2012 all-registry Queen at its recent national convention. Miss Alyssa Palas of Ames, Iowa, will represent the ASPC as well as the American Miniature Horse Registry, the American Show Pony Registry and the National Show Pony Registry throughout the next year. Alyssa Palas is the 18-year-old daughter of Greg and Barb Palas. She has been involved with the ASPC/AMHR and its small equine breeds since 2001. Ms. Palas actively...

Arianna Barzman-Grennan on Red Alert. Photo courtesy of Barzman-Grennan family. Within the past month, The Dressage Foundation awarded a total of $3,800 in grants to provide support to young riders. A grant of $1,800 was given to young rider Arianna Barzman-Grennan (CA) and $2,000 was provided to Dressage4kids, for the Emerging Dressage Athlete Program. The Renee Isler Dressage Support Fund provided an $800 scholarship to Arianna, and the Foundation also provided a $1,000 general grant to help...

Lexington, KY – Elizabeth Busch Burke, one of the country’s most celebrated equestrian supporters and granddaughter of August A. Busch, Sr., co-founder of Anheuser-Busch, passed away on December 20, 2011, surrounded by her family and friends. Burke was 76. Over her lifetime, Burke’s passion for equestrian sport and her involvement in the hunter/jumper discipline were legendary. As one of the heirs to the Budweiser Empire, her commitment to financially supporting a long list of...