HITS was represented by President and CEO Tom Struzzieri and Dale Harvey of the West Coast Management Team. Zone 10 members were represented by West Coast Active Riders Board Chairman Bernie Traurig and President Will Simpson. Sally Ike, Managing Director of Show Jumping, Leigh Anne Claywell, Director of Competitions, and Allen Rheinheimer, the USEF’s footing expert for this project, served as the USEF representatives. Bart Poels, who is the footing specialist for the 2008 Olympic Games and has...

Little Bit Farm is very proud to report that at the 2007 Sporthorse Stallion Performance Test at Paxton Farm, our three-year-old ISR/Oldenburg stallion Rashka (Raymeister x Tashka/Opus) not only won the 30-Day Short Test, but earned the highest score in the history of U.S. stallion testing, and possibly even in all European testing, as well, with a score of 164.86. Although Rashka is still maturing physically at 16.3 hands, his innate talent for both dressage and jumping was more than apparent....

Dream Street Stallion, Starlight, swept the top honors for a breeding stallion at the United States Dressage Federation’s (USDF) annual awards banquet hosted in Orlando, FL. Starlight was awarded the USDF All-Breeds Dressage Sport Horse Breeding Horse Of The Year. The seven-year-old black Oldenburg stallion is owned and shown by Rick Silvia of Dream Street Stallions. Silvia was also informed that Starlight’s score was the highest median score ever recorded. Silvia was awarded both a perpetual...

Tammy Provost of Zionsville, IN, won the inaugural 2008 United States Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA) International Hunter Derby Class on Friday, December 7, at the Lake St. Louis Holiday Series, in Lake St. Louis, MO, managed by Tommy McIntyre. Aboard Daquiri, owned by Penny Cooper, Provost soared to the top against a field of 27. The two-round format consisted of a handy hunter and classic round, which asked competitors to navigate through the challenging courses of bending lines, banks and...

Kent Farrington and Up Chiqui (Randi Muster) Wellington, FL – The only clear round in the second leg of the Rolex/USEF National Show Jumping Championship presented by Equine Motorcoach wasn’t enough to wrestle the title away from the consistently impressive combination of Kent Farrington and Up Chiqui. They were the fastest of the four faulters on Sunday, but their stellar performance in the first round on Friday compounded into the best score over the two days. Last year’s...

Lexington, KY – Plans are under way for the 2008 United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Youth Convention and registration is open, but space is limited for the convention. Already, over half of the available spots have been filled for the first annual Youth Convention, which will be held January 12 in Louisville, KY. Along with the schedule, the break-out sessions have been finalized. The Youth Convention will feature many notable speakers, including experts in the equine industry as well...

The American Horse Council (AHC) is reminding all members of the horse-owning community to participate in the 2007 Census of Agriculture being conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA census, taken every five years, is a count of U.S. farms, ranches and the people who operate them. A link to the Census can be found on the front page of the AHC’s website at www.horsecouncil.org or at https://www.agcounts.usda.gov/cgi-bin/counts . The USDA reports that the 2007 Census of...

Lexington, KY—Kathy Meyer, longtime officer and administrator of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) and professional sport events marketer, has been named Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications for the USEF, effective January 13, 2008. She fills the position vacated by the retirement of Maria Partlow earlier this fall. Meyer has a lengthy and experienced career in high-end sports and special events management. In addition, she has almost two decades of firsthand...

Oklahoma City, OK - The 2007 FEI World Reining Masters drew riders from fifteen countries to the Oklahoma State Fair Grounds on November 29, but two riders from the United States that caught the judges attention - equally. Not to be outdone by the home team an Austrian rider answered their challenge with an equally stellar performance. This meant that at the end of the competition Americans Casey Hinton and Gabe Hutchins were tied with Rudi Kronsteiner for first place on a score of 221. Under...

There is a new kid on the block. Oldenburg (GOV) stallion Rosall, by Rosario out of Akzent II mare is just over from Germany, and he won the blue at Devon in the four-year-old stallion Materiale class. His very accomplished grand prix rider, Jessica Jo Tate, is thrilled with him, and very proud of the way he handled his week at Devon. Tate, now training/riding some very successful young horses, said, "He is always the gentleman, always easy to work with, and his work ethic and character are...