Dear Fellow Members, We just finished our Annual Meeting in Lexington, Kentucky where we reported on the great results of the first year of our Strategic Plan. I was happy to report that we grew membership for the first time in years, increasing almost 30% to over 105,000 members. We also reported strong financial results, growing financial reserves, 23 signed and/or re-signed sponsors, new initiatives launched to strengthen the developmental pathway for horses and riders, increased access to...

Fair Hill, Md. – International competitors took to the dressage arena Thursday for the first day of competition at the 2017 The Dutta Corp. Fair Hill International Three-Day Event. Tamra Smith (Murrieta, Calif.) leads in The Dutta Corp./USEF CCI2* Eventing National Championship aboard Sunsprite Warmblood's Sunsprite Syrius, a nine-year-old Trakehner gelding, with a score of 40.8. Allison Springer (Upperville, Va.) and the Lord Willing Syndicate's Lord Willing, a nine-year-old...

Calgary, Alta. – The Hermès U.S. Show Jumping Team battled from behind to win the Spruce Meadows’ BMO Nations Cup on Saturday with the help of an incredible triple clear performance from Beezie Madden and Darry Lou. Tied with Brazil on eight faults after the second round, Chef d’Equipe Robert Ridland tapped his only double-clear combination to seal the victory in the jump-off. With the pressure on, the two-time Olympic team gold medalist and Dutch Warmblood stallion...

Lexington, Ky. - Consistent with its goal of transparency and good governance, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) will openly review the science and use of Medroxyprogesterone Acetate (Depo-Provera®) in competition horses during a public workshop on Monday, March 13, in Orlando, Fla. Your participation is essential in helping the USEF determine if it is necessary to change the rules regarding the use of this substance at USEF licensed competitions. The USEF will provide members,...

Tune in to USEF Network ’s coverage of Live Oak International and you’ll see a lot of great performances in both combined driving and show jumping. Here are two storylines to follow: Jumping: For Chloe Reid, Live Oak Is a Family Affair Photo Credit: PicsOfYou.com The backstory: Chloe Reid , 20, has good reason to love the Live Oak venue. The competition takes place on the 4,500-acre Live Oak Plantation in Ocala, Fla., that her grandmother, Thoroughbred breeder Charlotte Weber, owns....

Live Oak International , which takes place from March 9-12 in Ocala, Fla., is unique. It’s the nation’s largest combined driving and show jumping competition, bringing these two disciplines together at a world-class level. This year, Live Oak International will draw about 275 horses from 26 countries, as well as more than 300 volunteers and about 30 competition officials, according to Live Oak International manager Damian Guthrie. Can’t be there in person? Catch all the action...

Julie McCrady won the 2015 Third Level Freestyle Adult Amateur Championship with her Hanoverian mare Remanessa, and looks to return to Lexington again this year to try for a Fourth Level title. (Susan J. Stickle) Lexington, Ky. - “You bet I’ll be back. I’ve declared and I made my hotel reservations in Lexington months ago!” Every November since 2013, Julie McCrady and her husband have made the trek to Kentucky from Raymore, Mo. with their home-bred Hanoverian mare...

Rio 2016 continue to mess up a perfectly functional transport system, U.S. Dressage rider hits another Personal Best, and the Jumping horses have started leaping. All is good in Rio. The transport (to be more precise the Drop Off / Pick Up) debacle would be comical if it wasn’t so disruptive to everything that we (and other Nations) have been doing for the last two weeks. To then be told that it was our fault and that we, the Teams, were disobeying the rules was insulting and insane....

“ Time spent in reconnaissance is seldom wasted ” the saying goes and that proved true to form today as we set forth to Deodoro for Boot Camp Day 1. Our driver spoke no English and being British clearly I had never seen it as a priority to master a foreign language, in this case Portugese. Add in to the mix that this was the opening day for the TransOlímpica and it was a voyage of adventure. The TransOlímpica is the new road linking Barra (Olympic Village / main...

Lauren Chumley and Nikolas show off their winning form in the inaugural National Dressage Pony Cup Five-Year-Old Futurity. (Jennifer M. Keeler) Lexington, Ky. - Ever since the Markel/United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) National Young Horse Dressage Program was launched 14 years ago, the awareness, knowledge, and popularity of breeding and developing future generations of quality dressage horses in this country have increased dramatically. Now the National Dressage Pony Cup shined a...