The December 14 landslide approval by Oklahoma City voters to increase the hotel/motel occupancy tax has ensured Oklahoma City will have the world-class facilities befitting the "Horse Show Capital of the World." Raising the current hotel/motel occupancy tax from 2% to 5.5% is estimated to generate $4.5 million annually, which will be dedicated to funding an estimated $55 million in proposed improvements to the horse show facilities at the Oklahoma State Fair Park. "First and foremost, I want...

Lexington, KY —Meagan Drew may not have started out as a cookie cutter equestrian, but then again, her break-the-mold approach may have been the leg up she needed to claim success in and out of the show ring. “I cleaned stalls two summers in a row every day so I could ride horses and take lessons,” says the 18 year old Drew. “It wasn’t my mom writing a check—it was something I had to do. It made me appreciate the lessons I did get and it made me work harder....

Lexington, KY --The nations’ best reiners will be coming to the heart of Kentucky in 2005, as a result of the combined efforts of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA), and the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA). The USEF Open Reining Championship will be the headliner class at Fiesta in the Park—a new show that offers reining and hunter-jumper events, side by side in the Kentucky Horse Park. The show, slated for August...

Margie Engle Takes Home the Syracuse Cup In the end, it was just one rail that kept Beezie Madden from her first Syracuse Cup win at the Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament in Syracuse, NY, November 3-7. In the Syracuse Cup’s unique three-phase competition, it was Margie Engle of Wellington, FL, riding Nobility and Animagus that claimed the title for 2004. Engle went faultless through all three phases. Second was Laura Kraut and Madden was third. Seven riders in all qualified to compete....

Update on Testing Issues Recently our Medication Control Programme has reported several cases of tests in which low concentrations of sedatives were found in competition horses. In this respect, the following substances have been detected: Acepromazine, Detomidine, Reserpine, Fluphenazine and Guanabenz. These substances are being used in low dosages to improve the manageability of ‘hot’ horses and are therefore regarded as serious attempts to influence the performance of the horse...

Royal Kaliber, one of the United States most brilliant horses ever to compete internationally in show jumping, was humanely euthanized today in the Netherlands. He underwent colic surgery for intestinal adhesions, on September 27th and had been recovering well until two days ago when his progress considerably slowed. Royal Kaliber took Chris Kappler to a Team Silver medal and an Individual Bronze medal at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. According to Dr. Tim Ober, a veterinarian for the USEF...

For the past seven years, the New Albany Classic has become a featured event for fall in Central Ohio, and is welcomed with an abundance of community spirit. This year, United States Olympic Team Silver Medallist McLain Ward mastered the Grand Prix course to claim his 85th career win on Sunday, September 26, 2004. For the sixth year, renowned course designer Richard Jeffery designed a unique and challenging course. There were 14 numbered elements requiring 17 jumping efforts on the large grass...

Lexington, KY – Royal Kaliber, the stallion that took Chris Kappler to a silver Olympic team medal and an individual bronze medal in Athens last month, underwent colic surgery in Someren, the Netherlands late yesterday. He suffered a leg injury in the final round of the individual show jumping competition and he was being monitored in Europe before a decision was made to ship him back to the United States. Dr. Jack Snyder and Dr. Barry David, who flew to the Netherlands from the United States,...

The Grand Prix Special was ahead for the dressage riders at Markopoulo Equestrian Center today, and an early morning start saw them performing in the Second Qualifier. Twenty-five riders and their mounts posted scores leading into Wednesday’s final day of dressage and the Final Grand Prix Freestyle. And at the end of Wednesday, we will know who will be awarded the 2004 Athens Olympics Individual medals. The U.S. team is coming off their successful bid for a Team medal. They took home the Bronze...

Allentown, New Jersey – Kim Severson of Keene, Virginia and Winsome Adante are ranked #2 in the world and at yesterday’s one day competition at the Horse Park of New Jersey in the Final Mandatory Outing they looked very deserving of that ranking. As they did at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event in April, the only four star event in the United States, Severson and “Dan” grabbed the early lead in the dressage and never gave it up. Their final score was 40.2. They had a clean cross country round....