Fairfield, CT — St. Andrews University Equestrian Program director and Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) coach, Peggy McElveen, is promising quintessential Southern hospitality when the Gov. James B. Hunt Jr. Horse Complex hosts the 39th Intercollegiate Horse Show Association National Championships, May 3-6, 2012, in Raleigh, NC. Think rocking chairs. Magnolia blossoms. White picket fences. “A Taste of Raleigh” from its finest five-star restaurants. And...

We have landed at the 2011 Pan American Games. Well four of us have. Jim Wolf, the Chef d'Mission, Christy Baxter the world's most organized executive assistant, Doug Hannum, stable manager to the stars, and me, Joanie Morris - I'm the press officer. I hope you don't get tired of hearing from me. I will be (attempting) to use twitter, press releases, the USEF Network so choose your poison and keep up to speed with what the teams are up to. We are getting the lay of the land,...

As Annette Bevelhymer and her son, Kory, walked the grounds of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games on Saturday afternoon, looking for tips that would help Kory with his American Quarter Horse, Korys Miracle Spirit, it truly was a miracle they were even there. Annette shared their story as she stopped by the booth AQHA is sharing with the National Reining Horse Association in the WEG trade show. “When Kory was 5 years old, he had to have a bone marrow transplant down in Cincinnati,...

Folks, the drought is over. With a score of 78.542%, Steffen Peters and Akiko Yamazaki's Ravel rode to the first individual dressage world championships medal for the US in...well, a long time. On a day when a number of horses looked a bit tired from the Grand Prix exertions of the past few days -- exacerbated, perhaps, by a temperature spike that pushed the mercury up around 80 -- some of the top competitors actually seemed more relaxed and able to deliver better performances. Ravel was...

As a member of the press, I especially enjoy press conferences. Of course, prior to these events I try to think of things that I’d like to ask or have explained in more detail than what is on the surface. Today, the World Equestrian Games Foundation held a press conference during a lunch break of the first day of dressage at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event to bring the press up-to-date on preparations for the big event. One thing I especially enjoy about press conferences is the...

Artesan+++// (Khemosabi++++// x Obsession JD), a nine-year-old purebred Arabian gelding owned by Susie McArthur of Kentfield, CA, ranked as the top horse among a field of more than 3,000 Arabians, Half-Arabians and Anglo-Arabians to become the 2006 Arabian Horse Association (AHA) High Point Horse. To reach this pinnacle, the gelding had to accumulate the highest number of points in the Horse Achievement Awards program during 2006. He racked up 457.5 points in his year of competing in dressage,...

Gladstone, NJ – Three was the magic number today at the USET Foundation Dressage Festival of Champions. Rebecca Hart won the USEF National Para-Equestrian Championship after she pulled off a hat-trick, winning all three classes three days in a row. Then, in the USEF Grand Prix Special, it was déjà vu with the top three riders in the same placings as Thursday, when they performed their Grand Prix. The third class that makes up the 2006 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF National...

Alison Hartwell (Lauren Hough on Casadora) All Three Finish with One Time Fault Wellington, FL – The price of real estate in South Florida is among the most expensive in the nation, and the riders in today’s Trial #1 of the USEF Selection Trials for the FEI World Equestrian Games had to cover a lot of it in a time allowed of only 90 seconds. The distance of ground in the vast Internationale Arena in Wellington and the tight time for the challenging Leopoldo Palacios-designed course...

Wayne, Ill. – The penultimate day of the 2023 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions crowned six new national champions in the developing Prix St. Georges, Grand Prix, 4-year-old, 5-year-old, pony rider, and young adult Brentina Cup divisions. The USEF Children Dressage National Championship also held the first of its two-round national championship, which will conclude on Sunday. Sabine Schut-Kery and Sonnenberg's Jersey. ©Leslie Potter/US Equestrian Markel/USEF Developing Horse...

Sarah Hamilton from strategic communications consulting firm Kivvit gave a presentation on social media to kick off Friday’s Workshop Sessions. She reviewed the basics, different platforms, strengths and weaknesses of social media, and best practices. Hamilton concluded by fielding questions from the audience for a thoroughly informative session. Social media is a communication tool “Social media is just one tool in a larger communications and marketing external relations plan that...