Continuing their success from 2008, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Youth Council will host the 2nd Annual USEF Youth Convention in Cincinnati, OH, as part of the USEF Annual Meeting. On Saturday, January 17, 2009, hundreds of youth athletes from the Federation’s 28 breed and discipline backgrounds will come together to participate in a day-long convention culminating with a dinner and dance for convention attendees and USEF Youth Sportsman’s Award finalists. The 2009 Youth...

Lexington, KY – To assist breed shows with financial challenges, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) offers the 2008 Outreach Grant program, which provides assistance to various USEF breed competitions. And even though the competition season is under way, it’s not too late to apply for a USEF grant. The USEF grant program assists financially challenged breed competitions that meet the grant requirements and are approved by the USEF. The grants are available on a first come, first...

Lexington, KY – Aiken, SC resident Meghan Benge won an Individual Gold medal today at the 2008 FEI World Championships for Drivers with Disabilities CPEAI4* in Greven, Germany. Driving Jack, a pony borrowed from England, Benge won the dressage and never looked back. She also led the U.S. to a Team Silver at the conclusion of today’s Cones competition. Benge’s teammates were Arroyo Grande, CA.driver Diana Kastama, who drove her own horse Jasper to the Individual Bronze medal, followed very...

The FEI World Vaulting Championships are just a month off, to be held at the Brno Fairgrounds in the Czech Republic from July 29 to August 3, in conjunction with the FEI European Junior Championships. There are 400 competitors from 20 countries, with around 200 horses lined up for this important event on the calendar. The Brno Fairgrounds The Championship will take place at the Brno Fairgrounds, one of the architectural marvels of Europe. The events of the Championship will happen in several...

Richard Spooner and Cristallo won the CSI5* Grand Prix du Prix de Monaco. This was the fourth leg of the Global Champions Tour 2008. Spooner and the 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding sped around the course and picked up the win with a time of 38.99 seconds, only 0.02 seconds ahead of second place. Jeanne Hobbs won the Fourth Class at the FEI CSIO4* at Lipica, Slovenia. It was a 1.45 meter class with 58 starters. Hobbs was riding Night and Day 8, a 15-year-old Oldenburg gelding. In the Team...

Oklahoma City, OK – Under the lights at the Oklahoma State Fair Park, Craig Schmersal bested some of the top reiners in the country to win the 2008 Adequan®/United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) National Open Reining Championship presented by Equine Motorcoach. Schmersal, an Oklahoma native, won the title along with his share of the $25,000 in added money. The USEF championship was part of the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Derby. This is Schmersal’s second time...

Lexington, KY ­– The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) has approved the following short list for the 2008 FEI World Single Horse Driving Championships to be held in Jarantow, Poland, August 25-31, 2008. The definite entries will be named July 27, 2008. The following short list has been approved for the 2008 FEI World Single Horse Driving Championships: Leslie Berndl / 45 / Newcastle, CA / Koopman's Lightning Rod / Gelding / 12 / Hackney/ Ann McClure Marjas Becker / 61 / Brooker, FL /...

In one of the deepest fields assembled in recent memory, Wimpys Little Chic, owned by Arcese Quarter Horses USA, Weatherford, TX, dominated a field of impressive four-, five-, and six-year-old reining horses with a decisive win in the 2008 National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Derby. Ridden by NRHA’s Leading Money Earning Rider Shawn Flarida, the team accomplished what no other combination has—winning the NRHA Futurity, NRBC, and the NRHA Derby consecutively! Andrea Fappani piloted...

The week’s final spotlight shown on the children-adult jumpers as 47 horses took center stage with hopes of landing the starring role in Classic Company-sponsored $15,000 Jumper Classic. Carri Carse aboard her mount Letterman had the final call back and left the Georgia Horse Park all smiles. On Saturday, Derek Petersen of Archer, FL, captured his second Outback Steakhouse-Horses Helping Horses Grand Prix aboard Jordan Coyne’s Larazo, delivering an exciting conclusion to a weekend of giving at...

Patrick Seaton and Good Guiness not only won the $20,000 Bayfest Grand Prix the second week of the Woodside Summer Circuit, but Seaton also earned a $5,000 rider bonus for winning two of the three major jumper classes at the 2008 Woodside Summer Circuit aboard the same horse. If he can make it a hat trick by clinching the $30,000 Golden Gate Grand Prix, Seaton will be the first rider to claim the Woodside Jumper Accumulator bonus worth $20,000. "When I started the Woodside Jumper Accumulator...