Kentucky livestock producers and horse owners in need of hay can call the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s toll-free Hay Hotline to find farmers with hay to sell. The Hay Hotline number is (888) 567-9589. Growers with hay to sell also may call the number. Producers who call the number to buy or sell will be listed on the Hay Hotline page on the Department’s website at www.kyagr.com. “These services could make the difference between holding on to livestock or having to sell,” Agriculture...

Silver medalist Lauren Sammis, Gold medalist Christopher Hickey and Bronze medalist Yvonne Losos de Muniz (Diana DeRosa) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—It was a double-medal day for Team USA at Deodoro Stadium as Maryland’s Christopher Hickey aboard Regent won the coveted Gold medal on a two-day averaged score of 70.725% after performing his freestyle before an appreciative crowd. New Jersey’s Lauren Sammis, who had led the scores at the end of the Team competition, finished in...

Lexington, KY – The USEF announced today that the system used to establish the points for the Platinum Performance USEF Show Jumping Talent Search East will change effective September 1, 2007. The new point scale for the East Qualifiers will be as follows: First Place: 30 points Second Place: 15 points Third Place: 10 points Fourth Place: 5 points The number of points needed to qualify for the East Finals will be 90, including at least one win. The points will be updated on www.usef.org. Joanie...

Diana DeRosa (Team USA's Christopher Hickey, Katherine Poulin-Neff and Lauren Sammis) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil—Gold is definitely a color that looks good on the necks of Americans equestrian athletes, and Team USA’s dressage squad were the first to have the honor to wear it among the three disciplines invited to the XV Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro. The three-member team comprised of Lauren Sammis, Katherine Poulin-Neff and Christopher Hickey finished their combined work to...

New Jersey's Sammis and Sagacious HF in Rio De Janeiro. (Diana DeRosa) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil —Equestrian competition began on Saturday morning at the National Equestrian Center at Deodoro, outside of Rio de Janeiro. Up first for the three disciplines contested in the Pan American Games was dressage, and there was one American to take to the arena—Lauren Sammis. At the end of the 13 riders going on Saturday (one from Columbia withdrew), she sat in the early lead headed into...

Lexington, KY— A last minute decision to enter the class paid off for first-time USEF Saddle Seat Adult Amateur Medal Finalist Michelle Krentz as she swept the class with a unanimous decision from the judges and went home with the title. Krentz beat six other finalists in the 71st Lexington Junior League Horse Show at the famous The Red Mile racetrack. Even though Krentz has not been regularly riding her 17-year-old mare, CH Louisville Lass, the chemistry was right between them. “Since I’ve...

The horse-show management firm The Classic Company is pleased to announce it will again present the Biltmore Estate Summer Classic, to be held July 18-22 and July 25-29 at the equestrian center of the illustrious Vanderbilt mansion in Ashville, NC. The only nationally ranked, sanctioned, hunter/jumper equestrian event held on the grounds of the Biltmore Estate, this year’s classic, part of the Mountain Air Circuit of Shows, will feature more than 300 competitive classes in six show rings from...

The Hong Kong Jockey Club announced on July 7 that it had now completed all key venues for the 2008 Beijing Olympic and Paralympic equestrian events for testing as scheduled and that the facilities would set new world standards in terms of quality, environmental consideration, cost effectiveness and legacy value. Moreover, the project had been achieved from initial planning to completion within the remarkably short time of less than two years. The Club will hand over the competition and...

The first World Para-Equestrian Dressage Championships under the governance of the FEI are looming in the not so distant foreground. These not only mark a first for the FEI, but also a first in the past 21 years for Great Britain to be hosting a World Championship. This important event will take place at Hartpury College, Gloucestershire, and no less than 142 competitors spanning 22 nations will be competing for the coveted title. The numbers alone already make this the largest World...

The American Saddlebred Horse Association is offering live streaming video of the Lexington Junior League Horse Show via its website at www.saddlebred.com . The webcast began with the show’s first session on Monday, July 9, and will include each session through the show’s conclusion on Saturday night, July 14. The same video feed that goes out to the Red Mile’s jumbotron and other video monitors will be broadcast worldwide on www.saddlebred.com . Plans are also underway to webcast the American...