Last year the Capital Challenge Horse Show offered a new event to the schedule—the Emerging Pro Challenge. The Challenge class was designed for professionals who may be knocking on a door that is typically opened by riders like Scott Stewart, Louise Serio, Peter Pletcher and a handful of other hunter riders who have graced the Show Place Arena with top scores on numerous horses. The $5,000 Emerging Pro Challenge was designed to give riders competing in the professional divisions (future...

A century of sporting history will be celebrated when the much-anticipated first leg of the inaugural Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series takes place in La Baule, France, this weekend. It was in 1909 that the indoor London Olympia and outdoor San Sebastian shows first hosted military team jumping competitions and, 100 years on, the honor and distinction of representing one's country in the battle for team supremacy has lost none of its edge. The advent of new sponsors, the Dubai-based development...

The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) is pleased to announce and congratulate its new USDF Certified Instructors from the testing held March 27-29 in Kansas City, MO. The USDF Instructor Certification program is designed to set a standard of excellence in dressage training and instruction in the United States and to educate dressage riders, instructors, and aspiring instructors. New USDF Certified Instructors include Laurie Hedlund of Claremore, OK, at training through second level; and...

The 2009 Kentucky Spring Premier Horse Show will be held Thursday, April 30, through Saturday, May 2, 2009, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. Brian Reimer of Turin, GA, will judge the Saddlebred, Hackney and Friesian classes, with Katie Case handling the Academy division. Following the success of last year, the open stakes will be held Friday night with the amateur championships on Saturday night. The Kentucky Spring Premier is proud to be the first show to participate in the added...

Morgan enthusiasts may want to consider attending the 21st annual New York Stallion Service Auction in Saratoga Springs, NY. The day is full of activities for the whole family. Services to 39 of the breed's finest stallions will be auctioned off as well as a photo shoot donated by Debbie Uecker-Keough and full page ads in the New England Show Program , The Morgan Horse magazine, and Saddle Horse Report . Jeanne Mellin Herrick also has generously donated a piece of her artwork. The day begins at...

Olympian Debbie McDonald filled the house as this year's featured clinician at the New England Dressage Association's (NEDA) Annual Fall Symposium. The annual event, which has hosted such leading clinicians as Anky van Grunsven, Klaus Balkenhol and Ingrid Klimke, draws hundreds of riders and trainers from throughout the Northeastern U.S. With her popular partner, the Hanoverian mare Brentina, McDonald, a member of the 2008 and 2004 U.S. Olympic Dressage Teams, is one of America's most...

Mark Leone, George Morris, Mason Phelps and Susie Schoellkopf have signed on again as judges for the 2009 Equestrian Idol Musical Talent Show to benefit The EQUUS Foundation, Inc. New this year, the event will be held at the International Polo Club Palm Beach on Friday (not Saturday) evening, February 6, 2009, in Wellington, FL. Featuring musical performances by talented equestrians, including returning performers, Heather Caristo, Hillary Dobbs, Patricia Griffith, Casey Hodges, Brian...

New products will be available at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games online merchandise store in time for the "Halfway There" celebration marking two years to go in the countdown to the 2010 Games. New merchandise will include "Halfway There" T-shirts, which continues a line of horseshoe designs from the "Three Years to Go" celebration in 2007. In addition, vanity license plates, plate frames, and car decals will be available for purchase at the Games online store for the first time during...

A new educational competition is giving West Coast riders another reason to eagerly anticipate this year's Galway Downs International Three-Day Event, which will be held October 30-November 2. Organizer Robert Kellerhouse will offer a training-level three-day event for the first time, alongside the headlining CCI** and the supporting CCI*. These three levels represent the ascending scale in the progressive education of event horses and their riders. The 10th renewal of this competition will be...

The management of the Capital Challenge Horse Show has once again introduced an innovative class to their competitive show. Held this year September 27 through October 5 at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, MD, the prestigious event will feature an exciting new $5,000 hunter class for emerging professionals. The $5,000 Emerging Pro Challenge will give riders competing in the professional divisions (future hunter, green working, green conformation, regular working, and regular...