The USEF/Markel Young Horse Dressage Program kicked off 2006 with the first of three official Selection Trials at the CDI Three-Star/Y Cincinnati and Spring Classic I & II, held May 13–15 at Paxton Farm in Batavia, OH. This USEF/Markel Young Horse Dressage Central Selection Trial for the FEI World Breeding Championships showcased the region’s most promising dressage prospects in their quest to qualify for Verden. In a new format this year, the Selection Trial competition is comprised of two...

Laura Kraut extended her lead to 13 points over Beezie Madden in the race for American Grand Prix Association (AGA) Rider of the Year following a fifth place finish in the Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix in Kentucky over the weekend. Meanwhile, victories by Aaron Vale in Kentucky and Rich Fellers in California have juggled the standings and moved both of those riders into contention for the American Grand Prix Association title. Entering its 27th year, the AGA Grand Prix Series of Show Jumping is...

Jan Gyllensten (Debbie McDonald and Brentina placed third at the FEI World Cup Dressage Final Presented by Offield Farms. ) The FEI World Cup Dressage Final Presented by Offield Farms will be televised on the Outdoor Life Network (OLN) on Monday, June 6 at 3 p.m. EST, an hour earlier than originally scheduled. The one-hour broadcast offers dressage fans and horse lovers across the United States the rare opportunity to view the world’s best riders, including American sweetheart Debbie...

FEI representatives met with leading footing specialists in Windsor, England, on May 16 for a brainstorming session which will likely provide the criteria upon which all future championship arena footing is to be based. The meeting, which drew riding surface experts from around the world, was a proactive response to the report of the FEI Working Group assigned to assess problems associated with footing after the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. The round table discussion covered many areas, including...

Lexington, KY – California’s Fritz Grupe made history in the discipline of driving when he won the 2005 USEF National Pairs Championship at the 2005 Garden State CDE at the Horse Park of New Jersey, in Cream Ridge, May 8. Grupe, of Stockton, California, became the first resident West of the Mississippi to claim the Championship title. Final results following all three phases (cones, dressage and marathon) are as follows: 1. Fritz Grupe, Stockton, CA, 127.68 2. Lisa Singer, Chadds...

Bloomberg Leading Rider La Baule, France – The U.S. Show Jumping Team arrived in La Baule, France last week, locked, loaded and ready. Not only did they handily win the first Samsung Super League Nations Cup of the season by four faults over Great Britain, but team members also won three other classes and were well placed throughout the show. And at the end of the four days of competition it was the United States’ team member, New York City’s Georgina Bloomberg, 22, who was...

It was a strong start for Cynthia Williams on the opening day of the Garden State Horse Show, held May 4-8 at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta, NJ. Williams and a seven-year-old gelding named Quality Time topped the first three Green Conformation classes. Owned by White Hill Farm of New York, NY, the 16.2-hand hunter will make a play for the Green Conformation championship on Thursday when the final classes are held in the main hunter ring. In the Pre-Green hunters, Sandra Lobel of...

Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) of Georgia won the hunter seat equitation phase to clinch the team title at the 28th Annual Affiliated National Riding Commission’s National Intercollegiate Equitation Championship, April 16-17, hosted by Sweet Briar College in Virginia. SCAD junior Jordan Siegel took home the title of individual champion for the second time in her college career. Siegel, who won the top individual award as a freshman in 2003, was joined by teammates Ashley Kelly and...

The United States Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation presented 16-year-old Brianne Goutal of New York, NY, the Lionel Guerrand-Hermes Trophy on Saturday, April 23, at the FEI Budweiser World Cup in Las Vegas, NV. The special award recognizes a Junior/Young Rider who exemplifies the USET Foundation’s ideals of sportsmanship and horsemanship. In 1983, Patrick Guerrand-Hermes, of the Paris-based saddlery and fashion company, presented a trophy to the USET in memory of his son, Lionel, a talented...

Lexington, KY – The United States Equestrian Federation has announced the team for the 2005 Samsung Super League competitions for “Tour #1,” La Baule, France (May 5-8); Rome, Italy (May 26-29); and CSIO St. Gallen, Switzerland (June 2-5). The team members listed in order of their ranking on the March 25th, 2005 USEF International Computer List, with first ranked horse also listed, are as follows: Rider, Residence, Horse, Breeding 1. Laura Kraut (1st), Oconomoc, WI, Miss...