Driving At the Southern Pines CDE in North Carolina, six advanced divisions gave the U.S. drivers plenty of opportunity to hone their skills for some o f the 2011 FEI World Driving Championships. In the Advanced Single Pony Divisions, Australia's Janelle Marshall won but USA's Maggie Sullivan was second and Doris Leacy was third. In the Advanced Pair Pony division, Wendy O'Brien scored a victory over Jennifer Matheson which came down to a close competition in the cones. O'Brien...

Waco, TX - Auburn University claimed its second overall team national championship in the 2011 Varsity Equestrian National Championships at Waco, TX, April 14-16, in the Extraco Events Center. The Tigers, also winners in 2006, placed first in hunter seat competition and fourth in Western. University of Georgia claimed second place with second-place (hunter seat) and third-place (Western) finishes. Texas A&M University was awarded third place by finishing first in Western and sixth in Hunter...

Lexington, KY - All 84 horses presented at the first Horse Inspection at the 2011 Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials were accepted by the Ground Jury without incident. This includes three American horses: Mandiba, BallyNoe Castle RM and The Good Witch. With their riders, Karen O'Connor, who contested her first Badminton in 1979, Buck Davidson, whose father Bruce was the first U.S. winner in 1995 and Jennifer Wooten-DaFoe who looks to cross Badminton off the list of CCI4*s to complete...

Sarah Scheiring and Landino on course in the Level 7 Jumpers. (ESI Photography). Culpepper, VA — It’s official. The grass is freshly cut, the flags are flying high and the sponsor banners are lining the grounds, as show jumping is underway with the Commonwealth National at HITS Commonwealth Park in Culpeper, VA. “We have been here every week for as long as I can remember,” said trainer Peter Foley. “With the diverse schedule of classes and its convenient...

The HSBC FEI Classics™ 2011, an exciting series linking five of the world’s top level events, begins in style today (Thursday 21 April - Monday 25 April) at the Mitsubishi Motors Badminton Horse Trials (GBR). The first crucial qualifier for the 2012 London Olympic Games has attracted arguably the strongest international field for many years with representatives from 11 nations and seven former winners entered. Three Americans are vying for the 2011 title, teammates from the Land...

The American Horse Council is pleased to announce that the new, up-to-date 2011 Horse Owners and Breeders Tax Handbook is hot off the presses! No one involved with the horse industry should be without the Horse Owners and Breeders Tax Handbook. Topics covered in the Handbook include: • Business versus hobby-including summaries of important court decisions; • Passive loss rules; • Forms of doing business; • Record keeping and accounting rules; • Sales, Exchanges and...

Sutherlin, OR - If your goal is to breed, own or ride the next Ravel, Totilas, Judgement ISF, Idocus, or Popeye K, the KWPN-NA Annual Meeting added to your inspiration. With insights from Olympic medalist Steffen Peters and renowned breeder and KWPN judge Cor Loeffen, along with networking with some of the world's biggest and best KWPN horse breeders, the event was the largest in recent years. Two hundred enthusiastic equestrians gathered in Visalia, California to discuss and debate the...

Wellington, FL - The Equestrian Sport Productions (ESP) Spring Circuit continued last week with week 5 on April 13-17. ESP was very pleased to see that exhibitor numbers at the show increased 25% from 2010. The horse show offered a full schedule of hunter/jumper competition, with three classes featured: the $10,000 Pennfield Feeds Open Jumper Welcome Stake, the $7,500 Reist Industries High Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper Stake at The Stadium, and the $30,000 ESP Spring 5 Grand Prix. The winner of...

Lexington, KY - The Eventing Eligible Athlete Committee and Eventing High Performance Committee have unanimously recommended David O'Connor to be the Eventing Chef d'Equipe/Technical Advisor to succeed Capt. Mark Phillips in 2013. The recommendation will go to the USEF High Performance Working Group before being presented to the USEF Executive Committee. The search for Capt. Phillips replacement began in 2010. Nine applications were received by the Search Committee. The Committee shortlisted...

Waco, TX - Varsity Equestrian has announced the 2010-2011 All-American award recipients – the first time Varsity Equestrian has awarded All-American status as well as Honorable Mention All-American status to the top equestrian student athletes in the country. The Varsity Equestrian Selection Committee had the difficult task of awarding the top four equestrian athletes in each of the respective events offered by Varsity Equestrian – equitation on the flat, equitation over fences,...