Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian congratulates the five recipients of the 2025 USEF Higher Education Equestrian Scholarships . The scholarships are awarded each year to incoming first-year college students to support their continuing involvement in horse sports. Meet the 2025 USEF Higher Education Equestrian Scholarship Recipients Annie Kimball Milton, Ga. Annie Kimball has been riding and competing in the hunter and equitation arenas since she was very young. An all-around horsewoman,...

Lexington, Ky. - David O'Connor, US Equestrian Chief of Sport, reviewed social license and its effect on equestrian sport during the 2024 US Equestrian Annual Meeting on Jan. 13 in Louisville, Ky. O’Connor was joined by Lisa Lazarus, CEO of the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA), who shared the new reality of horseracing in the United States and how change required a shift in the industry’s culture. O’Connor concluded the workshop by emphasizing the...

Lexington, Ky. - Two highly engaging workshops were the focus of the programming on Jan. 13 during the 2024 US Equestrian Annual Meeting. The morning and afternoon sessions on “Creating A Good Life for Horses,” graciously sponsored by MARS Equestrian™, were led by two of the leading equine academics in the United States: Dr. Camie Heleski, Senior Lecturer at the University of Kentucky, and Dr. Jim Heird, Executive Professor at Texas A&M University. Creating a Good Life for...

Lexington, Ky. - Dr. Katie Flynn, US Equestrian Senior Staff Veterinarian, led a biosecurity workshop to kick off the 2024 US Equestrian Annual Meeting on Jan. 13 in Louisville, Ky. During the workshop, Dr. Flynn shared ways to best prevent and manage an equine infectious disease outbreak. Attendees were also given biosecurity outbreak situations to problem-solve from the viewpoint of either a veterinarian, competition manager, trainer, or event communications representative. Dr. Flynn...

Blacksburg, Va. – On Dec. 7, the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab released the results of its first-ever rating of equestrian helmets. Over the past two years, Virginia Tech researchers analyzed over 100 videos of riders falling off horses, precisely measured the hardness of the sand, dirt, grass, and synthetic surfaces underfoot at equestrian events, and dragged dummy heads and other equipment — and boxes and boxes of helmets — out to Virginia Tech’s equestrian facilities to...

In 2003, Virginia Tech placed the first sensors inside football helmets to measure head acceleration data that could characterize concussions. Nearly two decades later, the university’s Helmet Lab is on the cusp of adding equestrian sport to its arsenal of public safety information on helmet use and unveiling its STAR (Summation of Tests for the Analysis of Risk) ratings system for helmets. At the Equestrian Symposium, held Aug. 11-12 in Blacksburg, Va., Drs. Steve Rowson, Stefan Duma,...

Lexington, Ky. - US Equestrian is pleased to announce the kick-off of the USEF Helmet Research Safety Fund, a fundraising effort to further the safety of equestrian athletes across all breeds and disciplines. The fund will support further research into U.S. helmet safety standards and the creation of an equestrian-specific rating system, providing riders insight into how helmet models compare when looking at safety and protection. US Equestrian is partnering with the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab,...

The Event at Rebecca Farm put on an all around world-class competition the weekend of July 21-23, including a United States Eventing Association (USEA) Spalding Labs Young Event Horse Series division. Held in Kalispell, MT, the beautiful mountains towering in the distance made a fantastic backdrop for the event...but were viewed through shimmering heat waves as temperatures soared up to and over 100 degrees throughout the weekend. With the highest total score of the weekend, Landioso (Legendaer...

The 2006 USEA/Spalding Labs Young Event Horse (YEH) Series kicked off March 17 at the Rocking Horse Spring Horse Trials in Altoona, FL. Due to the early date, only a five-year-old division was held. Great Britain's defending Olympic Gold medallist and recent U.S. transplant Leslie Law, with youngster Rainman, ran away with the division on a score of 88.35%. It was a tight race for second place, with Eric Dierks and Text, his Thoroughbred gelding, slipping into second on a score of 79.26%, with...

Though the Spalding Labs United States Eventing Association (USEA) Young Event Horse West Coast Championships ran until the sun set at the Galway Downs International Three-Day and Horse Trials, spectators were treated to performances by some of the best young event prospects in the country. Robyn Fisher rode Rose Sullivan’s Clair de Lune SE, a Holsteiner Stallion by Contendor and out of L’Vienna Z, and scored an 83.90% to win the Five-Year-Old Championship, while she also rode her own Dutch...