The Gifted Fund was seeded with donations from Carol Lavell, received in special remembrance of her great dressage horse, Gifted. The Fund has grown steadily over the years and now provides scholarships each year to benefit adult amateurs. These scholarships enable adult amateurs to set aside quality time in concentrated training with a horse they own, with a trainer of choice, away from the daily pressures of job and family. The recipients chosen to train in 2007 are listed below. Each...

Randi Muster (McLain Ward and Sapphire) It came down to a four-rider jump-off speed round at the 2006 Rolex/USEF National Show Jumping Championship at the 123rd National Horse Show in Wellington, FL, on Sunday afternoon. And in a finish befitting the championships sponsor—Rolex—the crowds counted split seconds in the final speed test. When the last rider left the course and the points were tallied, McLain Ward and his Sapphire bested all challengers to win the title in a suspenseful, yet...

Mike Ferrara (Leslie Lurkin of Rochester, MN, after his win with Melissa LOA in the Half-Arabian Mare Breeding Saddle Pleasure AAOTH at the 40th Annual U.S. National Arabian and Half-Arabian Championship Horse Show. ) The 40th annual U.S. National Arabian and Half-Arabian Championship Horse Show (U.S. Nationals) bid a final farewell to Louisville from October 12-21, 2006, at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, KY. It was the last time the show will be held in this particular venue....

More than 200 entries tackled the new cross country course designed by Olympic Gold Medalist David O’Connor last Saturday during the Colorado Horse Park Fall Horse Trials held September 29-October 1. The event, which featured divisions from Beginner Novice to Preliminary, attracted entries from several states. Competitors faced the triathlon of horse sports—dressage, cross-country and show jumping. Winning the Open Preliminary division was Martha McDowell from Billings, MT. She rode her...

The 32nd Arizona Saddlebred Futurity Horse Show will host the first annual Southwest Regional Championships. The regional is for horses residing in Zone 1 as designated by the ASHA (Zone 1 states are Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah). The Horse show and Saddlebred Futurity will run October 27-29, 2006 at Westworld of Scottsdale. Southwest Regional Championship honors will be awarded to the top horse/rider in each of the following: the Open and Amateur Championship classes...

Dover, DE – After almost a year of planning and preparation, the Delaware State University Women Equestrian Team will commence its first competitive season with seven meets scheduled for the 2006-2007 season. Led by Head Coach Leigh Nichol and Assistant Head Coach Amy Walls and Western Assistant Coach Bill Brown, the inaugural Lady Hornets equestrian team begins its first season with six team members – Kayleigh Karnbach, Kamerra Brown, Christina Smith, Kera Russum, Jenna Warren and Morgan Scuse....

Gladstone, NJ – October 7, 2006 – Maggie McAlary, 16, of Amherst, NH is in the lead by the slimmest of margins following the first day of the USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals – East. McAlary, riding Mid-Accord, and Addison Phillips, 17, of New York, NY, aboard Icon, both received the same combined score of 227 points, but McAlary received the higher score of 144 points in the Gymnastics Phase, pushing her into the top spot. Phillips now stands in second by virtue of her Phase II score of...

Bob Langrish (American Kathryn Downs was the highest-placed American in 17th in endurance.) Long before the sun rose over the first day of competition at the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Aachen, a flurry of activity was going on as the stage was set for the first medal decisions made in the equestrian discipline of endurance. The consensus is that today’s championship served as the biggest in the sport’s interesting development and history, and the fact that temperatures...

After four long years of waiting, an anxious equestrian world watched the clock roll down to the moment everyone had their eyes turned to – the Opening Ceremonies of the 2006 Aachen FEI World Equestrian Games. And while gray skies and wet and windy weather welcomed the crème of the equine world to the picturesque town located in the westernmost corner of one of Europe’s most powerful horse countries, not even a downright deluge could have dampened the excitement and energy that was waiting to...

From Canada to Israel and Denmark to Brazil, horses from 20 nations on four continents are set to compete for the world cup of reining during the Western International reining festival. The Western International runs October 17-22 at the National Western Complex in Denver, CO. Each country can nominate up to two riders to compete in the FEI World Reining Masters Finals. Riders must possess the highest cumulative score from qualification rounds throughout the year and place in the top five at...