The tension is mounting as the Meydan FEI Nations Cup™ series arrives in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, this week. This event marks the halfway stage of the team challenge, which pits 10 great show jumping nations against each other in an eight-leg battle for survival in the premiership of the sport. The USA holds the lead after scoring a superb back-to-back double at Rome and St Gallen over the past few weeks, but the pressure continues, and there is no time to rest on their laurels as they face...

The United States Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation is pleased to announce that Ashlee Bond, 23, of Hidden Hills, CA, and Michelle Spadone, 25, of Califon, NJ, are this year's co-winners of the Maxine Beard Show Jumping Developing Rider Award. The USET Foundation awarded these rising young equestrians this honor because of their competitive records to date and because of their promise for the future in show jumping. Bond and Spadone were given trophies at a presentation during the 2009...

The Show Jumping Hall of Fame held its annual induction ceremony at the Budweiser American Invitational at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, FL, on Saturday evening, April 4. Honored with induction were Dr. John Steele and the horses Abdullah, Miss Budweiser and Riviera Wonder. Induction into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame is a great honor bestowed annually upon select individuals whose contribution to the sport has set them apart from others and whose influence has had a significant impact on the...

Marilyn Little-Meredith captured her first ever grand prix at a Winter Equestrian Festival on Thursday, March 19, aboard Comtesse Du Lys in the finale round of the $30,000 Braman Motor Cars WEF Challenge Cup Series. Little-Meredith of Frederick, MD, and the mare Comtesse Du Lys, owned by Raylyn Farms, Inc., and Beverly Sheehy, were just nine points short of dislodging Great Britain's Peter Charles and Murka's Pall Mall from the top of the WEF Challenge standings. Charles' finish in 17th place...

For the 2009 breeding season, Flyinge, the Swedish National Stud, will include the KWPN stallion Lingh (Flemmingh x Columbus, by Uppercut xx) in its breeding program. Lingh has already arrived in Flyinge, a town in Southern Sweden just 48 miles from Copenhagen, Denmark. Throughout his performance career, Lingh has been one of the highest FEI-ranked dressage stallions in the world. He has had exceptional successes and numerous placings in international grand prix with Edward Gal and Karin...

The 2009 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) opened Wednesday to rave reviews for the $10-million makeover of the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. Opening day in almost perfect weather with temperatures reaching a high of about 80 degrees F (27 degrees Celsius) saw 854 hunter and jumper trips in 10 competition arenas. The annual George H. Morris Horsemanship Clinic filled another arena. Although the premiere jumper rings, International, DeNemethy and Mogavero arenas drew 231 entries...

The dates on which McLain Ward and Beezie Madden will be presenting at the 2009 USEF Horsemastership Training Session presented by Bates Saddles, January 5–9 at the South Grounds of the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center Grand Prix Ring in Wellington, FL, have changed. Ward and Madden will swap dates, with Madden now scheduled to present on Thursday, January 8, and Ward now scheduled for Friday, January 9. Also, rider Shelby Wakeman has withdrawn from participation in the clinic and is...

Lexington, KY – Mindy Darst was named Volunteer of the Year by the United States Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA) at the USHJA Evening of Equestrians on December 10, 2008. Evening of Equestrians is the USHJA’s awards ceremony held in conjunction with the Annual Meeting which took place at the Hilton Downtown in Nashville, TN, December 8-11. The Volunteer of the Year Award is given to an individual who donates their time to develop and implement programs in the organization. Darst was selected...

The stallion Hickstead, winner of Individual Gold and Team Silver medals at the 2008 Olympic Games under Canada’s Eric Lamaze, is now offered for breeding for the first time in North America. Hickstead is a 1996 brown Dutch Warmblood stallion standing 16 hands-high. Sired by Hamlet, his dam is Jomara by the well-known and recently deceased stallion, Ekstein. Hickstead’s bloodlines also feature such prominent show jumping names as Nimmerdor, Notaris, Ulft, Le Mexico and Joost. Based on his...

The United States Dressage Federation’s (USDF) Youth Executive Board is pleased to announce the winners of the USDF Youth Convention Scholarship Program for the 2008 Adequan/USDF National Convention and Symposium. This year’s winners are Arielle Perry, Jannike Gray, and Jessica Rose Deimler. The Youth Executive Board annually awards scholarships of up to $1,000 each to help defray the expenses associated with attending the annual convention. Applicants are judged on such qualities as...