The European winter is off to a rough and very cold start this year. With record breaking snow and daytime temperatures dropping to 16 F, one might have expected a dismal turnout for the Winter Mixed Sales Auction held on December 4 at the Oldenburg Horse Center in Vechta, Germany. That was not the case, however, thanks to a fantastic lineup of sport horses, broodmares and young stallions, not to mention a very dedicated auction team. The top-priced horse was the mare, Franka Potente, who sold...

Photo by Tammo Ernst (Future Star) The colt, Future Star, bred by Ann Kitchel of Huntington Farm in Vermont was astounding with very expressive and elastic gaits, and it is the international grand prix rider Ann Katrin Linsenhoff who will be taking him home after winning the bid for him at the Oldenburg Summer Mixed Sales Auction held on June 5 in Vechta, Germany. Kitchel was thrilled with how well this colt was received by the judges at the Gut Füchtel foal inspection/show held in the spring....

The World Games 2010 Foundation is pleased to announce that 60 National Federations have submitted entries in principle for the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. They are: Argentina Australia Austria Belgium Bermuda Brazil Bahrain Bulgaria Canada Chile China Columbia Costa Rica Czech Republic Denmark Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Finland France Germany Great Britain Greece Guatemala Hungary India Ireland Israel Italy Japan Jordan Lebanon Lithuania Luxembourg Malaysia Mexico...

Photo by Flying Horse Photography (McLain Ward and Goldika 559 on course in the $30,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health.) Canadian Olympian John Anderson sealed the first half of the HITS Desert Circuit with a kiss on Valentine's Day when he captured the blue ribbon aboard Terrific in the $25,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, on Sunday afternoon at the HITS Desert Horse Park, in Thermal, CA. The win marked the second victory of the circuit for Anderson...

Kim Severson Takes Her Expertise South of the Border (Mike McNally) Lexington, KY – The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) will continue to lead a joint development program with the FEI in Central and South America. The USEF made a commitment to supply coaches from the USA and Canada to FEI regional Groups IV and V for 2010 and 2011 after a very successful pilot year in 2009. The objective of this program is to increase the participation in regional games in the area going forward....

Doug Payne, an acclaimed rider and board member of the Professional Riders Organization, won the Virginia Horse Trials CCI* this past weekend. His win included an impressive dressage score in the long format event that secured his victory. “I was thrilled with Running Order’s performance,” said Payne of the seven-year-old Irish gelding owned by Stone Hill Farm. “He is the ideal horse for the longer format, and I know he’ll continue to excel to the top of the sport.” Payne chose to compete in...

Recipient of the 2008 USEF/Performance Horse Registry Leading Breeder Award, Sheila Varian enjoyed much success at the 54th Annual Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show. With more than 2,500 Arabians competing, there were 50 horses bred by Varian Arabians that placed in nearly every discipline. Varian Arabians remains the leading farm in production of national, regional and Scottsdale champions. Here are the statistics for horses bred by Varian Arabians for the 2009 Scottsdale show: Varian Arabians...

Lexington, KY – The USEF has allocated the following dates and locations for the 2009 Eventing Training Sessions. Riders named to the 2009 Eventing Training List are invited to participate in these sessions with US Chef d’Equipe, Mark Phillips. Where specified, those riders named to the USEF Developing Rider List for 2009 will be afforded the same opportunity. The dates and locations are as follows: February 5-7 El Campeon Farms, Thousand Oaks, CA w/ Developing Riders February 11-12 Overlook...

Laura Kraut and Cedric Head to Hong Kong (KennethKraus/PhelpsSports.com) By Joanie Morris Lexington, KY - Pending the approval of the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), the USEF has recommended the following horse/rider combinations for the US Olympic Team in show jumping for the 2008 Olympic Games, to be held in Hong Kong, China, August 15-21, 2008. Name/Age/Hometown/Horse/Age/Breed/Sex/Owner Beezie Madden/45/Cazenovia, NY/Authentic/13/KWPN/Gelding/Abigail Wexner McLain Ward/33/Brewster,...

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – The first equestrian discipline at the XV Pan American Games came to a close with three medals for the U.S. The dressage team handily won the Team Gold and Chris Hickey with Regent and Lauren Sammis with Sagacious HF won the individual gold and silver medals. The dressage squad has passed the torch to the event riders. The six American riders, four of which are former Pan American Games medalists, are looking for a repeat performance of the 2003 Pan Ams which left them...