One of the great things about any national show is that you get to meet people from all over the country. You get to see friends you only see once a year, or perhaps friends you've talked to online but never met in person. I'm facebook friends with all kinds of people I don't know at all, simply because we have mutual friends and interests. Some of them are pretty well known, so I always wonder if they think I'm some sort of weird Internet stalker. I'm not! I swear! Can I...

PhelpsPhotos.com/USEF Archives (Kaitlin Campbell on Rockette during the 2006 USEF Pony Finals National Championships.) Lexington, KY – At the close of what was the longest and largest USEF Pony Finals National Championships to date, Kaitlin Campbell of Upper Black Eddy, PA, was one happy camper. The 14-year-old Campbell rode five ponies at this year’s event and ended her sixth year at Pony Finals with the Overall Grand Champion title in the Wild Horsefeathers/USEF National Hunter...

Diana DeRosa (Kim Frey and Marlou during the first round of jumping at the 2005 World Cup.) Las Vegas, NV – Amidst the fabulous Las Vegas spectacle of fireworks, a laser show, jumbo-tron videos and even an opening musical act, it was shaping up to be a German jump-fest on April 21 until Belgium’s Ludo Philipaerts, on the grey stallion Parco, and Kimberly Frey of the U.S, on her consistent Dutch mare Marlou, showed up to throw down a challenge late in the evening. The first to go...

One step out of the ring, internationally renowned equestrian Lynn Seidemann and Phoenix B knew they had put on a good show. Slated to ride second to last in the line-up, the pair pulled out all the stops to wow the judges with a spectacular performance Thursday. Make that a Silver medal-winning performance that surprised even Lynn. “It was a good day,” Lynn said modestly after the news started to filter back through the time zones into the States. With a Silver medal in tow and a...

Wayne, Ill. – Talented combinations delivered quality performances on the penultimate day of competition at the 2020 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions at HITS Chicago at the Lamplight Equestrian Center. Four titles were determined on Saturday in the Markel/USEF Young Horse Four-Year-Old Dressage National Championship, Markel/USEF Young Horse Five-Year-Old Dressage National Championship, Adequan®/USEF Junior Dressage National Championship, and Markel/USEF Developing Horse Prix St....

Wayne, Ill. – Friday brought another warm and sunny day to HITS Chicago at Lamplight Equestrian Center where seven classes of the 2020 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions showcased a wide variety of horses and riders on their quest for national champion titles. Four divisions concluded and named their national champions on Friday: The USEF Intermediaire I Dressage National Championship; Adequan®/USEF Young Adult ‘Brentina Cup’ Dressage National Championship; USEF Pony...

Welcome to the fourth installment of a different kind of blog from WDAA! The purpose of this post is to allow the reader "into the heads" of both a trainer/judge/competitor, Karen Abbattista and her student, Deborah Herbert, a Florida WDAA member. We would like to share with you some moments in Deb's journey as she pursues her riding goals with her AQHA mare "GenuineArcticSpring", barn name "Belle". Please enjoy as you follow along with these posts that we consider interesting or...

This article has been reprinted with permission of Erin Gilmore. The original article can be found at https://www.proequest.com/news/2013/03/28/a-for-effort-first-usef-town-hall-meeting-on-horse-welfare-is-heavy-on-promises-plan [Wellington, FL] “We have to admit that we know we have a problem.” No, this wasn’t a church basement gathering of recovering addicts, although an atmosphere of “enough is enough” hung heavy in the air. A crowd of 75 trainers, riders and...

Ken Borden with his mare Shirly and site-champion foal Sir Flemmingh, now a licenced stallion, at Little Bit Farm's 2007 ISR/Oldenburg inspection (Fire & Earth Photography). Wilmington, IL – Turn the drive through the green gate and there’s the pink crabapple tree, in bloom against the white-and-gray siding of the barn. To the left is the front pasture, soon to be home to a group of mares and foals. To the right is the approximately 100-year-old farmhouse – from its...

Traverse City, Mich. – At the midway point of the 2022 FEI North American Youth Championships (NAYC), Ella Fruchterman has already racked up a pair of gold medals in the Junior Dressage division. Ella Fruchterman and Holts Le'Mans. ©KTB Creative Group Fruchterman (West Lakeland, Minn.) and Holts Le’Mans, her own 2011 Danish Warmblood gelding, were part of the Region 4 team that won gold on Wednesday’s Junior Team Competition. On Friday, the pair clinched the...