The fundraising Gala Celebration of the Mid South Eventing and Dressage Association on January 31, 2009, was an overwhelming success, fetching more than $40,000 from the live and silent auctions for the Kentucky Horse Park. Over 200 guests attended this new event at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Lexington with Guest of Honor David O'Connor accompanied by prominent figures from the horse world. Proceeds from the evening sponsored by Fort Dodge Animal Health are being donated to the horse park's...

Rodrigo de Matos is a Principle Rider of L'Escola Portuguesa d'Arte Equestre, and the Chief Instructor at Morgado Lustiano in Portugal. He represented Portugual at the recent Paris Symposium where all four of the great classical European schools of riding were invited to a joint performance and exchange of ideas. Participants included the Spanish Riding School of Vienna, the Cadre Noir, L'Escola Portuguesa, and the Spanish National School. As a representative of L'Escola and Morgado Lusitano,...

The American Saddlebred Registry has announced estimated payouts for its popular and growing sweepstakes program. In 2008, the sweepstakes will again be held at the All American Horse Classic , September 2-6 in Indianapolis, IN. Live video streaming on the Internet will be available this year for the first time. For complete information on the Sweepstakes program, visit www.asha.net/Prize-Sweepstakes . Total estimated purses for 2008 are $210,400, up 5.5% from the actual purses awarded in 2007,...

The Classic Shetland Stallion Sweepstakes Auction is an annual event hosted by the American Shetland Pony Club (ASPC) to promote the Classic Shetland Pony. This year the program is being offered in a new format. The ASPC Classic Sweepstakes Committee announced their plans to hold the entire 2008 auction online. The ASPC, established in 1888, recognizes four distinct types of ponies: the Classic Shetland Pony, the Modern Shetland Pony and two types of pony crosses, the American Show Pony and the...

Kirsten Coe has recently arrived in Europe to prepare for the 2011 Rolex/FEI World Cup Final. Coe will be riding fiance Ilan Ferder's Tristan in Leipzig, Germany. Kirsten will be blogging for The Chronicle of the Horse about her experiences preparing for and at her first FEI World Cup Final. We Finally Made It to Europe! All The Math Paid Off

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Just ask Miami University of Ohio freshman, Tom Schoen, the 2010 recipient of the Jon Conyers Memorial Scholarship. Schoen rides on the Miami University Equestrian Team (MUET), representing his Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) teammates in the Walk Trot division, under coaches Heather Pinnick and Lori Cramer. Remarkably, the English Education major was not a rider before college. But it’s clear after listening to him talk about his passion for...

Former United States Equestrian Team (USET) Chairman Finn M.W. Caspersen, whose competitive nature paid off in a shining multitude of medals for America, died September 7 in Rhode Island. He was 67. "His leadership over his 20 years with the team was extraordinary. It brought the team to an entirely new level and we can't be anything but forever grateful to Finn," said Jane Forbes Clark, the USET Foundation's president and CEO. During Caspersen's tenure, which began in 1982 when he was elected...

The 2009 Stimulus Act signed into law by President Barack Obama contains provisions that impact the horse industry, the American Horse Council said in a February 24 memorandum to the industry. The measure contains the bigger write-off for horses and other property purchased and placed in service during 2009, the AHC said. The benefits were part of 2008 tax stimulus legislation, but they expired at the end of 2008. Here is an overview of what the Stimulus Act does: Expensing allowance The first...

The deadlines for entries for the first three weeks of the CN Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) have been extended, announced Equestrian Sport Productions, LLC (ESP). The WEF prize list of the schedule of events for the 12 weeks at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center has been available online since December 19, 2007, only four days after ESP took over operational management of WEF. The extended Wellington WEF series and additional sponsorship to bring prize money to a record $5...

Whether you’re an up-and-coming designer, official, organizer or a rider looking to improve your performance over the colored poles, a silent auditing seminar March 30-April 1 at Galway Downs in Temecula, CA, will offer a chance to better understand the philosophies used by top FEI and Rolex Kentucky CCI**** show jumping designer Richard Jeffery. Jeffery will discuss the theories and techniques behind effective show jumping course design, using the Galway courses throughout his presentations....