The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) announced the start of its “Going Green” Campaign. The campaign was developed to manage costs in a tough economy and support worldwide environmental efforts while continuing to provide the best in member benefits and services. The first major step in the effort was the launch of the USDF website last fall, which has allowed USDF to provide extensive information and services to its members online, reducing paper usage, shipping costs, and staff...

The Board of Directors of the American Shetland Pony Club (ASPC) announced that they will again offer a $10,000 scholarship to any registered American Shetland Pony who earns the title of Champion Small Pony Hunter at the United States Equestrian Pony Finals to be hosted August 13-17 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. “The $10,000 incentive prize was designed to encourage participation of Shetland Ponies in a variety of competitions.” explained Zona Schneider, Operations Director of...

The North American Anglo-Arabian Horse Association (NAAAHA) will again be honoring Anglo-Arabian horses competing at Youth Nationals and Sport Horse Nationals in 2008. The Top Five winning Anglos in all classes at each show will be awarded an embroidered cooler and neck ribbon; the Supreme Champions will also receive a gold trophy. NAAAHA has also implemented a High Point Program for Anglo-Arabians that compete in working hunter, jumper, eventing, dressage, Sport Horse, conformation, endurance...

The American Horse Council’s (AHC) 2008 National Issues Forum will be held June 15-18, 2008, at the Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Monday, June 16 will include various committee meetings and an opening reception, with the National Issues Forum, and an awards luncheon and Congressional reception on Capitol Hill to be held on Tuesday, June 17. This year’s National Issues Forum will focus on how the horse industry and individual members can be involved in the 2008 federal...

The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) announced that 2008 preliminary award standings for the Adequan/USDF Year-End Awards, including the Adequan/USDF All-Breeds Awards, are now available on the USDF website, as well as archived award results for the previous two competition seasons. Anyone who logs into the USDF site can access the most up-to-date award standings and monitor these standings throughout the competition year. Archived results are available only to those individuals who are...

Attendees of the 2008 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day will have the opportunity to walk the only four-star cross-country course in America with two of the country’s top event riders. Kim Severson and Jan Byyny, veterans of four-star competition, will be hosting the SmartPak Course Walk at the event. For Severson, this will be her third year leading the popular walk and for Byyny, her second. Both riders will be addressing their strategies in riding the challenging cross-country course from start box...

Lexington, KY --The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Executive Committee has approved two important high-performance driving initiatives for 2008. USEF National Championships Announced Dates and Locations for the 2008 USEF National Driving Championships are as follows: the 2008 USEF National Four-in-Hand Championship and the USEF National Single Horse Championship will be held simultaneously at the Live Oak Combined Driving Event in Ocala, FL, March 27-30. Please visit the Live Oak...

Lexington, KY - This weekend, the first two USEF/North American Juniors and Young Riders' Championships qualifying competitions of 2008 for the USEF National Dressage Championship Programs kick off the new year in West Palm Beach, FL, and Tucson, AZ, with FEI junior, young rider, “Brentina Cup”, young horse and developing horse divisions. Complete selection procedures are posted on the national dressage programs page of the USEF website, www.usef.org. Recently added are the required...

The American Horse Council (AHC) is reminding all members of the horse-owning community to participate in the 2007 Census of Agriculture being conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The USDA census, taken every five years, is a count of U.S. farms, ranches and the people who operate them. A link to the Census can be found on the front page of the AHC’s website at www.horsecouncil.org or at https://www.agcounts.usda.gov/cgi-bin/counts . The USDA reports that the 2007 Census of...

The FEI does not report the existence of a positive case until the earlier of the following: the results of an initial (“A”) test are accepted by the person responsible, or the results of a confirmatory (“B”) test also return a positive result. This policy is grounded in the principle that athletes’ rights must be respected in the fight against doping. “It is understandable that an athlete or an athlete’s attorney may try to influence public opinion prior to receipt of final results in an...