The Adequan/United States Eventing Association (USEA) Gold Cup Series comes to the Woodside Horse Trials on May 23-25, and it will be an excellent opportunity for rising riders and their horses to earn valuable points in the year-long series at the advanced and intermediate levels of eventing. Modeled after NASCAR and other thriving sports series, the Adequan/USEA Gold Cup Series is based on a cumulative points system, with horse-and-rider pairs earning points, prize money and prizes at each of...

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...

Young Horse Finals were featured on the closing day of the 12-week CN Winter Equestrian Festival, presented by Zimmerman Advertising, at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. As she had done throughout the circuit, Laura Chapot of Neshanic Station, NJ, continued to dominate the young jumper division. The $20,000 Seven- and Eight-Year-Old Young Jumper Final was the featured class in the International Arena on Sunday, April 6, attracting a total of 48 entries. From the original starting...

29 April 2008 Dear Members of the Equestrian Community, This past weekend at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day, Laine Ashker suffered a serious fall during the cross-country stage of the competition. She is currently in critical condition at the University of Kentucky hospital in Lexington. Laine’s horse and another involved in a separate accident had to be euthanized. These accidents come just a month after Darren Chiacchia, an Olympic rider, had a serious fall at an event in Tallahassee, Florida....

Lexington, KY - Thursday’s dressage winner Becky Holder got a run for her money early on and an assault continued on her score of 39.3 all day but no one was able to top her effort with Courageous Comet. They Becky Holder and Courageous Comet (Mike McNally) remain the only pair under 40 at the 2008 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event Presented by Farnam. Two points separate the top three horses as they head to the cross country phase on Saturday. The third pair to go, Heidi White and Northern...

Georgina Bloomberg of New York City, set to embark on an extensive summer tour of show jumping, took time out last week to participate in the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Media Summit, held April 13-16 at the Palmer House Hilton in downtown Chicago, IL. The hotel, which opened in 1871, is one of Chicago's landmarks in the heart of the city's downtown. The U.S. Olympic Team Media Summit was a four-day opportunity for print, broadcast, internet and photo journalists to conduct interviews and photo...

Allan Ehrlick from Campbellville, Ontario, Canada, took home top honors for this year’s Amateur High-Point Achievement Award with 451 points. Ehrlick showed four horses in 10 shows—three purebreds and one Half-Arabian. Most of his points were earned on Dal-Apollo, (Sea Ben Ben Bilal x Rudaynah), a 13-year-old purebred gelding who earned Ehrlick two national championships, two reserve national championships and six Top 10s at the 2007 Sport Horse Nationals in Lexington, VA, and Canadian...

Top FEI competitor Susan Dutta retired her famous grand prix partner of many years, Gumshoes DC, a 17-year-old Dutch gelding in a touching ceremony held in the International ring at the Zada Enterprises CDI show in Wellington. Her husband, Tim Dutta, son Timmy, and groom Robbie Sanderson accompanied Gumshoes into the ring where a well-deserved shawl of red flowers draped his shoulders. After a decade of being a consistent finisher in both the large and small tour FEI competition, Dutta...

The United States Equestrian Team (USEF) Foundation is proud to announce that Hillary Dobbs of Sussex, NJ, is this year's winner of the Maxine Beard Show Jumping Developing Rider Award. The USET Foundation awarded the rising young equestrian this honor because of her competitive record to date and because of her promise for the future. The recipients of this award are chosen based on their potential to represent the United States in international competition. A Show Jumping Developing Rider is...

HITS is pleased to report that last week it received unanimous support from attendees of the 2008 USEF World Cup Riders Meeting held at The Oaks in San Juan Capistrano, CA, to once again host four FEI World Cup™ Qualifiers at the 2009 HITS Desert Circuit in Thermal. HITS has successfully run the World Cup classes at its West Coast circuit since 1991, giving riders on the West Coast an opportunity to qualify for the prestigious World Cups year after year right in their own backyard....