The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) is pleased to announce that Christine Eidson of St. Andrews Presbyterian College (NC); Danielle Aamodt of Centenary College (NJ); and Heather Ajzenman of Mount Holyoke College (MA) are the recipients of the 2008 USDF Intercollegiate/Interscholastic Membership Organization (IMO) Senior Athletic Achievement Awards. To be eligible for the IMO Senior Athletic Achievement Award, Intercollegiate/Interscholastic members (IMs) must have earned a minimum...

Ponies will be the stars at two Langer Equestrian Group (LEG) shows this fall. The Woodside Labor Day Classic (August 29-September 1) features both the Northern California Pony Hunter Final and the Woodside Pony Equitation Championship, in addition to a full selection of pony hunter and equitation classes. Shaw’s Saddlery sponsors the Woodside Pony Equitation Championship and offers great prizes to top finishers. The winner will receive a gift certificate toward a new saddle, along with...

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 National Thoroughbred Racing Association (NTRA) announced the hiring of James Lawson as the organization’s Business Manager for the United States Equestrian Federation’s (USEF) MemberPerks program, which is administered by NTRA Advantage. Based at the NTRA’s Lexington headquarters, Lawson will oversee USEF MemberPerks, which offers significant savings on products and services from John Deere, Sherwin-Williams, UPS, Toshiba, Office Depot, Office Max, Equine Travel Advantage, FarmVet.com and...

Twenty-five national and state-based equine protection, placement and rescue organizations gathered Tuesday for the second Homes for Horses Coalition Conference to discuss the re-homing of at-risk horses in America. The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) and the Animal Welfare Institute jointly sponsored the conference. The coalition, formed in 2007, is dedicated to ending horse slaughter and other forms of equine abuse while promoting growth, collaboration and professionalism in the...

The qualifying season is now under way for the 2009 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF National Dressage Championships for the Junior, Young Rider, and Young Adult “Brentina Cup” divisions. Selection procedures and qualifying competition lists are now available on the National Dressage Page of USEF.org. Please note the age range for the USEF Young Adult “Brentina Cup” division has been expanded for 2009. Riders between the ages of 20 and 28 years old are now eligible to participate in this program. For...

Lexington, KY - The USEF is currently accepting bids for facilities to host the 2009 and/or 2010 National Reining Championships. These are very important years for the high-performance reining programs as the United States prepares to host the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games for the first time in 2010. The National Reining Championships includes: The USEF National Open Reining Championship, USEF National Youth Reining Championship (13 & Under, 14-18 and 19 -21) and the USEF National CRI*...

Dressage judge Betsy Berrey was the featured speaker at this month's Shop Talk. Michelle Hundt and Betsy Rebar-Sell, co-owners of Sho Clothes, hosted the third in a series of monthly discussions at the Sho Room in Wellington, FL. The Gold Coast Dressage Association (GCDA) co-sponsors the event with Sho Clothes to provide local equestrians the opportunity to learn from top professionals in the area. Betsy Berrey is a well-respected "S" judge who often officiates at dressage shows on the winter...

Lexington, KY- The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) has approved the following horse/rider combinations for the U.S. Reining Team for the 2008 FEI World Reining Championship in Manerbio, Italy September 11-14: The horse/ rider combinations are as follows: Rider/Age/Hometown/Horse/Age/ Breed / Sex / Owner Craig Schmersal / 35 / Overbrook, OK / Mr Dual Rey / 8 / Quarter Horse / Stallion / Holly Casey Jordan Larson / 26 / Whitesboro, TX / Lena Gallo / 8 / Quarter Horse / Stallion / Lapke...

NBC Universal will be airing 3,600 hours of coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, including the equestrian events, which will be taking place in Hong Kong. This total amount of coverage will be more than the hours of coverage for all the Olympic Games since 1960 Rome combined. All broadcasts will also be in high definition. The schedule is as follows: Date: Program—Time (EST) on Channel Aug. 9: 3-Day: Dressage—2:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. on USA Aug. 11: 3-Day: Cross- Country— 6:00pm-8:00pm OXYGEN...