Burbank, CA — R-E-S-P-E-C-T. That’s exactly what Debbie McDonald earned from officials, competitors and spectators alike as she rode Brentina to victory in the 2005 U.S. Grand Prix Freestyle Championship and U.S. League Final in Burbank, California this weekend. Strutting through a freestyle program to the sound of Aretha Franklin, Olympic Team Bronze medalist McDonald and Brentina earned the winning score of 77.975% and a standing ovation in defending her 2004 title. Riding her...

Olympic equestrian Kathy Kusner will join NFL quarterback Drew Bledsoe and Track and Field legend Louis Zamperini for the 2005 Class of Inductees into the World Sports Humanitarian Hall of Fame. These three world-class athletes will be enshrined into this unique Hall of Fame for utilizing their platform of sports to make positive changes in the world. Watts in South Central Los Angeles, is a low-income community where there is a strong presence of drug activity and gang violence. Unfortunately,...

There are nearly seven million horses in the United States, according to the American Horse Council. Each one of these horses is literally one hoof away from success or failure, contentment or pain, life or death, and farriers are positioned to determine the difference. Perhaps more than anyone else (except the horses themselves), farriers know that healthy hooves are critical to horses’ well-being; hooves make the horse. That certainty is what brought a record-breaking crowd of 1,800 to the...

The Certified Horsemanship Association (CHA) International Annual Conference will be held September 22-25, 2005, at Camp Berachah in Auburn, WA. The conference is open to the public and includes mounted workshops for participants, lessons on great performance horses from master level certified instructors, top veterinarians and farriers and much more. An evening Seattle Harbor cruise is also offered. This event is the only equine conference in the country where the host site provides horses for...

The Phelps Media Group, Inc. (PMG), a public relations firm based in Wellington, FL, announced the signing of the United States Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation as their newest client. The United States Equestrian Team Foundation supports the competition, training, coaching, travel and educational needs of America's elite and developing international high-performance horses and athletes in partnership with the U.S. Equestrian Federation. PMG has been hired to coordinate all aspects of public...

The American Vaulting Association (AVA) has launched a significantly improved and updated website. Visitors to the www.americanvaulting.org site can expect to find the addition of many new resources and educational tools, including video. Whether you are interested in finding a club, starting a program or learning about vaulting, the expanded website provides multiple sources of information. The AVA first entered the information highway in 1995, long before many had heard of the worldwide web....

A life-sized bronze sculpture of Bruce Davidson and Eagle Lion jumping into the Head of the Lake will likely be unveiled at the Kentucky Horse Park this Fall or at the 2006 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. Artist Jean Clagett is hard at work creating the sculpture, which will feature a highlighted patina, and be mounted in the lake at the Kentucky Horse Park in front of a water obstacle, with the horse’s front feet in the water and jets splashing. The presence of this beautiful piece of art will...

Lexington, KY —The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), America’s national governing body for equestrian sport, announced today the appointment of Carr-Hughes Productions as its “Official Television Agency” with duties to oversee and promote their television programming efforts. “We’re excited to officially bring on Carr-Hughes to lead us in this very important area,” said John Long, CEO of the USEF. “Their track record in gaining TV...

Courtesy Seelbach Hilton Hotel (The Seelbach Hilton Hotel is the location for the 2005 USEF Annual Meeting.) In a place where equine traditions run deep and Southern hospitality is the rule, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) gathered its members from far and wide to host its 2005 Annual Meeting. Scheduled across five days, the event lays the foundation for a panorama of meetings, think-tank forums and boardroom sessions. In addition, the much-anticipated award programs provide...

Lexington, KY -- Effective today, Torri Nahorniak has been named as High Performance Director of Eventing for the USEF. She is assuming the position vacated by Jim Wolf who was recently named Executive Director of High Performance She will divide her time between the Lexington, Kentucky headquarters office and the USEF High Performance office in Gladstone, New Jersey. “We couldn’t have found a better person than Torri for this position,” said USEF Chief Executive Officer John Long. “She has...