Photo by PhelpsPhotos.com (Rebecca Hart and Norteassa) Lexington, KY – Rebecca Hart has had quite an eventful year. In 2008, she won her first National Championship aboard Norteassa in May, 2008, and then the pair went on to Hong Kong to compete in the 2008 Paralympic Games and barely missed winning an Individual medal. This year, Hart bested 16 other riders to defend her title as 2009 Cavalor/United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Para-Equestrian Dressage National Champion. The...

Lexington, KY - Endurance legend Valerie Kanavy will be honored at the USEF Annual Meeting during the Valerie Kanavy (GenieSS, Inc.) Pegasus Awards Dinner on January 17, 2009, when she will receive the Maggy Price Endurance Excellence Award. Named for international endurance rider Maggy Price, who was a Silver medalist at the 1992 World Championships and a pioneer for the sport, the award honors the athlete who earns the most points in selected Ranking Trials during the ride year. This year,...

Lexington, KY - Gold medals from this summer’s CN FEI North American Junior/Young Riders Championship at the Colorado Horse Park Presented by Gotham North spelled good things for competitors Sir Neel and Sophie Benjamin (Jennifer Wenzel/Rein Photography) in the 2008 Platinum Performance/USEF Talent Search Finals. Talent Search Final-East winner Sophie Benjamin followed in her teammate Hannah Selleck’s (who won the West Coast Final two weeks ago) footsteps by winning the East Coast...

Lexington, KY – The United States Dressage Team and the United States Equestrian Federation received an unexpected decision on September 22, 2008 when the FEI Tribunal handed down its ruling regarding the positive medication test of Mythilus, Courtney King-Dye’s Dressage horse, from the 2008 Olympic Games in Hong Kong. The result of the Tribunal’s decision means that King-Dye and the entire US Dressage Team have been disqualified from the Olympic Games. Mythilus tested...

The Reichert Celebration, one of most prestigious all-breed Western pleasure futurity shows in the nation, adds even more reasons to celebrate this summer. The Appaloosa Horse Club (ApHC) joins the show schedule this year with an ApHC-approved show, held August 8-10, with four judges. The Reichert Celebration will be held at the Tulsa Expo Square in Tulsa, OK August 8-17, 2008. Some of the most anticipated ApHC classes will be highlighted in the evening performances—the ApHC Heritage...

Lexington, KY - The CN FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC) presented by Gotham N Junior Rider Brandi Roenick and Pretty Lady (McCool Photography) orth at the Colorado Horse Park begin July 29, 2008. This six-day competition for junior and young riders, ages 14-21, offers the opportunity for riders to compete as teams and as individuals in the three Olympic disciplines—dressage, eventing, and show jumping. Premiering this year, junior and young riders can also...

Oklahoma City, OK – Under the lights at the Oklahoma State Fair Park, Craig Schmersal bested some of the top reiners in the country to win the 2008 Adequan®/United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) National Open Reining Championship presented by Equine Motorcoach. Schmersal, an Oklahoma native, won the title along with his share of the $25,000 in added money. The USEF championship was part of the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Derby. This is Schmersal’s second time...

Steffen Peters and Ravel (Amy McCool) San Juan Capistrano, CA – There was no one busier than Steffen Peters at the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions today and he saved his best performance for last. Peters rode Ravel to another win in the third leg of the USEF National Grand Prix Dressage Championship (which also serves as the USEF Selection Trial for Dressage) with a score of 75.25%. The 10-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding continues to impress everyone on hand at...

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. - The United States Olympic Committee today announced NBC, broadcast home of the Olympic Games through 2012, will serve as the network host for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame Presented by Allstate. The made-for-television event will be recorded June 19 during an awards ceremony at the Harris Theater in Chicago, Ill., and will be aired Sunday, August 3, 2008 on NBC from 1:30pm to 3:00pm ET. As part of the broadcast coverage, viewers will be treated to competition...

Mike Plumb Will Join the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 2008 (USEF Archive) By USOC Media and Public Relations Division Chicago, Ill. - Karch Kiraly, three-time U.S. Olympian in volleyball (1984, 1988 and 1996) and three-time gold medalist, leads the distinguished Class of 2008 that will be inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame Presented by Allstate. The induction ceremony will take place June 19 in Chicago. The U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame Class of 2008 is comprised of nine Olympians, one...