The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) is pleased to announce Diane L. Erhart of Park City, MT; Lisa Todara of Lee, NH; and Monica Willet of Harrisburg, PA, as the recipients of the 2006 Ruth Arvanette Memorial Fund Grants. These grants include a free annual convention package for the 2006 Adequan/USDF National Convention and Symposium, along with partial reimbursements of airfare and lodging expenses. Each of these individuals was chosen based on their participation in General Member...

You spoke (or wrote) and we listened! Once again our members have shown us they have a voice, and USHJA wants our members to know that their voice was heard. USHJA would like to thank all the members that took time out of their busy schedules to provide us with feedback on the announcement of the USHJA Foundation Awards. Due to your wonderful ideas, USHJA is proud to announce some changes and clarifications to the USHJA Foundation Awards. Listed below are some of the notable changes. For a...

The AAEP Foundation, Inc., has donated $50,000 to aid Gulf Coast horses affected by Hurricane Katrina. Donations of $25,000 each have been made to the Louisiana Veterinary Medical Association (LVMA) and the Mississippi Veterinary Medical Association (MVMA). The AAEP Foundation created its Equine Disaster Relief Fund in early September to aid horses affected by Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters. "The Foundation is delighted to donate a portion of our disaster relief funds to such...

The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) announced the winners of its Senior Athletic/Academic Achievement Award. The award was established to recognize senior USDF Intercollegiate/Interscholastic Members (IMs) who have a 3.5 or better grade point average (GPA). The 2005 winners are James Marcotte of the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY, and Ashley Wolfe of Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, VA. To be eligible for the Senior Athletic/Academic Achievement Award, senior IMs must have at...

Lightning struck Tylord Farm in Benson, VT, during the early hours of June 14 in the form of a violent summer storm. Fire raged through their stallion barn/indoor arena, destroying the structure and killing all six horses stabled inside, including world-acclaimed Trakehner stallion, Enrico Caruso. Other horses losing their lives in the fire included Laiken's last son, Emelio; Trinidad, a three-year-old gelding by Leonardo da Vinci; and Lilli Bieler's young stallion, Leonardo da Vinci, also by...

The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) is pleased to announce a new educational opportunity, made possible with funding support from The Dressage Foundation. The Continuing Education Program for Judges and USDF ‘L’ Graduates, developed by the USDF Judges Committee, has been designed to meet the growing need for continuing education. The goal of this program is to provide for, and continually improve, the training of individuals currently licensed as judges and those aspiring to become...

The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) All-Breeds Award Program, one of the USDF’s most popular award programs, which recognizes the accomplishments of specific breeds in dressage, announces changes to its program rules. The All-Breeds Award program now requires owners to declare for the participating breed registry that they wish their horse to be recognized for USDF All-Breeds Award purposes. This program requirement has been put in place to administer the one horse/one breed/one award...

Lexington, KY – When the world’s most talented show jumpers converge on Las Vegas, April 20-24, Nicole Simpson, of Thousand Oaks, California, will be among them. Following her third-place performance on El Campeon’s So Long at the $75,000 Ultimate Equine Grand Prix in Indio, California, February 27, Simpson’s ticket to the Entertainment Capital of the World has essentially been purchased. Leading a group of more than 30 equestrian hopefuls in the West Coast League,...

State Veterinarian Dr. Robert Stout on Tuesday lifted an embargo on the importation of livestock, wild and exotic animals into Kentucky from Colorado that was enacted because of vesicular stomatitis (VS), ending the last of the VS-related restrictions that started with an outbreak in Texas last May. "These embargos have ended because there are no more active cases of vesicular stomatitis in these states," Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said. "I appreciate the efforts of Dr. Stout and...

ATHENS, September 20 - The riders taking part in the Paralympic Games had the opportunity to test the Dressage arena today, under real competition conditions. The warm-up session took place at the Markopoulo Olympic Equestrian Centre and was a successful dress rehearsal for all parties involved. However, not all riders went out to the arena today: a lot of them chose to remain out of the warm-up phase in order to allow themselves and their horses to rest until the real competition begins...