Nick Skelton and Unique (Photo © Sportfot, Official Sport Photographer of the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival) Wellington, FL - The 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) began its competition January 12 with opening jumper classes in the International Arena. To start the year off right, Nick Skelton (GBR) was back in the saddle and in the winner's circle with Unique, owned by Beverly Widdowson, in the $8,000 G&C Farm 1.45m Jumpers. The first week of the FTI WEF runs through January 16. The...

The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) announced that it will open a new 1,120-acre horse sanctuary and rescue facility in Douglas County, OR—the organization’s fourth major animal care facility. The Duchess Sanctuary, the facility’s new name, is made possible thanks to a $3.5-million donation from the Roberts Foundation, the Ark Watch Foundation and its founder Celine Myers. Named in honor of the first horse owned by Celine Myers’ family and after Black Beauty’s mother in Anna...

Equestrian Sport Productions, LLC, announced Wednesday a preliminary plan for a new round of major improvements at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) to be completed by the "Celebration of the Horse" event in early December and well before the start of the 2009 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). The improvements are the initial next stage in the top-to-bottom rebuilding of the PBIEC that began last December when Equestrian Sport Productions (ESP) took over management of the...

Former editor and owner of The National Horseman Raymond E. Sheffield of Louisville, KY, died Saturday, June 9, 2007, at St. Joseph Hospital in Lexington, KY. Sheffield began his career with The National Horseman in 1950, accepting a position as its advertising manager. The owner/publisher at the time, Henry Brown, groomed Sheffield to be his replacement, and when Brown died in 1955, Sheffield became editor and owner. Sheffield was a founding member of the American Saddlebred Pleasure...

Silvia’s Dream Street Stallion, Starlight, won the grand championship at Dressage at Devon. The stunning black Oldenburg strutted around the world famous Dixon Oval with an air of supreme confidence; this combined with his expressive movement and correct conformation made him an easy choice for Grand Champion Stallion at Devon. As handler, Jens Richter lead Starlight out under the bright lights for the nighttime championship, the stallion’s black coat glistened like onyx. “He seemed to know it...

Experts report that eastern tent caterpillars are now wandering and population levels are among the highest they’ve seen since 2001, when Mare Reproductive Loss Syndrome (MRLS) hit Central Kentucky particularly hard. “The eastern tent caterpillar populations are dramatically up this year—the highest I’ve seen since the MRLS crisis. The larvae are full size, many trees are totally defoliated and I’ve seen very large numbers of caterpillars moving along fence rails and wandering out many...

Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian has announced an update to the U.S. Eventing Team for the Lima 2019 Pan American Games. Unfortunately, Tamie Smith has withdrawn Fleeceworks Royal, Judith McSwain’s 10-year-old Holsteiner mare, as announced through her Facebook page. Smith’s direct reserve horse Mai Baum, a 13-year-old German Sport Horse gelding owned by Alexandra Ahearn, Ellen Ahearn, and Eric Markell, will replace Fleeceworks Royal. A direct reserve horse is an automatic...

Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian is pleased to announce a new partnership with Ridely, the leading equestrian training app, and a MemberPerk providing a discount on Ridely Pro for US Equestrian members. Ridely is both a training journal and an educational video library for equestrians. The digital journal functionality allows users to track training sessions, shoeing, competition results, and more. Upload photos and videos to track progress and create a training plan to achieve your goals....

Lexington, Ky . - After weighing the impact of multiple positive COVID-19 cases following the Kentucky Summer Classic and the cancellation notice of USHJA’s upcoming championships, Kentucky Horse Shows LLC and US Equestrian have decided to cancel Bluegrass Festival (Aug. 11-16), KHJA (Aug. 19-23), and USEF Junior Hunter National Championship – East Coast (Aug. 23-24) scheduled to take place at the Kentucky Horse Park. We have been notified that three additional individuals have...

2017 USEF Reining National Championships Set to Begin at Tulsa Reining Classic Lexington, Ky. – Top athletes have converged at the Tulsa Reining Classic in hopes of claiming a title in one of the 2017 USEF Reining National Championships. Both the Adequan $10,000 Added USEF Open National Championship presented by Markel Insurance CRI3* and the $2,000 Added USEF Youth National Championship will take place Friday, September 1, at Expo Square in Tulsa, Okla. The open competitors will perform...