The nation’s horse center at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington set the stage for four different USEF eventing championships over the past weekend, October 19-22. The storms that plagued the region in the week leading up to the competitions left portions of the steeplechase course under water. Officials deemed it necessary to eliminate the steeplechase from the event. The national championships were also run concurrent with the ever-popular Mid-South Team Challenge. In the one-star...

Lexington, KY— It’s fast, easy to use, and saves you the hassle of fumbling with multiple sets of membership cards from both the USEF, and USDF or USHJA to enter a competition. The USEF Affiliate Verification Service is now operational and can be accessed through the USEF website, www.usef.org; the USDF website, www.usdf.org and the USHJA website, www.ushja.org, or at www.eqverification.org. The service allows you to search and then print your owner and rider USEF membership data, and...

Smith Lilly and his gifted mount, He’s The Man (CH Man On The Town X Perfect), were the judges’ unanimous winners of the Five-Gaited World’s Grand Championship in Louisville’s Freedom Hall on Saturday evening, August 26. Having won the Five-Gaited Gelding Stake earlier in the week, the pair wowed the audience from the moment they came into the arena, with the trademark Louisville roar growing with every pass down a straightaway. In his comments to the show ring announcer, Smith was appreciative...

Photo by Bob Langrish (Guenter Seidel and Aragon on the first day of dressage competition.) Aachen, Germany—Europeans know how to do dressage. Each country brought their best to the table today, including their fans. The crowd was filled with foam fingers, waving flags, funny hats and colorful scarves. It looked more like an American football game and sounded like it when certain competitors finished their test and left the stadium. The rain held off, the sun tried unsuccessfully to break...

His racing career is over, but for Barbaro, the 2006 Kentucky Derby champion, the real race has just begun. He won’t be going it alone, however, judging from the outpouring of support from around the world since his recovery began at The University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine’s famed New Bolton Center. Now, Breyer Animal Creations, makers of the model horses, has stepped in to help by creating a Barbaro portrait model horse that will provide a donation to New Bolton from the...

There will be no shortage of top-level horses and riders competing when the Maui Jim Horse Trials get under way on Thursday, July 6, at Lamplight Equestrian Center on North Dunham Road in Wayne, IL. The four-day event has attracted a record number of entries ranging from such far away spots as Vancouver, California, Texas, Virginia and North Carolina. This popular competition is in its second year of being designated as a United States Eventing Association Gold Cup Event, marking it as one of...

Cara Cheska of Waukesha, WI, and her 11-year-old mare My Fair Lady bested a field of 18 to take home the blue ribbon and winner’s check in the $40,000 Country Heir II Grand Prix sponsored by Skara Glen Stables. Three went clear in the first round, which turned out to be more difficult than originally expected. Course designer Pierre Joliceur set a track of 16 efforts that included three double combinations, a liverpool and the open water. Besides Cheska, Angela Moore riding Claus for Stealaway...

SusanJStickle.com (Michelle Gibson on Lex Barker) Gladstone, NJ – The women ruled the scoreboards today taking all five classes with back-to-back wins for Rebecca Hart and Michelle Gibson. After the unexpected downpour during yesterday’s last class, the ideal weather set the tone for some spectacular rides at all levels. Local Ana Digironimo won the first class of the day, the FEI Young Rider Prix St. Georges Test with a score of 56.15%. Digironimo, of Turnersville, NJ, rode her...

The atmosphere at the Piazza di Siena, located in the parklands of the lovely Villa Borghese in the heart of the Italian capital, is very laid back indeed - except for the tension in the air over tomorrow's third leg of the Samsung Super League with FEI Nations Cup series - and it's the British that just about everyone's talking about. They are looking good and when Chef d'Equipe Derek Ricketts was asked today about their chances he said "yes, they're up for it - I think they should do well...

Matthew Williams of Lexington, KY, development manager of the American Saddlebred Horse Association, has been promoted to the new position of director of development and communications, effective immediately, according to Alan F. Balch, ASHA Executive Secretary. “Since Matthew joined us not quite a year ago now, his performance has been exceptional,” Balch said. “He was a champion in the Saddlebred show ring, and he’s been a champion in his professional life with us as well. Although we’re...