Photo: Tayler Bicandi/US Equestrian Lexington, Ky. – The US Equestrian Board of Directors has approved August 24-29 as the dates for the 2021 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions. The event will once again be held at HITS Chicago at Lamplight Equestrian Center. Festival of Champions includes 14 national championship divisions: USEF Grand Prix Dressage National Championship USEF Intermediaire I Dressage National Championship Adequan®/USEF Young Adult ‘Brentina Cup’ Dressage...

Lexington, Ky. – The US Equestrian Board of Directors approved a public-facing Diversity and Inclusion Commitment Statement, as well as the development of a Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan, at the 2020 Mid-Year Meeting. Commitment Statement This statement shall live on a new Diversity and Inclusion and resource page of the USEF website and reads as follows: Diversity and inclusion are fundamental to US Equestrian’s vision: To bring the joy of horse sports to as many people as...

Wellington, Fla. – The NetJets U.S. Jumping Team started their journey to the 2020 Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final on the right foot, as they topped the podium in the Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ USA, hosted at Deeridge Farms in Wellington, Fla., following an exciting finish determined by a two-rider head-to-head jump-off with Great Britain. The team of Jessica Springsteen (Colts Neck, N.J.), Margie Engle (Wellington, Fla.), Laura Kraut (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.), and...

Kansas City, Mo. – The top saddle seat equitation riders in the U.S. faced a rigorous challenge on Saturday, November 16, as they competed for top honors in the USEF Saddle Seat Medal Final at the United Professional Horseman’s Association (UPHA)/American Royal National Championship Horse Show . Twelve of the 19 horse-and-rider combinations in the preliminary ride-offs were called back for the final round of competition by judges Kim Cowart (Statesville, N.C.), Michael Craghead...

Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian is pleased to announce that the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival (GLEF) at Flintfields Horse Park in Traverse City, Mich., has been selected as the host venue for the 2020-2022 Adequan®/FEI North American Youth Championships (NAYC) for the disciplines of dressage and jumping, pending final approval from the Fédération Equestre International (FEI). Competition is scheduled to run from August 4-9, 2020. Photo Credit Andrea Evans/US Equestrian...

Custom Made and David O'Connor at the 2000 Olympic Games (Kit Houghton) Lexington, Ky. – Custom Made, a legendary U.S. event horse, was laid to rest on October 2 at the age of 34. Custom Made, the 17.1-hand Irish Sport Horse gelding (Bassompierre x Purple Heather/Ben Purple), was foaled in Ireland in 1985 and was imported to the U.S. in 1995 by owner Joseph Zada of Xandarius, LLC, to be a mount for David O’Connor. In their first year of partnership, “Tailor” and...

Lexington, Ky. – An accomplished group of rising talent will compete at the 2019 Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals, beginning with the West Coast edition of the competition, taking place September 20-21 at Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. The East Coast edition will be held October 6-7 at the United States Equestrian Team Foundation headquarters in Gladstone, N.J. An essential building block in the U.S. Show Jumping Athlete Pathway,...

Calgary, AB, Canada – In a stunning performance, Beezie Madden (Cazenovia, N.Y.) rode Abigail Wexner’s Darry Lou, a 2008 Dutch Warmblood stallion, to win the largest prize money show jumping class in the world, the $3 Million CP ‘International’ Grand Prix, presented by Rolex, on September 8 at the Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ Tournament in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Madden and Darry Lou were clear in round one to land in the top 12 to return for the second round....

Photo: Meg McGuire Photography North Salem, NY – Each of the United States Region 4 dressage team riders was competing in their first team championship as the team claimed gold in the United States Dressage Federation (USDF) North American Junior Dressage Team Championship at the Adequan® FEI North American Youth Championships (NAYC), presented by Gotham North, at Old Salem Farm in North Salem, NY. The Region 4 riders posted a combined score of 203.18 to take the gold over the U.S....

Givrins, Switzerland - The U.S. Reining Teams won two individual gold medals, an individual silver medal, and an individual bronze medal at the 2019 SVAG FEI Reining World Championships for Young Riders & Juniors. Raeanna Thayn, Sarah Armenta, and Emma Lane of the U.S. Junior Reining Team swept the medals in the junior individual final, earning gold, silver, and bronze, respectively. Cade McCutcheon of the U.S. Young Rider Reining Team claimed gold in the young rider individual final. More...