Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation is pleased to announce the promotion of Sara Ike to the position of Managing Director of Eventing. Ike has worked at the USEF Gladstone office since 2003, and has served as the Eventing High Performance Director since March of 2007. Prior to that appointment she was the Director of Vaulting. In 2007 she was the Team Leader for the Eventing team which swept the medals at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She also traveled to...

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – And then there were five. The gold medal eventing and dressage teams shipped out early Monday morning, leaving the five show jumpers alone in the U.S. wing of the stables at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. With 17 countries represented, the most of the three disciplines, the show jumping will be very competitive. Florida’s Lauren Hough and Casadora are riding the crest of a very successful wave, having just won the valuable CN Reliability Grand Prix at...

Riding Claim to Fame, 12-year-old Reed Kessler won the Small Pony Green championship title with a total score of 983 during the second day of the USEF Pony Finals National Championships. (PhelpsPhotos.com/USEF Archives) Lexington, KY – Despite an ominous black cloud and earth-shaking claps of thunder, three young ladies had a very happy ending to their day. In the 2006 Wild Horsefeathers/USEF National Green Hunter Pony Championship, 14-year-old Kaitlin Campbell cantered away with the...

Traverse City, Mich. – Two gold medalists emerged today at the 2023 FEI North American Youth Dressage Championships presented by USDF as the Young Rider and U25 divisions completed their individual championships. Mary Claire Piller (Oakdale, Tenn.) and Caterina, Emily Brollier’s 2011 Hanoverian mare, won the gold in the Young Rider division. Emily Hewitt (Atlanta, Ga.) was the U25 champion with Fidens, a 2010 KWPN gelding owned by Tammy Pearson. Mary Claire Piller and Caterina....

San Juan Capistrano, Calif. – Two days of exciting hunter competition came to a close on Tuesday, July 25, at the 2023 Adequan®/USEF Junior Hunter National Championship – West (JHNC). Eight section champions and two grand champions were named across the 3’3” and 3’6” heights. A pair of mares took the grand champion titles, repeating a pattern of mare domination from the East edition of JHNC earlier this summer. Eleanor Rudnicki and Evermore. ©Leslie...

Stadl-Paura, Austria – The Perrigo U.S. Para Dressage Team had a successful outing this past weekend at the CPEDI3* Stadl-Paura, Austria. The team of Rebecca Hart and Floratina, Fiona Howard and Jagger, and Kate Shoemaker and Colijn turned in excellent performances to finish in a close third place behind the teams from Italy and Austria. Even with the disadvantage of having only three team members and therefore no drop score, the U.S. team earned a final team score of 431.014%, just over...

Tamie Smith (fourth from left) chats with daughter Kaylawna Smith-Cook after her LRK3DE CCI5*-L test ride with Passpartout (Kathleen Landwehr/US Equestrian) Tamie Smith is a name that is known in the eventing world, especially after her recent win with Mai Baum at the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS Equestrian™ CCI5*-L. Following in her mother’s footsteps and making a name for herself is Kaylawna Smith-Cook. This talented mother-daughter duo is taking...

Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian is pleased to announce the coaching team for the 2023 FEI Vaulting World Championships for Young Vaulters and Juniors , which will take place July 26-30 in Flyinge, Sweden. Emma Seely has been named Chef d’Equipe and Kimberly Wellmann will be the Assistant Chef d’Equipe. Emma Seely Seely is the founder and head coach of the Mt. Eden Vaulting Club in Saratoga, Calif. She has more than four decades of experience as a coach in the sport of vaulting,...

Hunter Holloway and Pepita Con Spita (US Equestrian) Omaha, Neb. – Round III of the of the FEI Jumping World Cup™ Final closed out the FEI World Cup™ Finals Omaha 2023. Thirty combinations returned to the CHI Health Center Omaha for the first of two rounds, while the top 20 came back for the second round. The courses designed by Bernardo Costa Cabral (POR) were championship tracks with both technical questions and big fences. Kansas-native Hunter Holloway and Pepita Con Spita...

Carol Lavell, a renowned international dressage athlete, trainer, and instructor, passed away on March 27, 2023, at her home in Fairview, N.C., at age 79. Carol Lavell and Gifted at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. ©Bob Langrish Lavell was a frequent U.S. Dressage Team member from the late 1980s to the early 2000s. With the Hanoverian gelding Gifted, Lavell led the U.S. team to team bronze at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. The pair were part of the U.S. dressage teams for the inaugural FEI...