Exhibitors who made their way to the desert for the start of the 2009 HITS Desert Circuit will be treated to a perfect week of Southern California weather and an exciting week of equestrian competition that started on January 20 at the HITS Desert Horse Park in Thermal, CA. All of the show rings will be action-packed for the next eight weeks as junior, amateur and professional riders start off a new year of competition. Some will be riding new mounts purchased in the fall, while others will be...

If horses could talk, humans would certainly hear some amazing tales. The stories told by Jamaica, the 17-year-old combined driving horse that helped his owner Chester Weber win a Silver medal at the FEI World Championships in The Netherlands, would be some of the most inspiring. At first glance, the high-spirited champion combined driving horse bears little resemblance to the carriage horse in the childhood story Black Beauty . That’s until you learn that the gelding was rescued from a...

Caitlin Houlihan and Little Joe (Janice Hischer, owner and trainer) took home the championship ribbon from the first Riding for Reading class in Arizona, and earned some money for her school’s library along the way. Collman Equestrian Productions held the class as part of the Scottsdale Fall Preview (October 16-19). Earlier in the day, Houlihan won the Low Junior/Amateur Jumper Classic on her own Double O Seven. The Riding for Reading class marked her first time showing on the flat. "I wanted...

Iron Spring Farm's three-year-old homebred Friesian stallion, Pilgrim ISF, was awarded the prestigious First Premie Star designation and was selected for KFPS stallion testing during the Friesian Horse Association of North America (FHANA) KFPS keuring on September 29, 2008. Iron Spring Farm's success during the keuring also includes Pilgrim's dam, Toltsje fan't Boekehof, receiving an 82.5 on her IBOP (performance) test to earn the prestigious Model designation. She also received the Champion...

Lexington, KY— With five CC1* National Championship trophies being awarded in one day at the Kentucky Horse Park for the Hagyard Midsouth Three-Day Event, the National Championship division of this competition was unique because it was held in the traditional format which includes steeplechase. Melissa Miller and Detail Specialist topped the competition with a score of 47.1 to win the USEF National One-Star Eventing Championship while also taking the 19- to 21-Year-Old Eventing Championship...

At a tense horse auction in Sugarcreek, OH last weekend, Pure Thoughts Horse Rescue left angry horse "kill" buyers no choice but to haul their trailers home empty. One hundred sixty three horses stood for sale that night facing the same grim future: a grueling trip to a painful slaughter in Canada or Mexico, then on to fill overseas dinner plates. But Pure Thoughts co-founder Jennifer Swanson and sponsor Victoria McCullough gave every one of those horses a second chance. "I have bought...

A number of factors have converged to make this a very difficult year for Kentucky’s horses. Equine overpopulation, a challenging economy and last summer’s draught are among the causes of distress that have put Kentucky’s horses in the national media spotlight. “We’ve all been disturbed by the sight of neglected and starving horses in the news, and we are determined to do something about it. We’re going to put our actions where our hearts are,” said John Nicholson, Executive Director of the...

At the Kentucky International Equine Summit Olympic Gold medalist David O’Connor urged the disparate elements of America’s horse industry to work in concert to improvement promotion in the sport. He said that the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) gives America’s horse community a unique opportunity to reach a large segment of the public. The WEG is to be held in September in Lexington, Ky. He made his remarks on Tuesday at the Kentucky International Equine Summit, sponsored jointly...

When the sixth Samsung Super League with FEI season gets under way in three weeks' time it will mark an important moment in the history of international team show jumping. Together with the world governing body for equestrian sport, the Korean multi-national has helped create something very remarkable indeed—a prestigious and gripping series that captures the imagination, commitment and enthusiasm of both competitors and spectators alike. It is the sense of personal involvement that holds...

The World Games 2010 Foundation announced that Fortune Commercial Properties, a Lexington-based company, as the Official Commercial Realty Company of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. As part of the partnership, Fortune will provide 10,000 square feet of warehouse space and 6,000 square feet of office space for the World Games 2010 Foundation, as well as a financial contribution in support of the 2010 Games. The space is expected to be used for storage and as a center of operations...