Attention junior riders interested in competing at next year’s Adequan/USEF National Junior Jumper Championships. The 2009 selection procedures and qualifying period for this championship are now available on the USEF website’s Jumper Discipline page at www.usef.org/Contentpage2.aspx?id=natjumping . Please direct questions to Jennifer Haydon, Director of Show Jumping for National Programs, at [email protected] or (859) 225-6911.

Tickets are now selling for the annual Saddlebred Raffle, with winners to be drawn at random during the Kentucky State Fair World’s Championship Horse Show. According to Brenda Newell, Senior Program Administrator for the American Saddlebred Horse Association (ASHA), the raffle is one of the ASHA’s most important fundraisers. Only 400 tickets are sold worldwide, at $100 each, for gross proceeds of $40,000. Of that, $20,000 goes into the Saddlebred Futures Fund, and $20,000 of it is returned to...

The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) is pleased to announce that Christine Eidson of St. Andrews Presbyterian College (NC); Danielle Aamodt of Centenary College (NJ); and Heather Ajzenman of Mount Holyoke College (MA) are the recipients of the 2008 USDF Intercollegiate/Interscholastic Membership Organization (IMO) Senior Athletic Achievement Awards. To be eligible for the IMO Senior Athletic Achievement Award, Intercollegiate/Interscholastic members (IMs) must have earned a minimum...

Ponies will be the stars at two Langer Equestrian Group (LEG) shows this fall. The Woodside Labor Day Classic (August 29-September 1) features both the Northern California Pony Hunter Final and the Woodside Pony Equitation Championship, in addition to a full selection of pony hunter and equitation classes. Shaw’s Saddlery sponsors the Woodside Pony Equitation Championship and offers great prizes to top finishers. The winner will receive a gift certificate toward a new saddle, along with...

The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) announced that Christine Eidson is the 2008 recipient of the USDF Intercollegiate/Interscholastic Member Organization (IMO) Team Leadership Award. As the winner, Eidson will receive a five-year USDF participating membership and certificate of recognition from USDF. Receiving honorable mentions for 2008 were Asheley Ireland, from Westbrook, ME, representing Mount Holyoke College, and Laura Coburn, from Hopkinton, MA, representing the University of...

The qualifying season is now under way for the 2009 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF National Dressage Championships for the Junior, Young Rider, and Young Adult “Brentina Cup” divisions. Selection procedures and qualifying competition lists are now available on the National Dressage Page of USEF.org. Please note the age range for the USEF Young Adult “Brentina Cup” division has been expanded for 2009. Riders between the ages of 20 and 28 years old are now eligible to participate in this program. For...

Tuesday, July 22nd, @ 10pm, HBO Real Sports will air its story on Eventing. While we certainly hope the story will be balanced and accurately portray our sport, we are concerned by the preview HBO sports put out late last week. The story is entitled "Deadly Ride" and features among others, an interview with a mother who has tried to force her daughter to stop eventing. USEF President David O'Connor did a lengthy interview for the story with Real Sports correspondent Frank DeFord. In the...

The American Saddlebred Horse Association (ASHA) has announced plans for its upcoming live video streaming Internet webcasts for August and September, following its very well-received Lexington Junior League webcast in early July. According to Will Wood, Technology Manager, the ASHA will again offer live Internet coverage of all events at the Kentucky State Fair’s World’s Championship Horse Show from Freedom Hall in Louisville, KY, from Sunday evening, August 17, through World’s Grand...

Lexington, KY - The USEF is currently accepting bids for facilities to host the 2009 and/or 2010 National Reining Championships. These are very important years for the high-performance reining programs as the United States prepares to host the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games for the first time in 2010. The National Reining Championships includes: The USEF National Open Reining Championship, USEF National Youth Reining Championship (13 & Under, 14-18 and 19 -21) and the USEF National CRI*...

Dressage judge Betsy Berrey was the featured speaker at this month's Shop Talk. Michelle Hundt and Betsy Rebar-Sell, co-owners of Sho Clothes, hosted the third in a series of monthly discussions at the Sho Room in Wellington, FL. The Gold Coast Dressage Association (GCDA) co-sponsors the event with Sho Clothes to provide local equestrians the opportunity to learn from top professionals in the area. Betsy Berrey is a well-respected "S" judge who often officiates at dressage shows on the winter...