Gramercy Park (Clip Clip Click) Lexington, KY - In 2011, the Peter Wetherill Cup debuted as an award to celebrate a current equine athlete who best exemplifies the qualities of a top-class show hunter. This prestigious perpetual trophy is presented annually at the Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular in Wellington, FL, to the owner of the World Championship Hunter Rider Program's Hunter of the Year. The elegant silver cup was donated by the USHJA Foundation in honor of late horseman Peter...

Facebook is an unending super highway of material for use in a myriad of applications. I am always amazed by several things. First, how we can consider people we have never seen or maybe even spoken to directly as “friends.” Second, how we are able to use social networking to very positive effects from fund raising for good causes to arranging emergency transportation for rescue horses. Third, how easy it is to learn from so many people who are willing to share really great...

The Western Dressage world is abuzz with dressage talk. The hot topic of the moment seems to be progressive training, especially as it has to do with pyramids and scales. Pyramids are extremely stable structures that rely on strong, broad foundations and which rise to a point, a pinnacle if you will that represents a point of focus. Without the foundation, the pyramid loses strength. The intrinsic nature of the structure itself necessitates culmination in a point. The pyramid is the perfect...

How do good ideas happen? By great people putting their minds together – and that’s what happened when Frances Carbonnel, Cliff Swanson, and Neide Cooley got together last August to work on the Educational Program for the Western Dressage Association® of Colorado. I had the pleasure of speaking with Frances about how the Train The Trainers clinic came into being. “We decided we needed some videos to help people understand what the gaits are for Western Dressage,”...

Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) has elected a new Reining Eligible Athlete Committee. Reining Eligible Athlete Committee Casey Hinton, Chairman Jordan Larson, Vice-Chairman Pete Kyle Tom McCutcheon Tim McQuay, Athlete Representative to the Reining High Performance Committee For further information regarding the USEF High Performance Reining Program visit; https://usef.org/_IFrames/breedsDisciplines/discipline/allReining.aspx For additional information please...

The Dressage Foundation has announced that a total of $10,000 has been awarded to U.S. dressage instructors through the Major Anders Lindgren Scholarship program, funded through The Dressage Foundation’s Carol Lavell Gifted Memorial Fund. The Lindgren Scholarships provide financial support that enables dressage instructors to train in a concentrated amount of time in order to improve teaching, riding, and training skills. This year, the Selection Committee chose the following recipients:...

Happy Holidays! Tis the season and all my best to everyone. This time of year we are especially grateful for all the perfections we find our lives are blessed with. Wishing all of you the very best of holiday seasons. Thank you for reading and supporting the development of western dressage. It was a very exciting time for representatives from North American Western Dressage to attend the USDF Annual Convention in New Orleans December 5-8. President Jen Johnson and Board member Jennifer Collman...

Westport, CT - The EQUUS Foundation and the American Association of Equine Practioners (AAEP) Foundation joinly established the EQUUS Foundation Research Fellowship program in 2011 to emphasize the importance of equine research, to reward researchers for their contributions, and to meet the increasing need to train future equine veterinary researchers. Two equine researchers were presented with the 2012 EQUUS Foundation Research Fellows for their work to advance veterinary knowledge during the...

Lexington, KY - The Equine Academy at Lexington Catholic High School is hosting a truly unique eBay auction. If you still have holiday shopping to do, but don’t want to brave the crowds at the mall, try a little shopping from your sofa. Filled to the brim with items perfect for the hard-to-shop for, their auction, which runs through Sunday, Dec. 16 at 8 p.m., includes some very hard-to-come-by items. You can find all of these items and their details at: myworld.ebay.com/lchsequine or by...

The twenty fourth in a series of blog posts from Michelle Binder North American Western Dressage receives all kinds of questions at the website and on our FaceBook page. Last week Jen Johnson shared the following in a post and it generated a huge amount of material for consideration. She posted: “I received an email last night from a **** judge who had the following concerns about Western Dressage..... “The problem is that the western horse is going to have to be much quicker in...