Gladstone, NJ – The first leg of the 2009 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF National Grand Prix Dressage Championship, which was rescheduled to Friday morning after Thursday’s deluge, showcased some of the top horse/rider combinations in the US. But it wasn’t until the final ride of the class that anyone could break 70%. Veteran Olympic rider Leslie Morse and her classy 15-year-old stallion, Tip Top 962, put in a very focused and expressive effort to take a commanding lead with a...

This special section, Drugs and Medications Corner, will feature a series of articles from the USEF’s Drugs and Medications Program and the veterinary community to communicate the latest news to better educate the equine community. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications (NSAIDs) are a class of agents best recognized for anti-inflammatory and analgesic (pain suppression) properties. An important clinical use of this class of medication is to improve patient status and minimize pain....

This special section, Drugs and Medications Corner, will feature a series of articles from the USEF’s Drugs and Medications Program and the veterinary community to communicate the latest news to better educate the equine community. Many years ago, I was called to see a show hunter discovered to have a “big knee.” I found the horse to have moderate heat and swelling with pain on flexion of the left knee. He demonstrated a 3/5 lameness to trot in hand (AAEP scale, head bobbing)....

Photo by PhelpsPhotos.com (Rebecca Hart and Norteassa) Lexington, KY – Rebecca Hart has had quite an eventful year. In 2008, she won her first National Championship aboard Norteassa in May, 2008, and then the pair went on to Hong Kong to compete in the 2008 Paralympic Games and barely missed winning an Individual medal. This year, Hart bested 16 other riders to defend her title as 2009 Cavalor/United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Para-Equestrian Dressage National Champion. The...

2008 Individual Junior Show Jumping Medalists at NAJYRC (Ken Braddick) Lexington, KY – The countdown to the 2009 Adequan FEI North American Junior/Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North (NAJYRC) has begun in earnest. For the first time, the NAJYRC will be held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY – which in 2010 will play host to the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. This year’s NAJYRC will be held July 21-26, 2009. Since 1979, these Championships...

Lexington, KY - Gold medals from this summer’s CN FEI North American Junior/Young Riders Championship at the Colorado Horse Park Presented by Gotham North spelled good things for competitors Sir Neel and Sophie Benjamin (Jennifer Wenzel/Rein Photography) in the 2008 Platinum Performance/USEF Talent Search Finals. Talent Search Final-East winner Sophie Benjamin followed in her teammate Hannah Selleck’s (who won the West Coast Final two weeks ago) footsteps by winning the East Coast...

Lexington, KY – The United States Dressage Team and the United States Equestrian Federation received an unexpected decision on September 22, 2008 when the FEI Tribunal handed down its ruling regarding the positive medication test of Mythilus, Courtney King-Dye’s Dressage horse, from the 2008 Olympic Games in Hong Kong. The result of the Tribunal’s decision means that King-Dye and the entire US Dressage Team have been disqualified from the Olympic Games. Mythilus tested...

The Reichert Celebration, one of most prestigious all-breed Western pleasure futurity shows in the nation, adds even more reasons to celebrate this summer. The Appaloosa Horse Club (ApHC) joins the show schedule this year with an ApHC-approved show, held August 8-10, with four judges. The Reichert Celebration will be held at the Tulsa Expo Square in Tulsa, OK August 8-17, 2008. Some of the most anticipated ApHC classes will be highlighted in the evening performances—the ApHC Heritage...

Lexington, KY - The CN FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC) presented by Gotham N Junior Rider Brandi Roenick and Pretty Lady (McCool Photography) orth at the Colorado Horse Park begin July 29, 2008. This six-day competition for junior and young riders, ages 14-21, offers the opportunity for riders to compete as teams and as individuals in the three Olympic disciplines—dressage, eventing, and show jumping. Premiering this year, junior and young riders can also...

Oklahoma City, OK – Under the lights at the Oklahoma State Fair Park, Craig Schmersal bested some of the top reiners in the country to win the 2008 Adequan®/United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) National Open Reining Championship presented by Equine Motorcoach. Schmersal, an Oklahoma native, won the title along with his share of the $25,000 in added money. The USEF championship was part of the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Derby. This is Schmersal’s second time...