The 2009 Vermont Summer Festival in East Dorset, VT, is gearing up for another exciting summer of equestrian competition. The six-week circuit will run from July 1-August 9 at Harold Beebe Farm, and in addition to great hunter and jumper competition, the Manchester and the Mountains area will play host to all of the exhibitors and their families. The Vermont Summer Festival offers six consecutive weeks of competition, which makes it the longest horse show circuit offered in the Northeast. Many...

Content provided by Pin Oak Charity Horse Show and Kathryn Smith, Smith and Sacco Public Relations Katy, TX— Peter Pletcher of Magnolia, TX, was the overall winner on Alta Basaldua’s Argentum of the $15,000 ASG Software Solutions/USHJA International Hunter Derby presented by Valobra Jewelry and Antiques of Houston. This was a member event of the ASG Software Solutions/USHJA International Hunter Derby presented by Dietrich Insurance, featuring Walsh Harness & Saddlery – and...

Brentina, the only U.S. dressage horse to win the FEI World Cup Finals, will appear at the 2009 Rolex FEI World Cup™ Finals for her official retirement ceremony. Brentina's retirement ceremony will take place on Friday afternoon, April 17. Once again hosted by Las Vegas Events (LVE), the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Finals, April 15-19, at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, will bring spectators edge-of-their-seat entertainment as they watch riders compete for the title of FEI World Cup champion in...

Double Olympic Gold medalist Beezie Madden won her first grand prix of the 2009 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) on Thursday, March 12, aboard Onlight in Round X of the $30,000 Braman Motorcars WEF Challenge Cup Series. Madden of Cazenovia, NY, and Onlight, owned by Team Onlight, were the only double-clear round from the initial 49 entries for the class in the DeNemethy arena. Only four combinations made it to the jump-off on the the course designed by Guilherme Jorge of Brazil. The time by...

The Arabian Horse Association (AHA) of Aurora, CO, is proud to name its top point-earning amateurs for 2008. Natacha Lesburgueres of Louisville, KY, earned 532 points, becoming the adult amateur winner, while Collier McLeod of Augusta, GA, earned 522.5 points for the youth amateur top spot. The AHA Amateur Achievement Award program began in 2002 and has since tracked the points that individual riders, handlers and drivers earn each year. In 2008 the program was adjusted to recognize adults and...

Endurance riders from across the U.S. and Canada made their way to Louisville, KY, for the American Endurance Ride Conference’s 2008 convention, held February 20-21 at the Galt House Hotel. The convention, which included educational seminars, “hot topics” workshops, trade show, meetings for international competitors, a class for veterinarians, and a dance, concluded with a heartfelt and tearful national awards banquet. Suzy Kelley, a longtime endurance rider from Southern California, was taken...

Gladstone, NJ – The USET Foundation is pleased to announce that the Jacqueline B. Mars International Competition and Training Grant has been awarded to 21-year-old Jennie Brannigan of San Diego, CA. The grant is given to an Eventing rider who has been identified and recommended by the USEF Eventing Selectors, with an impressive record and potential to represent the United States in future international competition. Brannigan began competing in three-day eventing when she was 11 years old with...

The inaugural $50,000 CN Palm Beach Jumping Derby will be held Sunday, February 15 with some of the world's top riders racing around a 1,000-meter course that includes a Devil's Dyke and a newly created signature obstacle called the Palm Maze. Built on top of the world-famous grass Polo Field One at the original Palm Beach Polo Stadium—considered by many to be among the finest grass surfaces for horse sports anywhere in the world—the course offers 19 obstacles (23 efforts) over...

Lexington, KY— This year’s USEF Horses of Honor have been decided and your vote will be an integral part of deciding which of the nation’s leading equines will be named the Farnam®/Platform™ USEF Horse of the Year. With the 2009 USEF Annual Meeting around the corner, all heads are turning to five finalists in anticipation of which horse will be adorned with the title of Horse of the Year—one of the most prestigious awards the USEF bestows. This year’s winner will join dressage superstar...

Lexington, KY— For the second year, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) will host the Youth Convention, which will take place Saturday, January 17, 2009 in Cincinnati, OH. Held in conjunction with the USEF Annual Meeting, this one-day event features many notable speakers including experts in the equine industry and equine-related careers. The convention will unite youth from around the country and help to grow equine interest and participation. Registration is still available for the...