The deadline for nominating stallions to the American Saddlebred Registry (ASR) Grand National in order for all 2008 foals to be eligible for lifetime recording is Monday, December 1, 2008, with a 10-day grace period deadline of Thursday, December 11, 2008. A new lifetime Grand National stallion nomination fee schedule, based on the number of mares bred, is an inducement to recruit new stallions into the program. Stallions by a Grand National-nominated sire, or (even if by a non-nominated sire)...

Majestic Gaits KWPN Elite Dutch Warmblood mare Torette R (Silvano x Flemmingh) became Grand Champion of the New England Dressage Association (NEDA) Great American United States Dressage Federation (USDF) Breeders Championship Show in Saugerties, NY. Torette R also became the USDF New England series Bred Mare Champion. Kathy Hickerson, the owner of Torette R and Majestic Gaits bought the mare from VDL Stud in Holland after she was #4 National Mare in Holland. Hickerson said, "This was very...

Lexington, KY—The American Saddlebred Registry (ASR) Sweepstakes nominations made significant leaps forward at the 2008 closing on February 11. Both the Three-Year-Old and the Four-Year-Old Sweepstakes experienced a hike in numbers. In the Four-Year-Old Sweepstakes, 100 four-year-olds of 2008 remain eligible at the February closing, up 31.58% from last year. Likewise, the three-year-old nominations increased 16.67%, to 182 horses. In the Three-Year-Old Sweepstakes, most notable when compared to...

The inaugural Kentucky International Equine Summit 2008 has landed two more sponsors—the Kentucky Equine Education Project (KEEP) and the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF). Both will be luncheon sponsors for the summit that will bring together industry leaders to examine the issues facing the future of the equine industry. The event, scheduled for April 28-29, 2008, is being hosted by the Equine Industry Program in the College of Business at the University of Louisville in...

Lexington, KY – “The sun shines bright on my old Kentucky home” and it certainly did shine brightly on Olympian Michelle Gibson and her new star Don Angelo in the inaugural USEF National Developing Horse Dressage Championship, sponsored by the Dutta Corporation and Performance Sales International. Following up on their winning Developing Horse Test ride on Saturday, Gibson and Don Angelo made the Prix St. Georges test look effortless in earning a test score of 70.000% for an overall average of...

Lexington, KY – For the sixth consecutive year, horses and riders from across the country have come to the Kentucky Horse Park to compete for the 2007 Markel/United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) National Young Horse Dressage Championship presented by Collecting Gaits Farm along with the inaugural USEF National Developing Horse Dressage Championship sponsored by the Dutta Corporation and Performance Sales International. With the Young Horse Dressage program, the focus is to promote the...

The Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Selection Trials concluded the 2007 qualifying season for the FEI World Breeding Championships at the CDI-W/Y/J Raleigh and Capital Dressage Classic, June 1–3 in Raleigh, NC. Winning both the Preliminary and Final Tests with an overall score of 8.240 secured the Five-Year-Old Selection Trial Championship for Cabana Boy (Contucci x Britania, by Bordeaux; bred in the United States by Doug and Shannon Langer). Cabana Boy is a bay Hanoverian gelding who was...

The five-year-old champion in the Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Central Selection Trials was Solaris Hit, ridden and owned by Rebecca Knollman, of Maineville, OH. (PhelpsPhotos.com) Lexington, KY – Some of the most promising dressage prospects in the country were showcased in the quest to qualify for the FEI World Breeding Championships in Verden, Germany, as the 2007 Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Program kicked off with two of the three official selection trials. The first...

The American Saddlebred Registry (ASR) Sweepstakes will be awarding over $120,000 in additional prize money, available to Kentucky-bred horses thanks to the state’s Breeders Incentive Fund. The Kentucky legislature enacted the Breeders Incentive Fund in 2005 to encourage breeding horses of all breeds in Kentucky. The fund takes a portion of the sales tax generated through stallion service fees and returns it to the breeders. Beginning in 2008, Kentucky-bred American Saddlebreds nominated to...

Lexington, KY -- In an exciting new format, Pikcasso (2003 Hanoverian gelding by Pikadero and out of Miss Kilkee, owned and bred by Barbara Dunning and handled by Ted Fieger) was named Best Young Horse at the 2005 Sallie B. Wheeler/USEF Hunter Breeding National Championships, presented by VitaFlex. This marked the inaugural year of an East-meets-West format in the Hunter Breeding Championship. Beginning in Del Mar, CA, on Wednesday, August 31, judges Rick Abbott and Dale Pederson judged the...