Lexington, KY- The United States will field two dressage teams for Wellington Nations Cup CDIO3* presented by Stillpoint Farm held April 11-14 in conjunction with the 2013 Adequan Global Dressage Festival. The U.S. teams will be composed of two Grand Prix combinations and two Prix St. Georges competitors. USA I Team USA I Team will be composed of the following four combinations. Grand Prix Heather Blitz (Wellington, FL) will ride her own Paragon. Paragon is a 10-year-old Danish Warmblood...

Despite not competing over the past two weeks ( since the last coaches poll was released ), and securing the No.1 seed in the SEC Championship next week, the Auburn Tigers lost the No.1 ranking to the Georgia Bulldogs. Georgia was impressive in a win over Texas A&M on March 8, and apparently that was enough for voters. The Bulldogs aren’t No.1 by much, they were voted there by a trim one point margin, but they could have a chance to defend their ranking against Auburn in the finals of...

A new National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) coaches poll was released Wednesday and as expected, there wasn’t any shakeup among the top hree teams. The most notable change was Kansas State’s flip with South Carolina to No.4 and No.5 respectively. Coming into the spring season the top four spots were occupied by SEC teams. Though the conference still has a stranglehold on the top two, good showings by Oklahoma State and Kansas State, in conjunction with South Carolina and...

Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) wishes to remind all dressage competitors of the rule change to DR120. This change goes into effect on April 1, 2013 and necessitates the usage of protective headgear by anyone mounted on the grounds at all USEF dressage competitions. DR120 has been amended to require protective headgear as follows: From the time horses are officially admitted to the competition grounds by competition management, anyone mounted on a horse at any...

DRESSAGE OPTIONS FOR TESTS FOR U25 The Dressage Committee has made following clarification: Organising Committees will have four options for starting possibilities at CDI-U25 events: • Intermediate II – Young rider Grand Prix 16-25 • Intermediate II – Grand Prix Freestyle • Young Rider Grand Prix 16-25 – Grand Prix Freestyle • Intermediate II – Young Rider Grand Prix 16-25 – Grand Prix Freestyle Please be aware that there is no specific GP...

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...

The twenty third in a series of blog post from Michelle Binder I began this Western Dressage Blog specifically as a blog for NAWD to help raise public awareness about WD groups other than WDAA. I saw a need for publicity specific to that organization. I also saw a need for a forum that presented the reality that other organizations with different missions and goals regarding WD existed. USEF has not licensed Western Dressage as an independent discipline so at this time there is no officially...

The twenty first in a series of blog post from Michelle Binder It was an exciting weekend for western dressage in the Pacific Northwest November 2-4. On Friday the Washington State Horsemen (WSH) voted to add Western Dressage as a new discipline on the roster of events offered by the organization statewide. WD has been added as a sub-category of dressage and will utilize NAWD Official Rules and Tests for the 2013 show season so WD classes may now be added to any WSH approved Dressage show...

The twentieth in a series of guest blog posts from Michelle Binder This week is all about news, news and more news. Never a dull moment in Western Dressage! This just out via a press release from WDAA: “The WDAA has been guided throughout by the leadership, strategy, and policies of its Board of Directors and Advisory Board, both of which are volunteer positions and provide their services without funding. Each are comprised of distinguished professionals from all facets of the equine...

Washington, D.C. - Washington International Horse Show (WIHS) is excited to announce that the $100,000 President's Cup Grand Prix, CSI 3*-W will be aired on NBC Sports Network on Sunday, October 28, from 3:30-4:30 p.m. EST. The coverage will show competition from one of the most competitive grand prix events in North America and will be broadcast nationally on NBC Sports Network, home of coverage as wide ranging as the Olympics, Major League Soccer and IndyCar racing to name a few. The...