South Carolina riders Johnna Letchworth, Katherine Schmidt, and Kimberly McCormack won MVP honors and helped lead the Gamecocks into the first ever SEC Championship final. They will meet Auburn at 3pm ET Saturday. (Cory Burkarth) Auburn, AL - The host team will get a chance to win the first ever SEC Championship Saturday against a dangerous South Carolina team that's up and down season makes them upredicatble, but always formidable. The Gamecock's skill was on display Friday as they...

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...

Katie Dinan and Glory Days (Sportfot) Wellington, FL - Nineteen-year-old Katie Dinan and her brand new horse Glory Days were victorious in Friday night's $15,000 Artisan Farms Young Rider Grand Prix, presented by Dutta Corporation in association with Guido Klatte, during week six of the 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF). In a nine-horse jump-off, Dinan and Glory Days won over Wilton Porter aboard Radio City and Adam Prudent riding Jack Daniels. Week six, sponsored by...

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 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 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...

The seventeenth in a series of guest blog posts from Michelle Binder Last weekend we attended the second Western Dressage classes held here in the Inland Northwest. We rode the NAWD tests through Level 4. The tests are wonderful and the dressage spectators were very interested in how the WD tests are both similar and different from the USEF tests ridden in the USDF shows. The judge was super and even though the day was very long for her, very positive about the work saying "I enjoyed judging...