29 April 2008 Dear Members of the Equestrian Community, This past weekend at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day, Laine Ashker suffered a serious fall during the cross-country stage of the competition. She is currently in critical condition at the University of Kentucky hospital in Lexington. Laine’s horse and another involved in a separate accident had to be euthanized. These accidents come just a month after Darren Chiacchia, an Olympic rider, had a serious fall at an event in Tallahassee, Florida....

Ocala, FL ­– Two USEF National Driving Championships are up for grabs at the CAI-A Ocala running March 27-30, 2008. Known as the Live Oak Plantation Combined Driving Event presented by Budweiser, the showcase of the country's best drivers and horses is taking place at Chester Weber's Live Oak Plantation in Ocala, FL. The competition also serves as the second USEF Selection Trial for two of the World Driving Championships. The USEF Single Horse Championship got the day started and dressage was...

The tally has just begun, and your votes 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. Merely weeks away from the 2008 USEF Annual Meeting, 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 Brentina (2005...

With three Americans competing at "Porsche Dressage Trophy," a German national indoor dressage tournament held in Paderborn, Germany, on November 2-4, Todd Flettrich of Coatesville, PA, and Wellington, FL, rode Amadeus to third place in the grand prix special, earning the distinction of being the highest-placed American in the FEI classes at the show. "Amadeus did everything I asked. He was very good," said Flettrich of his grand prix special ride, which held the lead for most of the class. "I...

From a Press Release by Daniel Rieffer , Communications Manager, American Saddlebred Horse Association Louisville, Kentucky - Jen Raynes’ heart of gold led her to Louisville. She ran into a parent of an ASHA junior member at a horse show in Scottsdale, Arizona, who convinced her to donate her time and talent to create a painting for the AHSA Annual Auction. She’s known as “Mad Dog” Jen, and she’s experienced absolute madness since leaving California Tuesday morning to get to the World’s...

Meeting by teleconference, the 2007 directors of the American Saddlebred Registry elected officers on Tuesday, March 6. The nine directors are Joan Hamilton (Kentucky), David Howard (Tennessee), Dr. Rick Luft (Wisconsin), Spencer Mains (North Carolina), Mary Ann Pardieck (Indiana), Dr. Alan Raun (Iowa), Fred Sarver (Kentucky), Anne Stafford (Tennessee) and Judith Werner (Illinois). After discussion on each position, the following were elected unanimously: Joan Hamilton as president, David...

James R. Wolf has been selected by the USEF to assume the leadership of the Federation’s High Performance discipline programs as the Executive Director of High Performance. He had been serving as Interim Executive Director. Jim has many years of administrative and competitive experience in horse sports. Prior to joining the USEF staff full-time, he managed the USET’s three-day eventing squad at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, where he was responsible for the coordination of the...

One step out of the ring, internationally renowned equestrian Lynn Seidemann and Phoenix B knew they had put on a good show. Slated to ride second to last in the line-up, the pair pulled out all the stops to wow the judges with a spectacular performance Thursday. Make that a Silver medal-winning performance that surprised even Lynn. “It was a good day,” Lynn said modestly after the news started to filter back through the time zones into the States. With a Silver medal in tow and a...

Santiago, Chile – The U.S. Eventing Team concluded their week in Santiago, taking the team silver medal on a final combined total of 115.7. Canada finished just a tenth of a point ahead on 115.6 for gold. Brazil finished with team bronze on 127.1, with both countries earning their qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake secured individual gold in their championship debut for the United States, completing the event on a final score of 30.8 over the...

Santiago, Chile – The U.S. Dressage Team currently holds first place on a team total of 224.338 after the first day of dressage concluded at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games, with tomorrow’s competition set to determine team medals. Brazil is currently in second on a 221.151, with Canada in third on a 214.277. With both Small and Large tour combinations competing, scoring for Large Tour combinations adds three points to their final percentage as part of the championship format....