Twenty-one National Walking Horse Association (NWHA) youth members from across the country attended the First NWHA Youth Leadership Conference held at the Kentucky Horse Park. July 14-16. "The conference was everything we had hoped it would be for the youth and more," stated Tami Steinbrecher, Chair of the Youth Committee. The conference offered workshops on developing leadership skills, effective public speaking, equine first aid and horse judging and included two interactive clinics on...

The Kentucky State Fair has announced that all entries in park and pleasure sections whose confirmed records demonstrate competition within the official qualifying period including at least three shows with six or more classes, and who have been properly entered by the deadlines specified in the official prize list, have been accepted. According to Scarlett Mattson, Horse Show Manager, "We're very pleased to be able to accept all the Park and Pleasure entries we received as of the entry closing...

The American Saddle Horse Breeders Futurity of Wisconsin announced that it will once again host the American Saddlebred Horse Association’s National Pleasure Equitation Championship. The national championship attracts exhibitors from across the United States and is a “must do” for the most accomplished pleasure equitation competitors. The competition includes rail work followed by a workout. Competitors are scored using a numerical scale by each of the three judges. Scores for rail work and the...

David O’Connor, President of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), Olympic Gold medalist, Pam American Games and World Equestrian Games medalist, has been elected to the Board of Trustees of the American Horse Council (AHC). In 2004, O’Connor officially retired from international competition and was elected as president of USEF for the 2005-2009 term, and has now been re-elected for another four-year term. As president, he works closely with the FEI, the international governing body...

Lexington, KY – To assist breed shows with financial challenges, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) offers the 2008 Outreach Grant program, which provides assistance to various USEF breed competitions. And even though the competition season is under way, it’s not too late to apply for a USEF grant. The USEF grant program assists financially challenged breed competitions that meet the grant requirements and are approved by the USEF. The grants are available on a first come, first...

Richard Spooner and Cristallo won the CSI5* Grand Prix du Prix de Monaco. This was the fourth leg of the Global Champions Tour 2008. Spooner and the 10-year-old Holsteiner gelding sped around the course and picked up the win with a time of 38.99 seconds, only 0.02 seconds ahead of second place. Jeanne Hobbs won the Fourth Class at the FEI CSIO4* at Lipica, Slovenia. It was a 1.45 meter class with 58 starters. Hobbs was riding Night and Day 8, a 15-year-old Oldenburg gelding. In the Team...

Spectators holding Olympic Games tickets for the cross-country test of eventing competition on August 11, 2008 (Session EQ-04), can take part in a public course inspection on August 8, 2008, at the Beas River venue. You must register online to participate in this course inspection. Due to preparation work on the course, visitor numbers will be limited to 2,000 on a first-come-first-serve basis. There will be no horse activity during the public course inspection. The online registration system...

Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) has approved the following horse/rider combinations to the Driving Preliminary Training Short List for the 2008 World Horse Championships (Singles) to be held in Jarantow, Poland August 28-31. The combinations are as follows (listed alphabetically): Name/Age/Hometown/Horse/Sex/Age/Breed/Owner Leslie Berndl / 45 / Newcastle, CA / Koopman’s Lightning Rod / Gelding / 12 / Hackney / Ann McClure Marjas Becker / 61 / Brooker, FL /...

Lexington, KY – The Varsity Equestrian National Championships (VENC) announced the collegiate teams that have been selected and seeded for this year’s competition, in conjunction with the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) and the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA). A total of twelve schools were chosen for both the hunter seat and Western divisions to compete at the National Championships. The selected teams will compete April 17-19 in Waco, Texas at the Heart O’ Texas Fair...

The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) announced that it has created a new Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feed to enable members and businesses to receive the most up-to-date USDF news and headlines. RSS is an internet protocol that transmits a news feed in real time and is automatically updated as new items become available. These feeds make it possible for people to keep up with all of the current news and happenings at USDF on their personal webpages or homepage, with RSS capabilities....