Lexington, KY – Plans are under way for the 2008 United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Youth Convention and registration is open, but space is limited for the convention. Already, over half of the available spots have been filled for the first annual Youth Convention, which will be held January 12 in Louisville, KY. Along with the schedule, the break-out sessions have been finalized. The Youth Convention will feature many notable speakers, including experts in the equine industry as well...

Only four top grand prix dressage riders are invited each year to compete in the $25,000 Washington International Horse Show Dressage Invitational, providing a showcase of topnotch dressage at the six-day indoor hunter/jumper competition. The 49th Annual Washington International Horse Show (WIHS), held October 9-14, 2007, at the Verizon Center in Washington DC, featured two nights of grand prix dressage, with Courtney King and Idocus claiming a solid victory, earning back-to-back wins for a...

Elkton, MD - Just before the event horses got underway in the show jumping at Fair Hill International, four USEF National Champions were crowned in advanced combined driving. In the third and final portion, the cones, a carefully designed course tested driver control and steering as well as the horses’ attentiveness and training. In the National Pair Horse Championship, Larry Poulin and Lisa Singer were neck and neck throughout the entire weekend. Poulin, who had won the competition six times...

In the past two decades, huge advances have been made in our understanding of many equine diseases, but we have a lot more to learn before we can truly improve the way many of these diseases are prevented or treated. One simply needs to consider the impact that laminitis had on Barbaro, a horse who captured everyone’s imagination, or the effect that equine herpesvirus-1 infections have had up and down the East Coast in the past few months. While these diseases might be the most glaringly...

Betty Goshorn Weldon, 85, of Jefferson City, MO, died Wednesday morning, April 18, 2007. The former American Saddlebred Horse Association (ASHA) director was owner of one of the most successful breeding operations in American Saddlebred history, Callaway Hills Stable. Her contributions to the breed are countless. An accomplished businesswoman, Weldon also had a remarkable career as a publisher. Callaway Hills was born when Weldon paid a visit to Kentucky to purchase her first Saddlebred, Fourth...

The United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Animal Health Surveillance System (NAHSS) is a network of many Federal and State government agencies integrated into a comprehensive and coordinated system of animal health monitoring and surveillance. The overall goal of the system is to collect, collate and analyze animal health information and to promptly distribute this information. The program is intended to improve the protection of the national animal health and to increase...

Lexington, KY - Marion Maybank has been promoted to the position of Director of Hunter and Collegiate Activities for the United States Equestrian Federation®. She assumes the position vacated by Andrea Ice, who had been with USEF since 1993 and is moving overseas. Maybank’s duties will include oversight of the Hunter Department, under the supervision of Karen Homer-Brown, Managing Director, National Affiliates. In addition, Maybank will continue her efforts in developing and implementing...

In cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC), Lasko Products, Inc. of West Chester, PA, is recalling approximately 5.6 million fans manufactured between 1999 and 2001. CPSC reports that potential electrical failure in the fan motor can pose a fire hazard. The recall includes several models of fans which were sold at major retail stores, home improvement centers, hardware stores and other retailers nationwide between 1999 and as late as 2004. These fans can be found in...

Lexington, KY – Showing the true spirit of teamwork for the equine industry, the Kentucky Equine Education Project, known as “KEEP” throughout the Bluegrass state, has pledged $10,000 to the United States Equestrian Federation Hurricane Katrina Equine Relief Fund. “We have to do all that we can to help alleviate some of these disastrous effects,” said Jim Navolio, Executive Director of KEEP. “Our mission and the mission of USEF are parallel and we’re...

(Lexington, KY) – The United States Equestrian Federation has established the Hurricane Equine Relief Fund to assist those agencies working directly with the equine victims and refugees from Hurricane Katrina. The money will be used to support efforts to deliver food, veterinary services, and shelter for horses and ponies in the hurricane stricken areas. All donations are tax deductible, and gifts of any size are appreciated. Donations can be made online at www.usef.org, click on the Hurricane...