Mike Ferrara (Leslie Lurkin of Rochester, MN, after his win with Melissa LOA in the Half-Arabian Mare Breeding Saddle Pleasure AAOTH at the 40th Annual U.S. National Arabian and Half-Arabian Championship Horse Show. ) The 40th annual U.S. National Arabian and Half-Arabian Championship Horse Show (U.S. Nationals) bid a final farewell to Louisville from October 12-21, 2006, at the Kentucky Exposition Center in Louisville, KY. It was the last time the show will be held in this particular venue....

It was Maggie McAlary--all day, all the way, from morning till night. The 16-year-old, from Amherst, NH, rode 11th in a cavalcade of 271 junior riders vying for the 2006 prestigious Pessoa/United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Hunter Seat Medal Final presented by Becker College. This was McAlary’s third year qualifying for this national championship. “My horse, Mid-Accord, was nervous before the first round,” she said. “This is his first year doing equitation.” She topped the first...

Dover, DE – After almost a year of planning and preparation, the Delaware State University Women Equestrian Team will commence its first competitive season with seven meets scheduled for the 2006-2007 season. Led by Head Coach Leigh Nichol and Assistant Head Coach Amy Walls and Western Assistant Coach Bill Brown, the inaugural Lady Hornets equestrian team begins its first season with six team members – Kayleigh Karnbach, Kamerra Brown, Christina Smith, Kera Russum, Jenna Warren and Morgan Scuse....

Flat tires are the leading cause of disablements involving horse trailers. USRider is involved in a research project with Dr. Tomas Gimenez to test the benefits (if any) of using air vs. nitrogen to inflate tow vehicle and horse trailer tires. An electronic air pressure monitoring system is being used to assist with the research. During the research, Dr. Gimenez and USRider have noted significant safety benefits resulting from using this system. “At USRider, we are all about safety when it...

Aaron Ralston (left) and Tim McQuay (right) were awarded the Bronze and Silver Individual reining medals at the 2006 WEG. Canada's Duane Latimer took the Gold. (Bob Langrish ) (Aachen, Germany) —It ended like it began, with wind and rain. But, it was a wet, windy and wonderful finale to an amazing two weeks of equestrian sport at the 2006 Aachen World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany. By all accounts, it has turned out to be the biggest and most impressive equestrian competition in...

Bob Langrish (Steffen Peters aboard Floriano finished in fourth place in the grand prix special during Friday's dressage competition in Aachen.) (Aachen, Germany)—To say it was tough competition today in the dressage grand prix special at the 2006 World Equestrian Games (WEG) would be a gross understatement. But two Americans made it look like a walk in the park. American’s Guenter Seidel and Steffen Peters, who are now both poised to enter a showdown among the top 15 dressage...

Bob Langrish (American Kathryn Downs was the highest-placed American in 17th in endurance.) Long before the sun rose over the first day of competition at the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) in Aachen, a flurry of activity was going on as the stage was set for the first medal decisions made in the equestrian discipline of endurance. The consensus is that today’s championship served as the biggest in the sport’s interesting development and history, and the fact that temperatures...

After four long years of waiting, an anxious equestrian world watched the clock roll down to the moment everyone had their eyes turned to – the Opening Ceremonies of the 2006 Aachen FEI World Equestrian Games. And while gray skies and wet and windy weather welcomed the crème of the equine world to the picturesque town located in the westernmost corner of one of Europe’s most powerful horse countries, not even a downright deluge could have dampened the excitement and energy that was waiting to...

PhelpsPhotos.com/USEF Archives (Pony Finals First-Timers Zone 10 Take Home Gold) Lexington, KY – On day three of the 2006 USEF Pony Final National Championships, Samantha Schaefer and Zone 10 walked away with the top prizes. The 13-year-old Schaefer, of Westminster, MD, rode her seven-year-old German Riding Pony gelding, Rockport, to their first Pony Finals win. This was their first time riding indoors, after the competition had to be moved inside today due to the torrential rainstorms...

For the eighth time in her career, and for the third year in a row on Hidden Creek’s Wapino, Margie Engle raced to victory in the $65,000 Merrill Lynch Cleveland Grand Prix, the nation’s oldest show jumping classic. The class is still held at the beautiful Metropark Polo Field in Moreland Hills, OH, the site of the original Cleveland Grand Prix, first held in 1965. An enthusiastic crowd of over 5,000 braved a blistering hot 90-plus degree Sunday afternoon in the steamy Chagrin Valley. Twenty...