COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- The 2008 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams that competed in Beijing, China in August and September will come together again as they visit Washington, D.C. for the traditional White House visit on October 7. The White House visit, which will include more than 500 U.S. athletes, will begin at 9:40 a.m. on the South Lawn. The President has been an ardent supporter of the 2008 U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Teams having hosted a send-off celebration at the White House prior...

2008 was the 25th anniversary for the National Show Horse (NSH) Finals. The show was held September 17-20 in Springfield, IL. The weather could not have been better, and with over $200,000 in prize money available, you can almost always guarantee a good time with a lot of quality horses. This year was no exception. The judges were Cari Bartz, Gayle Lampe and Richard Petty. The National Show Horse Registry (NSHR) was very pleased with the addition of the Hackney Futurity, Hackney Pony and...

After years of hard work and dedication from committee members and professional staff, the United States Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA) is proud to announce that the USHJA Trainers Certification Program will begin in June 2009. The members of the Trainers Certification Program Committee (TCPC) strongly believe that today’s students are the future of the equine industry. The mission of the USHJA Trainer Certification Program is to preserve the American hunter/jumper system of riding through...

Lexington, KY -- The USEF will be hosting a Driving Clinic for Four-in-Hand drivers in order to develop a strong team heading toward the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG). Appropriately, this clinic will be held at the Kentucky Horse Park (site of the Games) and will give six drivers the opportunity to work closely with Peter Tischer during the Lexington CDE. The clinic will run from Sept 30 - Oct 6, 2008, and the competition runs from Oct 2-5. The clinic will feature some of the...

The 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games is proud to announce Ariat International, Inc., as the "Official Apparel and Footwear Sponsor" of their inaugural U.S. event. The announcement was made during the "Halfway There" celebration on September 25, marking exactly two years until the Games begin. Ariat-sponsored Olympic equestrian athlete Beezie Madden was on hand to note the partnership and its significance as the Games are being held in the United States for the first time. "I'm thrilled...

Silvia’s Dream Street Stallion, Starlight, won the grand championship at Dressage at Devon. The stunning black Oldenburg strutted around the world famous Dixon Oval with an air of supreme confidence; this combined with his expressive movement and correct conformation made him an easy choice for Grand Champion Stallion at Devon. As handler, Jens Richter lead Starlight out under the bright lights for the nighttime championship, the stallion’s black coat glistened like onyx. “He seemed to know it...

An abundance of high-performance riders will call HITS Culpeper home this week as show jumping for the United States Grand Prix League (USGPL) Finals began on September 24 with the $100,000 USGPL Invitational Grand Prix taking the stage on Sunday. Headlining the feature class is Canadian Olympian Jill Henselwood who comes to the USGPL Finals with the Silver medal she earned as a member of Team Canada during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Hong Kong. The well-decorated grand prix rider won the...

Laura Chapot took advantage of the enviable last-to-go spot in the jump-off of Thursday's final $25,000 Ariat Grand Prix of the season at HITS Saugerties on September 4, as she captured the blue aboard Church Road to rev up an exciting weekend of show jumping. Chapot and Church Road got the best of 16 pairs to challenge course designer Jerry Dougherty's first-round track and the five combinations that advanced to the jump-off to win $7,500 in prize money for horse owners Sarah Becker and B&B...

Competition was intense in the hunter rings over Labor Day weekend at the Horse Park at Woodside, as the second to last show in the 2008 Woodside Show Series concluded with a flurry of hunter and equitation finals on Monday morning. At the Woodside Labor Day Classic, August 29–September 1, the quiet, tense spectators watching during the second round and work-off of the Carousel Junior/Amateur Medal Finals finally took a collective breath when rider Jill Stevens was named champion. Stevens was...

“It was ok,” said Hart after her test. “I’m relatively happy, he was a little more settled, it was better (than Sunday). He was definitely a little happier in there.” Hart, 24, from Erie, PA was born with Familial Spastic Paraplegia and has been involved in Para Equestrian activities for over a decade. She is looking forward to her third and final shot at a medal in the Individual Freestyle on Wednesday evening. The arena proved to be quite buzzy for some of the horses, even during the day....