Elkton, MD - Competition officially got underway Thursday in the 2011 USEF National Eventing Championships, held in conjunction with the Dansko Fair Hill International, with the first day of dressage. Grey skies and intermittent rain did not dampen spirits as the first half of competitors in the CCI3* and CCI2* completed their tests. Phillip Dutton is the pacesetter at the halfway mark in the CCI3*, while Andrea Leatherman heads the CCI2* field. Dutton and Leatherman lead both their respective...

Gladstone, NJ- Fourteen-year-old Lillie Keenan, of New York, NY, was a front runner today in the first two rounds of competition for the 2011 Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals-East. Held at the USET Foundation Headquarters in Gladstone, NJ, the Talent Search Finals celebrate a momentous 30th anniversary this year. With Finals held each year on the east and west coasts, this program has produced some of the country’s top jumping riders, including McLain Ward,...

Jonathan Wentz and NTEC Richter Scale (Photo: Lindsay Yosay McCall 2011). Saugerties, NY – A blast of autumn greeted riders on the second day of 2011 USEF Para-Equestrian Dressage National Championships as temperatures dropped to near 40 degrees overnight. The cool weather did not stop the best Para-Equestrian competitors in the U.S. from achieving strong scores in their Freestyles. Competitors from the five different grades (athletes are graded based on the severity of their disability)...

Lexington, KY - Canada's Yann Candele has taken over the lead in the 2011 Hagyard Challenge Series after earning strong finishes with four mounts over the last two weeks during the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show and the KHJA Horse Show. Two weeks ago, Candele took home the winning prize aboard Azzaro during the $25,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic, and also placed fifth and sixth. During the KHJA Horse Show, Candle placed sixth, ninth, and eleventh in the prestigious class to earn valuable...

Lexington, KY - Organized by the popular Helmet Awareness Campaign Riders4Helmets, International Helmet Awareness Day to be held Saturday June 11, has attracted widespread support. Riders4Helmets has teamed up with leading helmet manufacturers to offer discounts on helmets to equestrians via participating retailers globally on this date. Over 420 retailers in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and Australia have already signed up, with the number continuing to increase. The event was created in 2010 to...

Newark, OH -- The American Trakehner Association has announced its 2011 mare and stallion inspection schedule. Inspections, held across the U.S. and Canada, provide the opportunity to present horses for approval into the ATA studbooks and offer participants and spectators a tremendous learning experience and a glimpse into the modern development of this oldest of the warmblood breeds. The ATA is committed to the selective breeding standards established in Trakehnen, East Prussia, in 1732...

Kreuth, Germany – More than 50 horses were shown in the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) European Futurity Non Pro go round today. The Level 4 and 3 Non Pro competition was dominated by PC Sliderina For Me with Manuel Cortesi (ITA) in the saddle. The 18-year-old was one of many brilliant Italian riders in this field. He rode PC Sliderina For Me (Dualin For Me x The Slide Suprise) to the Italian Reining Horse Association Level 4 Non Pro Futurity Championship last year and placed third...

Rudi Kronsteiner and Finest Copyshot. (Photo courtesy NRHA.) Kreuth, Germany – The 2011 National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) European Futurity & NRHA Show started in Kreuth, Germany today with the first section of the $187,000 added Open Futurity go round. A total of 81 four-year-old reining horses from all over Europe were shown in Ostbayernhalle to kick off the first day of the weeklong show. Austrian Rudi Kronsteiner, 2010 NRHA European Futurity Level 4 Open Champion, had the best run...

This time last year I was manning the USEF booth at the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show. And I have to say it was an experience like I had never had before! I had been on a fair amount of trips with the USEF booth including on both coast of the US for Equine Affaire (Springfield, MA and Pomona, CA). In fact, I had spent 6 days in Pomona flown back to Lexington, KY for 36 hours and then hopped back on the plane to go back to the western half of the country for my booth duty in Scottsdale. I had...

Nate Chambers and Rolling Stone II (Photo courtesy Classic Communications) Fair Hill, MD - Nate Chambers, 23, of Vienna, VA, maintained the lead in the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) CCI*** at the 22nd annual Dansko Fair Hill International Festival in the Country following the cross country test on Saturday. Riding his 14 year-old warmblood gelding, Rolling Stone II, Chambers ended the day with a penalty score of 46.6. "I was very happy with the way he went today," said Chambers of...