The FEI has today given final sign-off on the footing that will be used for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Equestrian Events at Greenwich Park. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) conducted footing tests at a site near Preston in the north of England on 20 and 21 December 2011. The mix for the footing is now composed of non-waxed sand, felt and fibre. Testing of the new footing concluded on 21 December when international riders Geoff Billington...

Wellington, FL Lauren Sammis and Sagacious HF competing at the 2011 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Festival of Champions at Gladstone. (Photo courtesy of Sue Stickle) – Pan Am Gold Medalist Lauren Sammis and Sagacious HF, a KWPN gelding owned by Al Guden and Hyperion Farm, have arrived in Wellington and are looking forward to a great New Year as well as a fabulous show season. Sagacious, a jet black gelding with his own Facebook page and a large fan following, is in top shape as he prepares...

Everyone will remember something different from 2011: exactly how long seven-hundredths of a second can be, the vast desolation of the Abu Dhabi desert, the joy of going undefeated or the nagging ache of defeat. Whatever you recall, 2011 was a year of tremendous success for the USEF High Performance programs. When the dust settled over Guadalajara, Mexico the USEF's teams had recorded a record Pan American Games medal haul. Ten medals - that is every medal but two - came back to the United...

Dr. Karen Nyrop Canadian-based performance horse practitioner Karen Nyrop, DVM, will join the American Association of Equine Practitioners’ board of directors as a director-at-large during the 57th Annual Convention. Dr. Nyrop will be formally inducted to the position during the Nov. 21 President’s Luncheon, with her term ending in 2014. Dr. Nyrop specializes in English performance horse care with a focus on lameness, pre-purchase exams and exercise physiology. She graduated from...

Mary Jordan and Sebastian. Photo: Lindsay Y McCall for the United States Para-Equestrian Association (USPEA). Thousand Oaks, CA - With a Team Gold under their belt earned at the 2011 CPEDI3*in Mexico City, the United States Para-Equestrian Team takes to the air headed to beautiful Melbourne, Australia. The 2011 CPEDI3* in Werribee, Victoria, Australia, begins Thursday, December 8, with a horse inspection, followed by the Team Test on Friday, Individual Test on Saturday, and finally the...

Lexington, KY - The Maryland Horse Industry Board (MHIB) last week presented the third "Touch of Class" Award to Silver medalists John Crandell III and Heraldic. Crandell and his Triple Crown-winning Arabian gelding won two Silver medals (Individual and Team) at the Pan American Games in Chile on October 21. During the award presentation, Ashley Valis, deputy director of the Governor's Intergovernmental Affairs, presented the Crandells with a proclamation from Governor Martin O'Malley,...

Lexington, KY - Christine McCrea, who on Saturday powered her way to the Pan American Games Gold Medal in Guadalajara, Mexico, makes her next stop at the debut of the Alltech National Horse Show in Lexington, Kentucky, beginning on Wednesday. McCrea, who was perfect through five rounds of world-class jumping in Mexico, picked up two Gold medals in her first ever appearance at the Pan American Games. Her two clear rounds on Thursday in the Nations Cup were a key factor as the United States Show...

We found some riders for our horses today. The four riders (Heather Blitz, Marisa Festerling, Cesar Parra and Steffen Peters), their Chef d’Equipe (Eva Salomon), their Technical Advisor (Anne Gribbons) and their team leader (Jenny van Wieren-Page) arrived in full team kit in the Guadalajara airport. We were sorry to not have any sunshine to offer them – but Hurricane Jova really needs to get on his way out of here. I was expecting to come back from this trip with a tan! Swimming has...

Lexington, KY- Four American horses and three riders are set to take on a huge, and hugely competitive field at the Boekelo CCI3* in The Netherlands. The Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team for Boekelo is comprised of Boyd Martin’s pair Remington XXV (owned by Henley House Stables, LLC) and Otis Barbotiere (owned by The Otis Barbotiere Syndicate), Michael Pollard on his own, his wife Nathalie’s and his father-in-law Carl Bouckaert’s DV8 and Tamra Smith on Leigh Mesher’s Mar de...

Photo by Don Stine. Lexington, KY - This year the Arabian horse community will celebrate the ninth annual Sport Horse National Championship Show. Held this year at the Kentucky Horse Park from September 28th through October 2nd, the show features the finest in Arabian and Half-Arabian sport horse competition, including classes for dressage, hunter-jumper, carriage pleasure driving, sport horse under saddle and in-hand classes. More than a dozen classes have been added to his year’s...