The World Games 2010 Foundation recently announced that John Long of Shelbyville, KY, has been selected as chair of its board of directors. Long is the Chief Executive Officer of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF). He replaces interim Board Chair Tandy Patrick, who will continue to serve as an active board member. “I am looking forward to being a very active chairman,” said Long. “The 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games provide an unprecedented opportunity to showcase both...

Lexington, KY - On January 13, the final day of the USEF Annual Meeting, the Board of Directors considered rule change proposals for all breeds and disciplines. Included in this review was the much-discussed “performance standards” proposal from the Dressage Committee, which would establish a qualification process for competing at certain levels at USEF-Licensed Dressage Competitions. After extensive discussion, the Board voted to officially table the proposal until the next USEF Annual Meeting...

The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) is pleased to announce the 2008 triple point competitions for the Saddlebred, roadster and Hackney/harness divisions. Each year, the corresponding discipline committees vote to assign “triple point” status to a competition in each of the 12 regions. Points won at any of these designated competitions will count as triple points for the Farnam®/Platform™ USEF Horse of the Year Program. Questions regarding triple point shows should be directed to the...

With Grande Gil’s win at the American Royal in November, the five-year-old gelding has claimed the first American Saddlebred Triple Crown since 2004, sweeping the three-gaited open championships at Lexington Junior League, Kentucky State Fair and American Royal—the three shows which comprise the Saddlebred Triple Crown. The last Saddlebred to accomplish the feat in three-gaited was CH An Heir About Her in 2004. That same year, CH Boucheron took top honors at each of the Saddlebred Triple...

Lexington, KY - Moved by the tragedy of the wildfires in Southern California, Massachusetts based company, SmartPak generously donated $5,000 to the USEF Equine Disaster Relief Fund, further demonstrating their continued support and dedication to the welfare of individual horses and the industry as a whole. The Equine Disaster Relief Fund is dedicated to helping equines of any breed that find themselves victims of disasters, including but not restricted to hurricanes, tornadoes, floods,...

The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) has announced the newly revamped business membership available for the 2008 membership year, December 1, 2007 to November 30, 2008. The USDF Business Membership (BM), which previously was divided into two levels, has been combined into one to provide a better value package that is more cost effective to the member. BM dues will now be $175, and benefits will include member discount rates at USDF events, a 10% trade show booth discount, a 15%...

The American Morgan Horse Association (AMHA) is joining in Oklahoma’s 100th Centennial Celebration with a special flag ceremony on Friday, October 12, at 7 p.m. at the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds. The salute takes place in the Fairgrounds Main Coliseum during the annual Grand National & World Championship Morgan Horse Show. Admission is free to the ceremony. AMHA youth and their Morgan horses will participate in the flag presentation representing individual states, Canada, England and Austria...

Lexington, KY -- The USEF has named the following four riders to compete at CSIO Buenos Aires, under the watchful eye of Chef d’Equipe George Morris, November 9-12 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. For three of the riders, it will be their first experience representing the United States. Libby McKinney, 25, will make her first team trip with Gun du Desfi, the horse with which she recently won the Wild Card Grand Prix on September 28 in Culpepper, VA. The pair from Green Farms, CT, bested a talented...

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced the approval of Digital Angel Corporation’s (formerly Destron Fearing) Life-Chip equine radio frequency identification (RFID) injectable transponder for use in horses. The industry expects that in the future additional companies will apply for USDA approval of equine microchips to be developed and sold in the U.S. Microchips are a valuable tool to the equine industry to identify horses, whether as proof of ownership if lost or...

From a Press Release by Daniel Rieffer, Communications Manager, American Saddlebred Horse Association Lexington, Kentucky ­– The World’s Grand Champions were crowned Saturday night before a crowd of nearly 15,000 at Louisville’s Freedom Hall for the World’s Championship Horse Show. A South African bred horse ridden by a Californian claimed the $100,000 “Big Stake” as Michele Macfarlane won the Five-Gaited title aboard (SA) CCV Casey’s Final Countdown, co-owned by Si-Si Stables and Macfarlane....