The United States Equestrian Federation’s 2018 Annual Meeting, which ended Saturday, celebrated the achievements of equine and human athletes and provided reason for great optimism about equestrian sports’ future. Themed “Bringing Joy, Embracing Change,” this year’s convention honored champions, delivered updates on key strategies and initiatives, hosted a number of popular educational forums, and welcomed lively open discussion on topics of interest to members and...

Responding to the devastation left by Hurricane Harvey, equestrians have poured contributions into the USEF Equine Disaster Relief Fund, which is providing aid relief for horses in the Houston, Tx., area. One week after the Category 4 hurricane made landfall in Texas, the USEF Equine Disaster Relief Fund has raised over $400,000 in donations, grants, and pledges, with 100% of those funds slated to boost relief efforts by the Houston SPCA, Texas A&M University, the Texas Equine Veterinary...

Louisville, Ky. - Celebrating its 115 th year, the World’s Championship Horse Show was held at the Kentucky State Fair’s famed Freedom Hall from August 19-26, 2017. With purses totaling over $1 million, the World’s Championship Horse Show is the crown jewel of competitions for American Saddlebreds, Hackney Ponies, and Roadster horses. Nearly 2,000 horses and ponies competed for the coveted trip down Freedom Hall’s victory lane, and exhibitors ranging from 7-year-olds to...

CH Extremely Fortunut is going for her sixth Devon three-gaited country pleasure championship with rider Molly Codeanne. (Doug Shiflet) The Devon Horse Show and Country Fair in Pennsylvania has been very good to the aptly named American Saddlebred mare CH Extremely Fortunut, who competes in the three-gaited country pleasure division at this show. Devon, a United States Equestrian Federation Heritage Competition that runs through June 4, also features top-class hunter, jumper, and driving...

Kasey Perry-Glass and Goerklintgaards Dublet (SusanJStickle.com) Gladstone, N.J. – Some of the country’s top dressage combinations have converged at the United States Equestrian Foundation (USET) Foundation headquarters at Hamilton Farm to compete in The Dutta Corp. U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions. From May 18-21, the historic venue will play host to three national championships: USEF Grand Prix Dressage National Championship, USEF Intermediaire I Dressage National Championship,...

There are IHSA shows both for hunt seat and for Western riders, like 1988’s IHSA National Champion and Stock Seat Equitation Individual High Point Rider Meg Rothermich (Miami University of Ohio), shown with coach Ken Copenhaver. (Photo Courtesy Bob Cacchione/IHSA) The Intercollegiate Horse Shows Association ’s National Championships, which take place May 4-7 at the Kentucky Horse Park’s Alltech Arena in Lexington, also will commemorate the IHSA’s 50 th anniversary this...

Volunteers set flowers in the show-jumping ring. Following two demanding phases of the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event (RK3DE) presented by Land Rover, horse and rider combinations will move on to the final leg of the competition, show jumping. The following is a glimpse of what you will see in the arena today: A packed Rolex Stadium: Football fans are not the only ones who can fill a stadium on a Sunday. Rolex Stadium will be overflowing with equestrian fans from all over the world as they root...

Courtney Cooper got into breeding with every intention of producing upper-level event horses. Colleen Rutledge simply wanted to dabble in breeding with no particular expectations. They each took a chance on the process, and the U.S. eventing athletes believe they are on the right track with their four-star, homebred horses. Cooper and Who’s A Star and Rutledge and Covert Rights (CR) will each compete together in the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by Land Rover for the second...

Lauren Kieffer and Vermiculus (Kasey @ Rare Air Photography) Lauren Kieffer’s return to the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by Land Rover is particularly nostalgic, because her mount this year—Vermiculus—is a full brother to Snooze Alarm, the horse that brought Kieffer to her first Rolex Kentucky back in 2010. Bred in Indiana by Lawson and Jeanne Williams, Snooze and Vermiculus are Anglo-Arabians, by the Arabian stallion Serazim and out of the Thoroughbred mare Wake...

Madeline Backus and P.S. Arianna (Shannon Brinkman Photo) Madeline Backus and P.S. Arianna are first-time competitors this year at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by Land Rover, but their partnership goes back years. “My mom’s farrier, Dennis Ackerman at Pendragon Stud in Colorado, actually bred her,” Backus said of the Anglo-Trakehner mare. “So I’ve known her for her whole life. It’s been quite an adventure.” Backus, whose mother Laura...