From a Baylor University release WACO, Texas — The seventh annual Varsity Equestrian National Championships (VENC) are slated to begin on Thursday, April 17, at the Heart O’ Texas Fairgrounds. South Carolina enters the show as the defending overall national champion. For the second straight year, the varsity collegiate riding national championships are being hosted by Baylor University. Baylor is in its third year as a fully funded varsity program after the university’s athletic department...

Mike Plumb Will Join the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 2008 (USEF Archive) By USOC Media and Public Relations Division Chicago, Ill. - Karch Kiraly, three-time U.S. Olympian in volleyball (1984, 1988 and 1996) and three-time gold medalist, leads the distinguished Class of 2008 that will be inducted into the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame Presented by Allstate. The induction ceremony will take place June 19 in Chicago. The U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame Class of 2008 is comprised of nine Olympians, one...

Lexington, KY -The qualification period for the 2008 Markel/USEF Young Horse Dressage Program and for the 2008 USEF National Developing Horse Dressage Championship (sponsored by the Dutta Corporation and Performance Sales International) begins on January 1, 2008. In a new qualification format for these programs, only designated “qualifying competitions” held during the qualification period runs from January 1-August 15, 2008, may be used to obtain scores towards selection trials and national...

From an FEI Press Release by Louise Parkes. The US Team got off to a slow start in the first leg of the 2007 Samsung Super League in La Baule, France but with seven competitions remaining, it remains anybody’s game. The US Squad put in impressive performances on Thursday however, Todd Minikus won the Prix Ministère de l'Agriculture, a power and speed class, with Pavoratti by almost two seconds. Beezie Madden (Authentic) and Laura Kraut (Miss Independent) also jumped double clean in the class....

The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) has announced October 27-28, 2007, as the new dates for the 2007 FEI-Level Trainers’ Conference to be held at Starr Vaughn Equestrian Center in Sacramento, CA. The conference will feature Jan Brink who is currently ranked sixth in the world for FEI dressage riders. In addition to the two-day riding conference, a lecture will be held on Friday, October 26, with Brink and the sponsor of the event, Freedom Health, makers of Succeed digestive...

The Animal Planet television network will televise a special 90-minute broadcast of the 2007 Rolex FEI World CupTM Finals on Saturday, May 12, beginning at 9:00 p.m. (EDT). The telecast will include the finals in both jumping and dressage. Las Vegas, the world’s premier city for exciting entertainment, will once again be the backdrop for the Rolex FEI World Cup™ Finals in both jumping and dressage when they return to the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, April 18-22. In 2005, the FEI World Cup...

When the 35th Edition of the Winter Equestrian Festival kicked off at 8:00 a.m., the sun was already high, conditions were perfect and the ground lush. The course designer this week in the Internationale Arena is Luc Musette, whose father, Jean-Paul, was national show jumping chef d’equipe for Belgium for many years until he retired to take charge of juniors and young riders. Musette was not originally scheduled to build until later in the tournament, but stepped in to deputize for Uliano...

Season tickets for the 2007 Las Vegas FEI World Cup Finals are available for sale to the general public as of June 16, 2006. Tickets are expected to sell quickly, so spectators are advised to purchase early. The FEI World Cup Finals in both show jumping and dressage return to the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, NV, on April 18-22, 2007. In 2005, the FEI Budweiser World Cup Jumping Final and the FEI World Cup Dressage Final presented by Offield Farms, were held simultaneously in the same...

A team of the top United States show jumpers prepared on Wednesday, May 3, to launch the defense of their Samsung Super League championship at this French coastal resort city. The U.S. won it's first ever elite Nations Cup victory at this same show a year ago, which also marked the first major team event under the leadership of George Morris as chef d’ equipe. The Americans followed the win at La Baule with victory in Aachen, Germany, and high enough placings at the other six two-round events,...

Lexington, KY - Chester Weber of Ocala, FL bested a field of five international drivers to win the CAI-A Live Oak CDE held March 16-19. Weber was named the USEF National Four-in-Hand Champion for 2006 and won his fourth consecutive Vanderbilt Trophy from the USET Foundation. Reserve Champion was Tucker S. Johnson of Hobe Sound, FL. When asked about his fourth consecutive National Championship win Weber replied, “I am fortunate enough to have a superb group of horses and a wonderful crew.”...