The 2009 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions will be held in Gladstone, NJ, June 18–21. This Festival of Champions will once again feature the national championships for the Grand Prix, Intermediaire I, Young Adult “Brentina Cup,” Young Rider, and Junior divisions. Applications of Intent for all divisions are now available on the Federation website at www.usef.org/Contentpage2.aspx?id=dressage . High-performance (Grand Prix & Intermediaire I) applications, qualifying...

Diamante Farms of Wellington, FL, is pleased to announce that Michelle Gibson will compete Don Angelo, the farm's eight-year-old Oldenburg stallion, at the 2008 USEF National Intermediaire I Championship during the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Festival of Champions. The event will be held in San Juan Capistrano, CA, on June 21-22 and June 27-29, with the Intermediaire I championship scheduled for the second weekend. Gibson, a 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games Team Bronze medalist, is head trainer at...

Capitol Hill with Kenneth Wheeler, Sr. (Jordan Koepke) It was like déjà vu this year at the Sallie B. Wheeler/USEF National Hunter Breeding Championship presented by Vita-Flex as Kenneth Wheeler, Sr., handled a colt that would become the overall champion. With last year’s win with Spanish Spear still in Wheeler’s memory, it was another of his two-year-olds that would capture the title again for his Cismont Manor Farm. This year's Best Young Horse in the Sallie B....

The United States Equestrian Federation® (USEF) recently announced its team members for the 2006 World Singles Driving Championship set for September 20-24 in Pratoni del Vivaro, Italy. In exciting news for Morgan enthusiasts and American Morgan Horse Association (AMHA) members, two of the three drivers chosen are AMHA members set to compete with Morgan horses. Scott Monroe of Sharon, CT, driving his 13-year-old Morgan gelding, Bethesda After Dark (Shadow), and Fred Merriam of Newfane, VT,...

It's official! Lil Ruf Peppy, owned by Green Valley Ranch in Aubrey, TX, has just been named the National Reining Horse Association's 11th Million Dollar Sire. At the start of the National Reining Breeders Classic (NRBC) held recently in Katy, TX, Lil Ruf Peppy was less than $3,000 short of the Million Dollar milestone. Limited and Intermediate Open Classic finalists Lil Santana, Pop Tart and Dry Ruf joined forces to put their sire over the top. Lil Ruf Peppy, bred by the King Ranch, Inc, hit...

Lexington, KY – Four United States dressage riders have been awarded USEF Dressage European Competition and Training Grants to travel to Europe as they prepare for the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany. These grants have been made possible through funding from the United States Olympic Committee. The four riders and their horses are as follows: Leslie Morse of Beverly Hills, California, and Kingston (Dutch Warmblood stallion, owned by Leslie Morse) Steffan Peters of San...

Lexington, KY – When the world’s most talented show jumpers converge on Las Vegas, April 20-24, Nicole Simpson, of Thousand Oaks, California, will be among them. Following her third-place performance on El Campeon’s So Long at the $75,000 Ultimate Equine Grand Prix in Indio, California, February 27, Simpson’s ticket to the Entertainment Capital of the World has essentially been purchased. Leading a group of more than 30 equestrian hopefuls in the West Coast League,...

Gladstone, NJ – After two days of rigorous testing, topped off with a final-four ride-off, 16-year-old Brianne Goutal surpassed even her own expectations with a well-earned, but nonetheless, surprise victory. “I was never expecting to get into the top four,” Goutal says. “I asked my trainer before the last round what score I would need and she wouldn’t give me an answer. She just said ‘ride well.’” And ride well, she did. Give her a few years, and...

In what should be described as a Herculean effort, Team USA brought their best to Athens to bring home a medal – and they certainly did not disappoint anyone. The team composed of Debbie McDonald of Hailey, Idaho, riding the mare Brentina; Robert Dover of Lebanon, N.J., on FBW Kennedy; Guenter Seidel of Del Mar, Calif., on the young and promising Aragon; and Lisa Wilcox, a Los Angeles native residing in Germany on the stallion Relevant, stood on the medal podium and proudly received their...

The U.S. Team is currently in second place behind Germany after the first day of the Grand Prix Dressage competition. Lisa Wilcox, a native of Los Angeles now residing in Germany, posted a score of 68.792 and is in 8th place overall, and Guenter Seidel, a German born American citizen residing in Del Mar, California earned a score of 69.500 and is in seventh place. Their combined team score stands at 69.146. Their two other teammates, Debbie McDonald of Hailey, Idaho, and Robert Dover of...