The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) is pleased to announce that Kariel Swanfeldt of Ayer, MA, has been selected as the recipient of the 2009 USDF Youth Volunteer of the Year Award, presented by The Paddock Saddlery and sponsored by the USDF Youth Executive Board. This prestigious award honors one outstanding youth volunteer who has contributed on a national and local basis to USDF and dressage. As the recipient of this award, Swanfeldt’s name will be engraved on a perpetual trophy,...

The SmartPak Equine/United States Eventing Association (USEA) Area II Adult Riders Training Three-Day Event, October 22-25, at Waredaca Farm in Laytonsville, MD, hosted 37 riders in three divisions. The event was a huge success with all but two riders completing the exciting long-format course. When it came time for the award ceremonies, it was three grey horses that earned the blue ribbons. D.C. McBroom aboard Twain won the A division on a 35.30 having added no additional penalties to their...

As the show season draws to a close, five professionals who regularly attend Langer Equestrian Group (LEG) shows are making plans to head off to Maui for some much needed rest and recreation, courtesy of LEG. The company sponsors the Maui Trainer Incentive as a way to not only encourage participation at the shows, but reward professionals for their efforts, support and success. Larry Langer, President and CEO of LEG, started the Trainer Incentive because professionals are the hardest working...

Melissa Jackson and Wellington Capture Grand Prix Win Sponsored By the Sanctuary Equine Sports Therapy & Rehabilitation Center Melissa Jackson and her 12-year-old Hanoverian, Wellington, captured the win in the Grand Prix at the Wellington Classic Dressage’s Autumn Challenge of Champions show, held in conjunction with the United States Dressage Federation (USDF) Region 3 Dressage Championships. The Grand Prix was sponsored by The Sanctuary Equine Sports Therapy & Rehabilitation Center, and...

While their senior counterparts strutted their stuff down the centerlines in the CCI** and CCI*** divisions at the Fair Hill International Horse Trials, four- and five-year-old stars-to-be were flashing their talents in the Spalding Labs/United States Eventing Association (USEA) Young Event Horse (YEH) East Coast Championships. Youngsters from around the eastern United States gathered to show their potential in conformation, dressage, and jumping in their own championship division, which ran in...

The dual sportswoman, who combines careers as a three-day eventer and trainer with that of a professional race car driver and performance driving coach, won the Open Pre-Novice category of the British Eventing Horse Trials at Tweseldown riding her horse Donovan (Intrepid). The event marked a return to competition for Donovan who has missed the past four months due to a muscle injury. What was planned as a gentle return to action became a complete domination of the Open Pre-Novice category as...

The Certified Horsemanship Association (CHA) honored top individuals, horses and organizations at the annual awards banquet held at the International Conference in Fort Collins, CO, at Colorado State University on October 10. Clinic Instructor of the Year Clinic instructors are the CHA Master Level Instructors that are clinic staff and certify instructors for CHA throughout North America. At the end of each clinic, participants write evaluations of the clinic staff. It is from these evaluations...

Boyd Martin Jumps to the Win with Neville Bardos (Shannon Brinkman) Elkton, MD - Wind substituted for four days of relentless rain for the finale of the 2009 Dansko Fair Hill International but Boyd Martin was not to be blown of the top of the leaderboard. In an impressive performance with Neville Bardos, Martin had one rail down, but landed his first USEF National CCI*** Championship on the strength of the only double clear cross country round on Saturday. “I just wanted the horse to jump...

The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) and DressageTrainingOnline.com (DTO) are pleased to announce that they have now expanded their partnership to allow USDF members to earn USDF University Program Credit through the DTO site. By working together, USDF and DTO hope to provide dressage education to a broader audience and recognize those individuals who continue to expand their dressage knowledge. Any USDF member, who is a current member of or joins DTO, is eligible to earn USDF...

Oliver Townend of Great Britain is poised to achieve what only one other event rider in the world has ever done, claim the $350,000 Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing. In September of 2003, Pippa Funnell of Great Britain became the first rider in history to win the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing when she rode Primmore's Pride to victory at the Burghley Horse Trials in England following back-to-back wins in the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event in April aboard Primmore's Pride and the Mitsubishi Motors...