Late on August 2, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the funding bill for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for Fiscal Year 2008 after removing the overly broad language that was opposed by the horse industry. When the USDA funding bill was reported out of the House Appropriations Committee two weeks ago, it included language that was intended to apply to slaughter horses. But the provision was so broadly drafted that it would have applied to all horses and been...

(Lexington, KY) − The United States Equestrian Federation is pleased to announce it has selected its show jumping squad for the second leg of the Samsung Super League Tour. Selection for the CSIO’s in Rotterdam (NED) June 21-24 and Aachen (GER) July 3-8 is based on rider rankings from the May 11, 2007 USEF Computer List. George Morris will serve as the chef d’equipe. The following combinations have been named to represent the U.S. on the second leg of the 2007 Samsung Super League:...

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...

The National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) announced remarkable success for the very first NRHA Sire and Dam Program online auction. The online auction for 2007 breedings began November 15 and ran through December 2. The “eBay-style” bidding war took off during the 2006 NRHA Futurity at the Oklahoma State Fair Park in Oklahoma City, OK. It went down to the final minutes leading up to cutoff at 8:00 pm CST on Saturday, December 2. The online auction was created to give the NRHA membership an...

Flat tires are the leading cause of disablements involving horse trailers. USRider is involved in a research project with Dr. Tomas Gimenez to test the benefits (if any) of using air vs. nitrogen to inflate tow vehicle and horse trailer tires. An electronic air pressure monitoring system is being used to assist with the research. During the research, Dr. Gimenez and USRider have noted significant safety benefits resulting from using this system. “At USRider, we are all about safety when it...

Lexington, KY – In a conference call held today in cooperation with the United States Olympic Committee (USOC), five members of the U.S. 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) team answered a wide range of general media questions. On the phone from Germany were dressage team members Guenter Seidel from Cardiff, CA, and Debbie McDonald from Hailey, ID; vaulting team members Elizabeth Ioannou from Saratoga, CA, and Blake Dahlgren from Sun Valley, CA; and on the phone from Florida was show jumper...

Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation® is pleased to announce the United States representatives to the FEI/WBFSH World Breeding Championship for Young Horses in Dressage, to be held August 3-6, 2006 in Verden, Germany. The results of all three USEF/Markel Young Horse Dressage Selection Trials were tallied and horses from each age group (five-and six-year-olds) with an average score of at least 7.5 from the two weighted, selection trial classes were ranked to form the...

Courtney King went six-for-six at the Windy Hollow Hunt Summer I Dressage show, held June 10-11, at the Sussex County Fairgrounds in Augusta, NJ. King exhibited three horses in six classes and claimed victory in all six competitions. King’s winning mounts were Harmony’s Wyoming, Jubilant and Idocus. High scores of the show were awarded by level/type and two of King’s mounts earned the high score in their respective divisions--Harmony’s Wyoming earned the Open High Score (79.444%) for first...

The World Equestrian Festival, perhaps the largest single week's horse show in the world, began Wednesday in Aachen, Germany, with the United States announcing a top team for the Samsung Super League. Aachen CHIO has added championship vaulting to the lineup of show jumping, dressage and four-in-hand driving that will be contested by 145 athletes from 23 nations on more than 400 horses, in front of what is expected to be well above 300,000 spectators during the five days of competition. For...

The Reining Horse Sports Foundation (RHSF) is proud to announce, in no particular order, their 2005 Youth Scholarship recipients: Keith Ceddia, Rachael Raugh, Megan Brown, Nicholette Larson and Tara Hallan. The RHSF was established in 1999 to promote, support and preserve the sport of reining. The youth program is just one of the foundation’s five core programs. Determination for each $1,000 scholarship is based on financial need, academic achievement, career plans, references and National...