F.A.C.E. Vaulters for the U.S. Vaulting Team (Photo by Shannon Brinkman for USEF) Lexington, KY - It was a busy day in the Alltech Arena at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games as the Vaulting World Championships got underway with both the Team Compulsory Test and the Male and Female Individual Compulsory Tests. The Gold Medalist from the 2006 World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany was back to defend her title today. Megan Benjamin, 22, of Saratoga, CA, performed her individual...

Lindsay McCall/PMG. (Kai Handt at the 2010 USEF Para-Equestrian Para-Dressage National Championships in Lamplight, IL.) Thousand Oaks, CA - In every equestrian calendar as the summer starts to disappear many national championship competitions begin to occur. This year included the 2010 USEF Pony Finals, the $100,000 2009-2010 The Chronicle of the Horse/USHJA International Hunter Derby Finals Presented by Dietrich Insurance, the Adequan FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships...

Bridgehampton, NY - Samantha Schaefer captured top honors in the $10,000 Sam Edelman Equitation Championship at the Hampton Classic Horse Show on Thursday. The 17-year-old student from Westminster, MD, received the highest score of 182 points riding Pioneer, owned by Heritage Farm. "It's a big deal to win here," said Schaefer. "I rode in the class last year on a young horse and made it into the Top 10, but this is really great." Schaefer has only shown Pioneer three times at the suggestion of...

DULUTH, Ga. — August 2010 —Bluntly challenging more than four decades of conventional wisdom, Merial today announced a new equine educational campaign urging horse owners to stop arbitrarily utilizing year-round or rotational deworming programs. Instead, horse owners and veterinarians should collaborate to apply the dwindling supply of effective deworming products more strategically – and more effectively. “Multiple studies from across the country have shown entire classes of dewormers are no...

Photo by James Leslie Parker (Jersey Boy and Jennifer Alfano.) Fresh off of their win in the $25,000 Chronicle of the Horse /USHJA International Hunter Derby at the Devon Horse Show on June 6, 2010, Jennifer Alfano and SBS Farms' Jersey Boy added another win to their long list of hunter derby accolades after securing top honors in the $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby on June 19, 2010, at the Saratoga Classic Horse Show in Saratoga, NY. Alfano and Jersey Boy have led the USHJA...

Jodie Stowell and Comet, a 13-year-old Appaloosa/Thoroughbred-cross whom she raised from a two-year-old, took home the top honors at the Indiana Eventing Association (IEA) Training Three-Day Event, June 3-6. Finishing on their dressage score of 35.9, the two put in two flawless jumping phases to take home the blue and a bevy of prizes in the most recent event in the SmartPak Equine/United States Eventing Association's (USEA) Classic Series. The win at IEA was the second major milestone within...

Photo by Randi Muster (Victoria Birdsall and Baheera captured the Third Annual George Morris Excellence in Equitation Exhibition.) The 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) is winding down as it finished its 11th week of competition on March 24-28. The week featured the highlight event of the season, the $500,000 FTI Consulting Finale Grand Prix, CSI*****, along with a full schedule of hunter, jumper, and equitation classes, including the prestigious Third Annual George Morris Excellence in...

Photo by Robbi Meisel (Taylor Adams and Kassandra) Ocala, FL-based Taylor Adams began the curtain calls for the 2010 Jacksonville Winter Series on Friday evening with a big win in the $10,000 Bruning Equitation Classic, presented by the Jerry Parks Insurance Group. Adams partnered with the Devon Walther owned Kassandra bested a field of 15 over an intricate layout of 11 obstacles co-designed by international great Pierre Jolicoeur and Joe Carnicom. The course zig-zagged the length of the...

Last year the United States Hunter Jumper Association proposed a rule change to the point structure for the professional hunter divisions to effectively go from deciding champions based on points earned to money won. USEF, the governing body of equestrian sports, passed this rule in January of 2009 with a December 1 start date. Bob Bell, President of Classic Company and the show organizer for the Jacksonville Winter Series, has decided to use the new rule to make some giant changes to the...

The American Horse Publications (AHP) is conducting an Equine Industry Survey to gauge participation trends in the U.S. equine industry. In addition, the survey seeks to gather information regarding the most important issues facing the industry. Dr. C. Jill Stowe is providing consulting services for data collection and analysis to the AHP. Dr. Stowe is an assistant professor of Agricultural Economics at the University of Kentucky. The survey is sponsored by Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal...