All 16 Events Are Qualifiers for the 2010 $1-Million United States Grand Prix League Grand Prix HITS, Inc. is pleased to announce its grand prix schedule for the 2010 HITS Desert Circuit in Thermal, CA. This year's schedule features 16 grand prix classes held over six weeks of competition, and $800,000 in total prize money will be awarded. There will be four FEI World Cup qualifying classes, and the grand finale is a $300,000 grand prix on Sunday, March 14. The 2010 HITS Desert Circuit Dates...

Each year endurance riders from around the U.S. and Canada gather to compete for the American Endurance Ride Conference’s (AERC) top honors in the National Championship rides. This year, tiny Greenville, CA, (population 1,150) will be the launching point for the 100-mile ride on September 11 and 50-mile ride on September 13. Midway between Redding and Reno, the Northern California location has all that riders ask of a trail: elevation changes, gorgeous views, shallow creek crossings, and...

The $25,000 Chicago Hunter Derby saw big crowds and tremendous competition Sunday afternoon of August 30 at Annali Farm in Antioch, IL. The class hosted 35 of the nation's top hunters and riders for a "Derby Day" full of festivities. The show raised money for Chicago Equestrians for a Cause, which donates to the Children's Memorial Hospital. Jennifer Alfano of Buffalo, NY, rode SBS Farms' Jersey Boy to victory in the $25,000 Hunter Derby. The courses were designed by Bobby Murphy, who also...

Teamwork proved key to the successful running of the 35th Old Dominion Endurance Rides, held this June in the Appalachian Mountains along the Virginia/West Virginia state line. Throughout the ride, teamwork made the difference: between horses, riders and crew, between ride management, veterinarians and farriers, and between radio operators, drag riders and emergency rescue personnel. By June 12, 158 horse-and-rider teams had arrived at base camp outside Orkney Springs, a quaint little town...

The Palm Beach Dressage Derby CDI-W/Y is pleased to announce the winners of the 2009 Challenge Series Awards. Jennifer Huber, riding her own Al Pacino, claimed the Adult Amateur Grand Prix High Score Award with a 67.872%, as well as the overall Grand Prix/Grand Prix Special Award. These special prizes are awarded at each level to the horse/amateur rider combinations with the highest average score at both the Palm Beach Dressage Derby CDI-W/Y and Dressage at Equestrian Estates horse shows....

This special section, Drugs and Medications Corner, will feature a series of articles from the USEF’s Drugs and Medications Program and the veterinary community to communicate the latest news to better educate the equine community. Many years ago, I was called to see a show hunter discovered to have a “big knee.” I found the horse to have moderate heat and swelling with pain on flexion of the left knee. He demonstrated a 3/5 lameness to trot in hand (AAEP scale, head bobbing)....

After a 4.20 wake-up alarm this morning, I had a cold cup of coffee (accidentally), found my way to Lexington airport in the midst of MORE rain and was in Chicago before i knew it. The SVP of Marketing (aka my boss) Kathy Meyer was on the same flight so we chatted and had breakfast in the windy city Las Vegas could give Chicago a run for its money with the wind. I got to the MGM where I'm staying (it was totally sensory overload), I'm a first-time starter in Vegas (to borrow a term from...

With a faultless show jumping round on the final day of competition at the Galway Downs International Horse Trials, Amy Tryon and Leyland claimed the Adequan/United States Eventing Association (USEA) Gold Cup as the winner of the CIC***. Tryon’s perfect round gave her a final a score of 51.6 penalties, enough to vault her from third to first after second-placed Kelly Prather lowered one rail on Ballinakill Glory (53.8) and third-placed Jolie Sexson lowered two rails on Killian O’Connor (55.7),...

The Washington International Horse Show (WIHS), a major equestrian event based in Washington, DC, since 1958, generates nearly $7 million in economic impact to the District of Columbia annually, according to a recent study conducted by Stephen S. Fuller, PhD, Dwight Schar Faculty Chair and Director of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. “During these difficult economic times, it was important for the show to evaluate its spending and its positive...

The United States Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation is pleased to announce a very special opportunity for equestrians. The Gold Medal Olympic Show Jumping Clinic Series will be held at the historic training facility at Hamilton Farm in Gladstone, NJ. The series will offer a spring clinic with 1984 U.S. Olympic Team Gold medalist Joe Fargis and will continue in the fall with 2004 and 2008 U.S. Olympic Team Gold medalist McLain Ward. The clinics will benefit the USET Foundation in their pursuit...