Photo by JumpShot Photography (Susan Hutchison and El Dorado 29’s Cantano) With wonderful weather and a superb turnout, the second week of the Blenheim Spring Classic series ended Sunday. The $35,000 Blenheim Spring Classic II Grand Prix on Saturday afternoon hosted not only a hill full of spectators but also 25 entrants representing five countries. Showing over a challenging course set by Brazil’s Guilherme Jorge, only one jumped clean. For the ninth time in their partnership, Susan Hutchison...

The final shows have been posted and the 2009 Performance Horse Registry’s (PHR) Silver Stirrup Award winners have been announced. One of the Hunter winners include Krishna Buyalos’s beautiful two-year-old filly, Outstanding. This bay filly is by Popeye K and out of Delilah. She was bred in California by Leslie Nelson. She is the winner of the Hunter Breeding Award. The Anglo-Trakehner gelding Unbelievable (Zarr x Rhapsody II) took home the award for the best Green Working Hunter. The Jumper...

Photo by Lynn Coakley (Nancy Koch) Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation and The EQUUS Foundation are pleased to announce the winner of the inaugural EQUUS Foundation Humanitarian Award. Nancy Koch, Executive Director of CANTER National, was chosen from a number of qualified nominees to receive this distinctive honor. The award will be presented January 16, 2010, at the USEF Pegasus Awards Dinner during the Federation’s Annual Meeting. Nancy Koch has successfully improved the...

As the United States Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation Holiday Fundraiser draws closer, many exciting performances have been announced for the feature event. SUCCEED® and Wellington Classic Dressage will be hosting the Holiday Gala Fundraiser, December 11-12, 2009, to benefit the USET Foundation. The venue for the fundraiser will be the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL. The two nights of exciting performances will include Pony Club Mounted Games featuring Gina Miles, Cathy...

Elkton, MD – The 2009 Dansko Fair Hill International Horse Trails was inundated with a record number of entries, as 141 horses will go forward to the dressage after a chilly Wednesday afternoon horse inspection. Of those, 113 will be vying for the United States Equestrian Federation’s (USEF) National CCI** and National CCI*** Eventing Championship titles. The only fall CCI*** held in the United States, the Dansko Fair Hill International Horse Trials brings the best to Elkton, MD every October....

Lexington, KY – Tucker Johnson staked his claim to a top spot in next year’s Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games with an impressive third place finish out of 25 teams at the CAI-A4 Donaueschingen in Germany. Driving in an international competition for the first time since the World Championships in Beesd 2008, Johnson won the dressage, finished eighth in the marathon but retained third place overall with a strong performance in the cones. In a strong field, which included two former world...

Last year the Capital Challenge Horse Show offered a new event to the schedule—the Emerging Pro Challenge. The Challenge class was designed for professionals who may be knocking on a door that is typically opened by riders like Scott Stewart, Louise Serio, Peter Pletcher and a handful of other hunter riders who have graced the Show Place Arena with top scores on numerous horses. The $5,000 Emerging Pro Challenge was designed to give riders competing in the professional divisions (future...

Horse owners around the world are being asked to participate in an online questionnaire to help researchers better assess the issues of parasite control and anthelmintic (dewormer) resistance. The study is part of a collaborative effort between equine parasitologists in the United Sates, Denmark, and Germany. Horse owners can find the survey at survey.2ask.de/71d74fafbf0c4562/survey.html . Topics include parasite control strategies, drug resistance, factors behind parasite control decisions,...

In these tough economic times, many people are finding the quality warmblood they want is difficult to afford. Con Brio Farms, LLC, has just introduced a new program that could make it a little easier. In addition, those who find themselves with an unused stallion breeding to use, but no mare can also benefit. Con Brio Farms, LLC, has been breeding Dutch Warmbloods, Oldenburgs and Hanoverians for 25 years, and their production record makes them one of only five breeders in the U.S., including...

The 2009 American Saddlebred Reference Directory , the breed’s most comprehensive publication each year, goes into the mail this week and is now also available electronically on the association’s website to all active ASHA members. Just visit www.saddlebred.com/members/reference.php and log in. Once a member has logged in, instructions are provided. The reference directory physical copy has been mailed to all active ASHA members by USPS book rate mail. In the meantime, the association is...