Lexington, Ky. - US Equestrian (USEF) is pleased to announce that an anonymous donor generously stepped up with a $25,000 commitment to the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab, ensuring this mission critical safety initiative hit the $450,000 goal set to complete the STAR Helmet rating project for equestrian sport. “Tom O’ Mara, US Equestrian President-Elect, called to let me know the good news! He actually was contacted by a donor following our announcement of reaching the $425,000 milestone...

Lausanne (SUI) - The FEI Driving World Championships, due to be held behind closed doors in Valkenswaard (NED) from October 7-11, have been canceled due to increased case numbers of COVID-19 in the Netherlands. The decision to cancel the Championships, which were for four-in-hand horse teams, was made by the City of Valkenswaard today. “It is devastating that the FEI Driving World Championships at Valkenswaard have had to be cancelled at the last minute, as everyone involved has put in so...

Lexington, Ky. – A talented group of athletes demonstrated their skills over two days of competition at the 2020 Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals – West at Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. Once the final phase concluded on Sunday, 15-year-old Skylar Wireman was declared the champion. Wireman (Bonsall, Calif.) was able to climb to the top of leaderboard with the help of Hot Pants, Haven Farms’ 22-year-old KWPN gelding,...

Wayne, Ill. – Talented combinations delivered quality performances on the penultimate day of competition at the 2020 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions at HITS Chicago at the Lamplight Equestrian Center. Four titles were determined on Saturday in the Markel/USEF Young Horse Four-Year-Old Dressage National Championship, Markel/USEF Young Horse Five-Year-Old Dressage National Championship, Adequan®/USEF Junior Dressage National Championship, and Markel/USEF Developing Horse Prix St....

Wayne, Ill. – Horse-and-rider combinations have been doing their homework in preparation for the 14 national championships held at the 2020 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions, and it was evident in the first two classes of the show. In the first day of competition at HITS Chicago at Lamplight Equestrian Center, Endel Ots and Sonnenberg’s Everdance won the FEI Prix St. Georges Test, while Sara Hassler and Harmony’s Boitano took top honors in the FEI Intermediate II Test. USEF...

Lexington, Ky. – The International Andalusian and Lusitano Horse Association (IALHA) is gearing up to host the 2019 IALHA National Championship Horse Show from November 5-9 at the Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth, Texas. IALHA Nationals brings together the country’s top Andalusian and Lusitano horses to compete in an array of disciplines including dressage, driving, heritage costume, reining, in-hand morphology and movement classes, working equitation, and much more. The...

Lexington, Ky. – The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) and the University of Kentucky (UK) have entered into an agreement for the transition of the USEF Laboratory to UK. The new entity will be called the UK Equine Regulatory Testing Laboratory. The transition is effective July 10, 2019, and operations will proceed uninterrupted. Dr. Scott Stanley a renowned expert in the field of equine toxicology, who joined the University of Kentucky in September 2018, will lead the newly...

Lexington, Ky. – Gabriella Costantini has been unanimously crowned 2019 USEF Saddle Seat Adult Amateur Medal Final champion by the panel of judges at the historic Lexington Junior League Charity Horse Show , which continues at the Kentucky Horse Park through July 13. In the last class of the morning session on Wednesday, July 10, nine of the country’s best saddle seat equitation competitors faced off in group railwork and executed individual patterns designed by judges Peggy...

Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian has named the following combinations to the Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team for the FEI Eventing Nations Cup™ Aachen CCIO4*-S during CHIO Aachen, July 19-20 in Aachen, Germany. Erik Duvander will serve as the chef d’equipe. Phillip Dutton (West Grove, Pa.) and Z, an 11-year-old Zangersheide gelding owned by Thomas Tierney, Simon Roosevelt, Suzanne Lacy, Caroline Moran, and Ann Jones Elisabeth Halliday-Sharp (Ocala, Fla.) and Deniro Z, The Deniro...

When fellow equestrians and Paso Fino enthusiasts first suggested that Heidi Young consider riding with a drill team, Young demurred. “I had bought myself a very good-looking Paso Fino, and they said, ‘You should try this, because it’s fun, and your horse would look great,’” recalled Young, a Connecticut native and US Equestrian member who now resides in Horseshoe Bend, Idaho. “I said, ‘Oh, no, I don’t do that kind of thing. I don’t like...