Lexington, KY— For the second year in a row, Lillie Keenan swept a championship at the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) 2008 Pony Finals. Last year it was the 2007 Wild Horsefeathers/USEF Pony Hunter Finals— this year, Keenan makes history once again with the top score in the small, medium and large Green Hunter Pony divisions and claimed the Grand Champion title of the 2008 Wild Horsefeathers/USEF Green Hunter Pony Finals. With perfect weather and temperatures in the low 80s, today’s...

Lexington, KY – U.S. show jumper Hillary Dobbs went to Falsterbo Horse Show in Sweden to jump in Europe for the first time. The 20-year-old Harvard University student may have been looking for some experience. She also found a big win. Riding Corlett, she was one of two US riders to jump in the Swedbank Derby. It was her first attempt at a Derby class in her first European show, but no one would have ever guessed. “She was just brilliant,” said Chef d'Equipe Melanie Smith Taylor. “She was the...

Lexington, KY— In a unanimous decision by the judges, Brooke Jacobs defeated four talented riders in the 2008 United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Saddle Seat Adult Amateur Medal Final. Despite the heat, Jacobs completed the rail and pattern work to outshine the competition at the Lexington Junior League Horse Show at the famous The Red Mile racetrack. Jacobs, of Georgetown, KY, claimed the title aboard CH My Southern Charm, a bay Saddlebred gelding owned by Werk Way Stables and trained...

Diamante Farms of Wellington, FL, is pleased to announce that Michelle Gibson will compete Don Angelo, the farm's eight-year-old Oldenburg stallion, at the 2008 USEF National Intermediaire I Championship during the Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Festival of Champions. The event will be held in San Juan Capistrano, CA, on June 21-22 and June 27-29, with the Intermediaire I championship scheduled for the second weekend. Gibson, a 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games Team Bronze medalist, is head trainer at...

Lexington, KY - U.S. Young Reining Riders are taking the first steps towards international competition. This summer at the National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Derby the U.S. Young Reining Riders will have their first opportunity to compete on behalf of their country. The NRHA Derby will host an FEI Concours de Reining International - Young Rider (CRI-Y) that will serve as the selection trial for all the U.S. Reining teams that will compete at the CN North American Junior/Young Rider...

The first FEI Course for Eventing Officials, Level 2, will be held in Barroca d’Alva, Portugal, February 29–March 2, 2008. The Course Directors will be Anthony McPherson of Belgium—Overall; Christian Landolt of Switzerland—Dressage Specialist; and Ronald Alexander of Great Britain—Course Designer. Interested Officials can apply before February 15, 2008, to Filipa Rebelo de Andrade, Portuguese Equestrian Federation, at [email protected] . For additional information or course...

Judy Guden, the owner of Sagacious HF, ridden by Lauren Sammis to Team Gold and Individual Silver medals at this year's Pan American Games, died Friday night. Guden had been undergoing treatment for breast cancer for many months. "Judy Guden passed from this world tonight in the loving arms of her friends and family!" family friends Monica Sinks and Ed Borreson reported. Lauren Sammis was given the ride on the eight-year-old KWPN Sagacious HF—the initials standing for the name of Al and...

(Lexington, KY) – Maria Partlow, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communication has announced that she will retire effective October 1st, 2007. She has been with the USEF since March of 2004. “This is a life decision and one I have thought a great deal about,” she said. “My mother died very unexpectedly earlier this year, and her passing made me reflect on how fleeting life is and about how I want to spend the future. Although I love working at the USEF, I want to get up every morning,...

Two-time Olympic medalist and recent double-Gold medalist at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Karen O’Connor will appear on the Today Show in New York City on August 8. Riding the amazing pony, Theodore O’Connor, the three-day event rider bested a field of very talented horses and riders and led the team to Gold-medal honors. The popular morning show runs from 7 a.m.-10 a.m. EST. Look for O’Connor, who will be appearing with a number of other 2008 Olympic hopefuls, including...

The USEF announces that the following horse and rider combinations were approved by the Executive Committee to compete on the Team at the VX Pan American Games in Rio De Janiero, Brazil. Rider and Horse (Owner) Stephen Bradley and From (Bradley and Charlotte Harris) Phillip Dutton and Truluck (Ann Jones and Shannon Stimson) Gina Miles and McKinlaigh ( Miles, Thomas Schulz and Laura Coats) Karen O’Connor and Theodore O’Connor (The Theodore O’Connor Syndicate) The following horse and rider...