Isn’t it true? Horse activities are just more fun when youngsters get involved. So the Rocky Mountain Horse Expo is offering a number of “kid-friendly” activities before and during the Expo in Denver to be held March 13-15, 2009. For several weeks now, students at 19 Colorado elementary schools have been up to their elbows in paint and crayons (or pencils and erasers) polishing their entries for the third annual Art & Essay Contest. Winners will be presented at the Horse Expo and their work...

Mexico will be the first of eight teams to start in the FEI Nations Cup presented by CN at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center Friday night, February 27. A sellout crowd is expected to pack the newly created spectator sections of the International Arena in which the only Nations Cup in the United States will be held under lights beginning at 6:30 p.m. The first horse is scheduled to be in the ring at 7 p.m. for the event, which is a highlight of the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival...

The Arabian Horse Association (AHA) is proud to announce FF Irish Vodka+++//, owned by Collier McLeod of Augusta, GA, as its 2008 High-Point Horse. FF Irish Vodka, a 10-year-old, Anglo-Arabian ended the year with 487.5 points earned in working hunter, hunter hack, sport horse under saddle, dressage and in-hand classes. McLeod, who also picked up the Youth Amateur Achievement Award for the year, rode “Guinness” to three national championships at Canadian Nationals and several Top 10s at both...

The San Antonio Saddle Horse Association (SASHA) will host its annual Charity Horse Show on Friday, March 6, though Sunday, March 8, 2009, at the San Antonio Rose Palace in San Antonio, TX, to benefit their local, non-profit Visitation House of San Antonio. The Visitation House is a transitional housing program for homeless women and their children. The mission of the Visitation House Transitional Housing Program is to assist women in ending the cycle of poverty and homelessness in their lives...

The United Professional Horsemen’s Association (UPHA) will host the Equitation Update III Clinic at William Woods University, Saturday, March 14, and Sunday, March 15, 2009. The topic of the clinic, “Inspiration for Today’s Rider, Instructor, and Judge,” will focus on horsemanship. Attendance to the clinic is free for all UPHA members and college students with proper ID. For the registration form, visit https://www.horseshowcalendar.com/ShowPDFs/2009UPHAInstructorsClinic_Registration.pdf . A...

Para-Equestrian Trainers’ Symposium This two-day workshop, held April 18 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and April 19 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. will educate dressage trainers and therapeutic riding instructors alike about para-equestrian dressage rider development, the classification system and rider eligibility, competitions, and resources, both regionally and nationally. Through the use of lecture, videos and demonstration riders, examples will be given of how to bring riders along in your own program from...

Lexington, KY – Pending final FEI approval, the USEF is announcing the following date and location for the 2009 North American Junior/Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC). The USEF has received Preliminary approval from the FEI and is awaiting final word from the FEI Bureau. As the competition season is getting into full swing, the USEF is providing the following information to so Juniors, Young Riders and their Chefs can plan accordingly. Pending this approval, the NAJYRC will be held at the...

Stadium Jumping, Inc.'s Tampa Equestrian Festival will feature three weeks of world-class equestrian competition at the Bob Thomas Equestrian Center in Tampa, FL, March 18-April 4. As the conclusion of the 2009 winter show season, the festival is set to host some of the top horses and riders from all over the country for big-money classes and prizes. The competition is divided into three weeks, with the Suncoast Internationale, March 18-22, the Tampa Classic CSI***-W March 25-29, and the...

The American Horse Council (AHC) has announced that the focus of this year’s National Issues Forum will be the “Welfare of the Horse.” The Forum will be held June 16, 2009, in Washington, DC, as part of the AHC’s annual meeting. Over the last year, concerns about the welfare of horses used in racing, showing, recreation, or work have been raised by our fans, the general public, the media, and Congress. Such concerns have been expressed before, but perhaps not as broadly as now. “Those involved...

Lexington, KY – The USEF will be hosting a Para-Equestrian Dressage Training Session March 18-19 2009 in Woodinville, WA. The Training Session is designed to help riders who have various disabilities learn more about competing in Dressage at a National or International Level and will be hosted by the Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center. US Assistant Coach, Sharon Schneidman, will be conducting the Training Session. Sharon has earned a USDF Gold Medal, has a winning resume at the FEI levels...