To the Nines and Tracy Fenney earned top billing in the $5,000 WCHR Handy Hunter Challenge (Photo by Tricia Booker) Upper Marlboro, MD —Oct. 9, 2010 – When Tracy Fenney and To The Nines entered the ring for the $5,000 WCHR Handy Hunter Challenge, sponsored by Johnson Horse Transportation Inc., Fenney had a plan mapped out. Course designer Mike Rheinheimer had set a challenging course in the Prince George’s Equestrian Center Show Place Arena, which featured tight rollbacks, a trot jump, a...

Photo Courtesy FEI (Mara Dean and Nicki Henley) Mara Dean has become the first rider to post a winning score on the HSBC FEI World Cup™ Eventing leaderboard, following an emotional pillar-to-post victory in the Florida sunshine at the Red Hills International CIC***-W in Tallahassee, FL. Riding her veteran 15-year-old Irish-bred Nicky Henley, who was coming back into competition after sustaining a tendon injury at the 2007 Pan American Games, Virginia-based Dean held off the always serious...

Excellence in equestrian sport does not come easy. It takes an amazing sense of dedication, incredible skill and a courageous heart. And in 2009, five horses (and their riders, drivers and handlers) have shown the world exactly those qualities. For each of them, their hard work and brilliant talent has garnered them a nomination for the United States Equestrian Federation's highest honor bestowed upon a horse - the Farnam/Platform USEF Horse of the Year Award. The five nominees represent the...

The 2009 World's Championship Horse Show (WCHS), held annually in conjunction with the Kentucky State Fair, was held at Louisville's Freedom Hall from Sunday, August 23, through Saturday, August 29. There was plenty of excitement at WCHS this year, as new World's Grand Champions were crowned in the Five-Gaited and Fine Harness World's Grand Championships, while the 2008 Three-Gaited World's Grand Champion repeated as such in 2009. Among a formidable field of competitors, as in each class,...

Wilbur "Sug" Utz, American Saddlebred trainer and owner of Blue Ridge Stables in Raytown, MO, died Wednesday, November 5, 2008. He was 90 years old. Sug, son of Emil and Sudie Utz, was born and raised on a farm outside Maysville in northwest Missouri. Coming from a horse training family, Sug learned his craft at his father’s side, along with his three brothers. Two of his brothers, Don and Jay, similar to Sug, went on to become world’s champion caliber Saddlebred men. They were all exciting...

With Grande Gil’s win at the American Royal in November, the five-year-old gelding has claimed the first American Saddlebred Triple Crown since 2004, sweeping the three-gaited open championships at Lexington Junior League, Kentucky State Fair and American Royal—the three shows which comprise the Saddlebred Triple Crown. The last Saddlebred to accomplish the feat in three-gaited was CH An Heir About Her in 2004. That same year, CH Boucheron took top honors at each of the Saddlebred Triple...

Smith Lilly and his gifted mount, He’s The Man (CH Man On The Town X Perfect), were the judges’ unanimous winners of the Five-Gaited World’s Grand Championship in Louisville’s Freedom Hall on Saturday evening, August 26. Having won the Five-Gaited Gelding Stake earlier in the week, the pair wowed the audience from the moment they came into the arena, with the trademark Louisville roar growing with every pass down a straightaway. In his comments to the show ring announcer, Smith was appreciative...

The American Saddlebred Horse Association (ASHA) announced that results for the year ending December 31, 2004, marked record highs in several areas. Net earnings for the year were $148,938 compared to $24,032 the previous year, prior to consideration of unrealized gains in investments either year, on revenues of $1.575 million in 2004 versus $1.473 million in the prior year. Including unrealized gains in investments, earnings doubled, from approximately $90,000 to nearly $181,000. Membership in...

Rancho Santa Fe, CA – April 8, 2019 – The United States Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation announced today it will host a fundraising event at the beautiful Pomponio Ranch in Rancho Santa Fe, California on Friday, April 26, 2019. Dubbed the Spring Soirée, the evening fundraiser will benefit the US Equestrian High Performance programs and give attendees the opportunity to bid on unique silent and live auction items and experiences. Purchase tickets here . The USET Foundation...

Lexington, Ky. - The United Professional Horsemen's Association, American Saddlebred Horse Association, American Hackney Horse Society and the American Road Horse & Pony Association joined the United States Equestrian Federation in supporting and applauding the recent U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announcement of new rules added to the Horse Protection Act (HPA) designed to end the practice of soring Tennessee Walking Horses and racking horses. Together we commend USDA's...