Two popular New England horse shows, the Fieldstone Summer Showcase and the Fidelity Investments Jumper Classic, are teaming up to form a new horse show series with great offerings for equestrian competitors. The Fieldstone Summer Showcase/Fidelity Investments Jumper Classic Horse Show Series will feature jumper competition in three divisions with opportunities for great prizes and circuit championship awards. It is set to begin August 25-29 with the Fieldstone Summer Showcase at the Fieldstone...

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,...

The tradition of elite show jumping competition with a European look and feel keeps some of the finest international equestrian athletes returning to the Jumper Classic, now in its 20th year. The 2009 Jumper Classic, with its premiere event, the $75,000 Fidelity Investments Grand Prix, will be held September 2-6 over Labor Day weekend at New England's finest equestrian show grounds, Silver Oak Equestrian Center, in Hampton Falls, NH. The five-day show, held for the past 19 years in early...

The Arabian Horse Association (AHA) of Aurora, CO, is proud to name its top point-earning amateurs for 2008. Natacha Lesburgueres of Louisville, KY, earned 532 points, becoming the adult amateur winner, while Collier McLeod of Augusta, GA, earned 522.5 points for the youth amateur top spot. The AHA Amateur Achievement Award program began in 2002 and has since tracked the points that individual riders, handlers and drivers earn each year. In 2008 the program was adjusted to recognize adults and...

The American Trakehner Association (ATA) is pleased to announce that the following five stallions were approved in 2008. —A’Osiris, owned by Raymond Bernier (Valley View Stable) of Milton, VT —Bond James Bond MB, owned by Elevages Mallet Barsalou of Quebec, Canada —Cardinali, owned by Jeanette Knight (Wolf Run Farm) of Buxton, ME —Imminence, owned by Jean Brinkman (Valhalla Farm) of Wellborn, FL —Tatendrang, owned by Ann Cottongim (Emerald Acres) of Alford, FL...

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...

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...

Lexington, Ky. – The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) is pleased to announce that Roxanne Trunnell (Rowlett, Texas) has been added to the U.S. Paralympic Equestrian squad for the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, September 7-18. Trunnell will be entered as an individual in the Grade Ia division with Royal Dancer, Julia Handt’s 2005 Westphalian gelding. As a result of a Danish athlete withdrawing from the Paralympics, the Fédération Equestre...