The Dressage Foundation proudly announced, following a special meeting of its Board of Directors, that Lendon Gray will become the President and Chief Executive Officer of The Dressage Foundation, effective September 1, 2008. "Her appointment grows out of a Management Transition Plan that has been conducted over the past year by the Foundation's Board and Staff, to replace John Boomer, President and CEO, and his wife, Lynn, Administrative Director, who, as sole staff members, have led,...

HITS is pleased to report that last week it received unanimous support from attendees of the 2008 USEF World Cup Riders Meeting held at The Oaks in San Juan Capistrano, CA, to once again host four FEI World Cup™ Qualifiers at the 2009 HITS Desert Circuit in Thermal. HITS has successfully run the World Cup classes at its West Coast circuit since 1991, giving riders on the West Coast an opportunity to qualify for the prestigious World Cups year after year right in their own backyard....

Lexington, KY - Qualifying for the 2008 Adequan/USEF National Open Reining Championship presented by Equine Motorcoach is well under way. Two of the four qualifying CRI competitions have already taken place. Both the National Western Stock Show in Denver, CO and the Cowboy Capital Classic in Stephenville, TX have happened and Matt Mills and Jordan Larson took home top honors. There are two more opportunities for Reiners on the USEF Reining Long List to compete to qualify for the 2008...

The Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series has been enjoying great success at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL. The series finished its third month of competition, and is already shaping up to be one of the most competitive years ever. The series will see classes at more than 100 horse shows across the country before culminating in year-end championships at the National Horse Show. The series hosts separate divisions for junior and amateur-owner riders...

Attendees of the 2008 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day will have the opportunity to walk the only four-star cross-country course in America with two of the country’s top event riders. Kim Severson and Jan Byyny, veterans of four-star competition, will be hosting the SmartPak Course Walk at the event. For Severson, this will be her third year leading the popular walk and for Byyny, her second. Both riders will be addressing their strategies in riding the challenging cross-country course from start box...

The Kentucky Spring Horse Shows, held at the scenic Kentucky Horse Park, have increased the prize money for this year's two-week event. Scheduled for the weeks of May 7-11 and May 14-18, 2008, the Kentucky Horse Shows upped the ante for the Sunday grand prix classes. The $55,000 Commonwealth Grand Prix CSI*** and the $55,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix CSI***, a member event of the American Grand Prix Association (AGA) Grand Prix Series, have both raised their prize money up from $50,000. The...

Stadium Jumping, Inc., is pleased to announce that it will present a $20,000 International Hunter Derby on April 6, 2008. This special High-Performance Hunter class will be hosted by Wrenwood Farms in Naples, FL. The International Hunter Derby is a return to the tradition and roots of the show hunters, where horses and riders will tackle a course of banks, stone walls, hedges, coops and more set in an open field. The class will be run under a two-round format, with Round One as a traditional...

A new program has been launched to provide prize money for exhibitors at the Arabian Sport Horse National Championships beginning in 2008. Founded by a group of Sport Horse National (SHN) exhibitors and supporters, the program features half-price stallion services as the main source of funding. By donating a breeding, all existing offspring of that stallion become eligible for the prize money in all payback classes. The stallion services are sold on a first-come-first-served basis to any mare...

The successful Heat and Humidity Workshop recently staged in Lausanne put the challenges facing horses and riders at this summer's Olympic Games in Hong Kong into ever-sharper focus and provided a wealth of information for veterinary officials and others involved in the world of equestrian sport. The speakers included officials from the Hong Kong Jockey Club which is providing the venue facilities, as well as veterinary expertise and the use of its top-class laboratory, the Equestrian Company...

John French rode Tache Rouge to victory in front of an energetic crowd on Friday evening in the $10,000 ASG Software Solutions/USHJA International Hunter Derby, presented by Dietrich Insurance featuring Walsh Harness & Saddlery, to kick off an exciting season finale weekend at HITS Thermal. French, from Gilroy, CA, had the ride for owner Alison Baileys and collected $3,000 in first-place prize money. A field of 35 combinations in the first round were trimmed into a final round of 12 exhibitors...