Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - The Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI) General Assembly opened in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Friday, November 11, 2011, with a meeting of the FEI Bureau, the first in four days of meetings culminating in the General Assembly on Monday, November 14, 2011. At its meeting Friday, the Bureau unanimously agreed to a proposal from the Dressage Committee to withdraw the proposed addition to Article 430.7.6: evidence of blood in the arena, in order to allow the Veterinary...

Shelburne, VT — The American Morgan Horse Association (AMHA) was pleased to honor an following individuals at its annual convention, which took place February 23-26, 2011, in Boston, MA. The Breeders' Hall of Fame honors a breeder(s) who has produced Morgans that have had a significant impact on the breed. Honored were Vincent and Kathy DeFazio, Orcland Farm, and Mary Jean Vasiloff. Eitan Beth-Halachmy and Beverley Olson were inducted into AMHA's Hall of Fame for their many years of devotion to...

Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) is pleased to announce that beginning this year, it will assume responsibility for fielding and supporting the U.S. Saddle Seat Equitation Team for the Saddle Seat Equitation World Cup. The USEF will also assist in hosting the competition when held in the United States. "This is what USEF does," said Federation President David O'Connor. "It just makes sense for us to be involved with this." The bi-annual competition originated in...

Boston, MA - More than $95,000 was earned at the 2011 AMHA/WMF Stallion Service Auction, which took place as part of the AMHA Annual Convention in February. The event took place at the Park Plaza Hotel in Boston with Bill Carrington serving as auctioneer and David "Tuffy" Owens reading the pedigrees. The overall top-winning bid went to Dan Kelley of Victory Lane Morgans for his bid of $10,000 for the cover of the November/December issue of The Morgan Horse magazine. Bill and Sammi Hazen...

Alida D'Angona, Miss Massachusetts 2011. (Photo courtesy AMHA.) Shelburne, VT — Alida D'Angona, 24, from Bolton, MA, recently was crowned Miss Massachusetts 2011, and will be a presenter at the American Morgan Horse Association's annual awards banquet on Saturday, February 26 in Boston. Born in California, D'Angona traveled with her family as a child across the world to live in Hong Kong before settling in Bolton. With an interest in music as well as the sciences, D'Angona quickly became...

Waltenberry/USEF (Team Medalists at the 2010 SmartPak Young Rider Reining Championships) Lexington, KY - For the first time the Adequan FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North (NAJYRC) will add a Junior Championship in the sport of Reining in 2011. Reining joins the Dressage, Eventing and Jumping disciplines in hosting International FEI championships for Juniors and Young Riders. The three Olympic Equestrian Disciplines were expanded to officially...

Boston, MA - Several nationally accomplished presenters will be leading clinics and seminars at the 2011 AMHA Convention, which will take place February 23-26 in Boston, MA. Among the speakers are: • Eitan Beth-Halachmy, the founder of Western Dressage, who will give a talk on this new discipline. • Carriage driver Jeff Morse will lead a talk on how carriage driving is a perfect discipline for older equestrians. • World champion trainer, Steve DeBolt, will give a harness demonstration/clinic. •...

Dr. Tim Holekamp was elected President of the American Trakehner Association at its 36th annual convention in Jacksonville, FL. Holekamp and his wife Cheryl own New Spring Farm in Columbia, MO, and are possibly best known for their acclaimed Trakehner stallion Windfall*Pg*, a U.S. Olympic team bronze medalist. “We started in 1984 with two Trakehner mares that we bought at the ATA auction in Columbus, Ohio,” said Holekamp, explaining that it took just one trip to an ATA convention for him to...

Lexington, KY - The Certified Horsemanship Association (CHA) Regional Conferences are being held around the continent this year. These educational events are open to the public and provide horses for participants to ride with top instructors. Press are invited to attend. Other are being added to the below list all the time at https://www.cha-ahse.org/regions.htm . Region 1 (British Columbia, WA, Western MT, ID, OR, Alberta) Conference –– Canyonview Equestrian Center in Silverton, OR - February...

Lexington, Kentucky - The American Saddlebred Horse Association (ASHA) will present the newly created ASHA Wing Tempo Award for the first time in 2011, at the Annual Saddlebred Convention and Youth Conference, set to take place beginning February 17 through 19 at the Griffin Gate Marriott Resort & Spa in Lexington, KY. This newly created award will recognize American Saddlebreds that have achieved excellence of the highest order in disciplines and venues not typically considered within the...