The 32nd Arizona Saddlebred Futurity Horse Show will host the first annual Southwest Regional Championships. The regional is for horses residing in Zone 1 as designated by the ASHA (Zone 1 states are Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah). The Horse show and Saddlebred Futurity will run October 27-29, 2006 at Westworld of Scottsdale. Southwest Regional Championship honors will be awarded to the top horse/rider in each of the following: the Open and Amateur Championship classes...

The Morris Animal Foundation (MAF) selected the University of Minnesota’s College of Veterinary Medicine to receive funding for the first ever Equine Consortium for Genetic Research grant. The goal of the grant is to bring together the world’s best researchers in a focused, collaborative effort to improve equine health. The consortium grant, led by University of Minnesota professors Jim Mickelson and Stephanie Valberg, received the highest score out of 27 multi-institutional applications...

The 61st annual Del Mar National Horse Show wraps up its third and final week with Hunter/Jumper Week, May 2–7. Coming on the heels of Western Week (April 20-23) and Dressage Week (April 27-30), Hunter/Jumper Week features the Del Mar National’s showcase event, the $100,000 HBO Grand Prix of Del Mar, an American Grandprix Association event, on Saturday, May 6, at 7 p.m. All Hunter/Jumper Week events are open to the public and staged at the Del Mar Equestrian Center on the Del Mar Fairgrounds....

Michael Desiderio from Chester, NJ, won the Arabian Horse Association (AHA) 2005 MD Barns High-Point Amateur Award by earning 594.5 points in the Amateur Achievement Awards program. The 15-year-old competed in both amateur and open classes, including working hunter, working hunter under saddle, hunter hack and hunter seat equitation not to jump and over obstacles. His younger brother, Anthony, was also among the Top Ten with 301 points. Desiderio earned 10 championships, two reserves and six...

Anyone hoping for the best seats to next year’s FEI World Cup Finals in Las Vegas can have a chance to purchase all-session tickets before they go on sale to the general public by joining the event’s World Cup Club. Membership in the World Cup Club is free, and it only takes a moment to join. The FEI World Cup Finals in both show jumping and dressage will return to the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, April 18-22, 2007. The 2006 Finals are being held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands (dressage),...

The Certified Horsemanship Association (CHA) has recently developed a new certification program -- the Equine Facilities Manager (EFM) program. This program is done as a 2.5 day clinic to certify four levels of stable employees: - Stable Worker- Qualified to work in a barn under the supervision of a manager - Stable Manager- Qualified to manage a small private stable of up to 10 head and 1-2 employees - Herd Manager- Qualified to manage a public equine facility of up to 35 head and 3-4...

Monica Christian of Brookville, OH, has been selected as the 2005 Arabian Horse Association (AHA) Youth of the Year by AHA out of a field of 17 nominees. The high school senior from Region 14 also serves as the Arabian Horse Youth Association (AHYA) Treasurer, a position she was elected to at the annual AHYA Convention in July of 2005. AHA honors one outstanding youth member annually with this award, which is based on an individual’s achievements and contributions to the Arabian horse industry,...

Lexington, KY – Ashley Alden, 17, of Deer Park, Illinois, riding American Saddlebred LA Blues, was crowned champion of the 2005 USEF Saddle Seat Medal Final, held November 19, as part of the UPHA/American Royal National Championship Horse Show in Kansas City, Missouri. Judges for this year’s final included Sandy Sessink of Eugene Oregon, Brent Jacobs of Georgetown, Kentucky, and Lewis Eckard of Hildebran, North Carolina. Smith topped the class of 24 entries in the two-phase...

After 30 of 33 events on the 2005 tour, it all comes down to one class in this year’s race for the titles of American Grand Prix Association (AGA) Rider, Horse and Rookie of the Year. Entering its 27th year, the AGA Grand Prix Series of Show Jumping is the world’s richest and longest running series of equestrian show jumping events. The AGA offers over $3 million in prize money on a tour that encompasses 30 events and 20 different equestrian market locations across the United States....

(Lexington, KY) – Adrienne Sternlicht on the seven year old gelding Vanity Fair, won yesterday’s 2005 Wild Horsefeathers / USEF Green Pony Hunter Championship. The championship was held as part of the USEF Pony Finals being held August 10-13 at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. As champion, the twelve year old Adrienne and “Coco,” a large pony, walked away with the Brownland Farm Perpetual Trophy, a Royal Rider Dress Sheet, a ten-inch Revere bowl keeper trophy and a Pessoa saddle. Her...