Iron Spring Farm's young KWPN stallion Sir Sinclair has been awarded the 2005 United States Dressage Federation (USDF) FEI Six-Year-Old Horse of the Year Championship. This title follows the 2005 USEF/Markel FEI Six-Year-Old Championship as well as first place in the FEI Six-Year-Old class at Dressage at Devon, where Sir Sinclair and Belinda Nairn-Wertman earned a 8.7 from FEI "O" Judge Linda Zang and FEI "I" Judge Jennie Loriston-Clarke. "We are very proud of Sir Sinclair," said Mary Alice...

Lexington, KY – When asked to choose one word that best describes who she is, Teal Dowling pauses, laughs a little and gives a word that all who know her would heartily agree with. The word would have to be “original,” she told the panel of judges in her interview as a finalist for 2005 USEF Junior Equestrian of the Year. The delightful 18-year-old from Spring Prairie, Wisconsin does her best to live up to that word, charting her own course as she navigates life and the world...

Carol Rose's Shining Spark was bred to be a spectacular show horse--and he was. He was bred to be a fabulous sire--and he is. Shining Spark is a 1989 son of Genuine Doc and out of Rose's 1979 American Quarter Horse Association's (AQHA) Superhorse and 1996 National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Hall of Fame inductee Diamonds Sparkle. In 2002, Shining Spark was the youngest stallion to reach one of the NRHA's most prestigious milestones and was named an NRHA Million Dollar Sire. Just three...

The Welsh stallion Carolinas Red Fox passed away on the morning of November 15 due to complications from Cushings disease and laminitis. The 1985 Welsh Section B stallion by Carolinas Purple Emperor (Solway Master Bronze x Eden Blue Bunting) out of Downland Dresden (Downland Chevalier x Downland Dignity) was imported from Wales as a yearling by Nancy Jane Reed of Land's End Farm in Centreville, MD. Red Fox had numerous wins on the line in England before arriving in the States. With limited...

The $75,000 Budweiser American Grand Prix Association (AGA) Championship, contested at the 122nd National Horse Show and Family Festival on Sunday, December 4, 2005, will be shown on the Outdoor Life Network on Christmas Day. The broadcast is scheduled for OLN at 6 p.m., Eastern time on December 25, 2005. The $75,000 Budweiser AGA Championship, the culmination of the year-long AGA tour, features the nation’s top show jumping horses and riders in their year end championship event, held during...

For the second year in a row, the United States hosted the FEI Children’s International Jumping Final. Held at the lovely Hummingbird Nest Ranch, just north of Los Angeles, 32 of the highest ranked riders aged 12-14 congregated for a week of competition and camaraderie from November 22-27. Venezuela’s Noel Vanososte conceived of the idea to have children’s jumper riders compete in a championship format as he watched developing riders in South America. After experimenting with various formats,...

The HorseTV Channel announced that it is in development with top horse behaviorist, GaWaNi Pony Boy for the production of a new television series called “Women & Horses.” The series will reflect the content of his popular Women & Horses magazine spotlighting women’s involvement in the horse world. “Women play an integral part in the horse industry,” said GaWaNi Pony Boy. “I am pleased to join with The HorseTV Channel to bring women’s significant achievements to light for the widespread...

Lexington, KY – The tally has just begun and your votes will be an integral part of deciding which of the nation’s leading equines will be named the inaugural Farnam®/ Platform™ • USEF Horse of the Year. Merely weeks away from the 2006 USEF Annual Meeting, all heads are turning to five finalists in anticipation of which horse will be adorned with the title—one of the most prestigious awards the USEF offers. The five finalists for Horse of the Year are:...

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...

Aaron Vale of Aiken, SC, riding for Angelstone Farms claimed another victory on board the 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Arriscraft Soleil with double clear rounds on November 20 over a field of 36 competitors in the $40,000 National Hunter Jumper League (NHJL) Grand Prix sponsored by Bayer/Legend. A first-round time of 88.158 seconds assured Vale a return spot in the jump-off. Their second clear round time of 43.024 seconds put them in the winner's circle. Vale had a total of six mounts...