Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian is pleased to announce the athletes who will represent the Defender U.S. Driving Team at the 2024 FEI Driving World Championship for Four-in-Hand Horses this September in Szilvásvárad, Hungary. The team will be led by Chef d’Equipe Marcie Quist and team leader Anna Brooks Thomas. The following athlete-and-horse combinations have been selected for the Defender U.S. Driving Team and are listed in alphabetical order: Jim Fairclough (Newton,...

Lexington, Ky. - The FEI Board has approved the suspension of the implementation of Annexes 11 and 12 of the FEI Driving Rules 2025 , pending the full revision of the FEI Driving Rules that will take place in 2025. Although these annexes were approved without objections during the General Assembly, feedback from key stakeholders has highlighted challenges since their approval. The FEI Driving Committee will continue working on a standardized and accurate measurement method, ensuring the rules...

Lexington, Ky. – The US Equestrian Driving Sport Committee has approved updates to the Combined Driving Development Pathway Program. The Pathway is designed to prepare U.S. driving athletes and equines for future success at the elite level in international competition and to raise the quality of driving in the U.S. The Pathway Program document describes the purpose of the four levels of the program—Emerging, Developing, Pre-Elite, and Elite—and outlines the eligibility...

Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian is pleased to announce the coaching team for the Defender U.S. Driving Team for the 2024 FEI Driving World Championship for Single Horses. Mieke van Tergouw will serve as team coach and Claudio Fumagalli will be the assistant coach for the U.S. team at the championships which will take place Sept. 19-22, 2024, at Le Pin au Haras, France. Mieke van Tergouw and Claudio Fumagalli. ©Krisztina Horváth/Hoefnet.com As team coaches, van Tergouw and...

Sharon White Sydney Elliott Lexington, Ky. – Earlier this month, elections were held to select two new equestrian athletes to serve on the Team USA Athletes’ Commission (AC). After tabulating the votes, Sydney Elliott was elected to serve as the USAAC representative, and Sharon White was elected to serve as the Alternate USAAC representative. In their roles, which will run from January 2025 until 2029, both Elliott and White will serve on the US Equestrian Board of Directors as...

Basel, Switzerland – Katie Dinan and Out of the Blue SCF finished as the highest-placed U.S. combination to conclude the 2025 FEI Jumping World Cup Final, taking eighth overall after three competitive days of elite jumping competition. Lillie Keenan and Kick On took eleventh, while both Kristen Vanderveen aboard Bull Run’s Jireh and Kaitlin Campbell and Castlefield Cornelious both rounded out the top twenty placings. All four U.S. combinations jumped a clear first round. Julien...

Allentown, N.J. – Five national championships and five amazing stories of success were found at the Garden State CDE, held on October 11-13 at The Horse Park of New Jersey. In 2018, the inaugural preliminary combined driving national championships were held at the Garden State CDE, but this year, the intermediate championship divisions joined the lineup. A total of 17 combinations competed for titles in two intermediate and three preliminary divisions for national honors. The intermediate...

Basel, Switzerland - Kimmy Palmer performed a beautiful freestyle today to earn an 8.227 in the Individual Women's Freestyle secure a top five finish in the FEI Vaulting World Cup Final in Basel. Palmer and Rosenstalz 99 were elegant and fluid in the execution of their freestyle, which received a 9.0 and a 9.113 for their two technical components from the judges. Palmer (Half Moon Bay, Calif.) and Rosenstalz 99, a 2007 Rheinlander gelding (Rosencharmeur x Fidermark), owned by Club Ippico...

Wellington, Fla. – In front of a sold-out crowd and in a palpable atmosphere, Christian Kukuk (GER) and Checker 47 bested the class of 40 world-class entries to take top honors in the $750,000 Rolex US Equestrian Open Grand Prix CSI5*, a Rolex Series event. Kukuk, who is coming off an incredible 2024 competition season with Checker 47, hoisted the US Equestrian Open trophy atop the podium in the inaugural US Equestrian Open Jumping Final, etching their names into history. Laura Kraut...

Lexington, Ky. – Combined driving competitors have gathered at The Horse Park of New Jersey for a shot at winning a national title. Running October 12-14, the Garden State Combined Driving Event (CDE) welcomes 21 entrants across six USEF Preliminary Combined Driving National Championship divisions. The preliminary national championships make their debut in 2018 as a catalyst to ignite further interest in the combined driving discipline and cultivate combinations for the development and...