This year’s prestigious Lexington Junior League Horse Show opened Monday evening, July 7, with a star-studded cast of the best American Saddlebreds in the world, among nearly a thousand horses and ponies entered for competition at The Red Mile. Two of the three reigning Saddlebred World’s Grand Champions, Grande Gil and CH Along Came A Spider, will meet all comers in the first jewel of the breed’s Triple Crown of competitions. Other shows in the Triple Crown are the Kentucky State Fair World’s...

The American Shetland Pony Club (ASPC) is ready to rock and roll with the celebration of their 120th Anniversary during the 2008 American Shetland Pony National Championship Congress Show in Cloverdale, IN. The Shetland Pony Championship Congress Show will be held at the new Crossroads Arena facility in historic “Covered Bridge Country” on July 30 through August 2. The excitement is steadily growing as the Shetland Pony Congress kick-off date approaches. “In honor of the 120th Anniversary of...

Twenty-six riders from first grade through twelfth grade trotted into the ring for the Riding For Reading Class at the Golden Gate Classic held at the Horse Park at Woodside, July 4. This is the first class of the summertime Riding For Reading Classes, and the organizers could not have been happier. “It was great to see so many riders in the class,” said Riding For Reading Treasurer Kelly Scarinci. “The classes have grown and the riders seem to really like it.” If smiling faces were any...

Patrick Seaton wanted to win the $30,000 Golden Gate Grand Prix so he could claim the Woodside Jumper Accumulator prize of $20,000. Peter Breakwell wanted to win because he was tired of finishing second to Seaton. Macella O’Neill wanted to win because she is a fierce competitor and has a string of solid jumping horses. But in the end, a former Zone 10 Young Rider jumped a little higher, turned a little faster, and dared to leave a stride out to claim her first Grand Prix victory. Twenty-six...

Laura Kraut and Cedric Head to Hong Kong (KennethKraus/PhelpsSports.com) By Joanie Morris Lexington, KY - Pending the approval of the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), the USEF has recommended the following horse/rider combinations for the US Olympic Team in show jumping for the 2008 Olympic Games, to be held in Hong Kong, China, August 15-21, 2008. Name/Age/Hometown/Horse/Age/Breed/Sex/Owner Beezie Madden/45/Cazenovia, NY/Authentic/13/KWPN/Gelding/Abigail Wexner McLain Ward/33/Brewster,...

Lexington, KY – The U.S. duo of Chester Weber and Tucker Johnson equaled an Chester Weber Drives to Third Place (Franz & Andreas Steindl) American best on Sunday by placing third overall in the Four-in-Hand Nations Cup at the World Equestrian Festival CHIO Aachen. Weber made a mistake at the very first cone and added some time faults in the final phase to finish the three phases in third individually, a personal best in Aachen, by less than a point on a score on 154.06. “We had...

David O’Connor, President of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), Olympic Gold medalist, Pam American Games and World Equestrian Games medalist, has been elected to the Board of Trustees of the American Horse Council (AHC). In 2004, O’Connor officially retired from international competition and was elected as president of USEF for the 2005-2009 term, and has now been re-elected for another four-year term. As president, he works closely with the FEI, the international governing body...

Lexington, KY - U.S. Drivers Chester Weber and Tucker Johnson prepared for September's World Championships with solid performances at the prestigious CHIO Chester Weber's Second Place Team (Andres Steindl) Aachen today in Aachen, Germany. Weber and Tucker sit in second and fourth individually after the marathon and lie second, on a score of 296.81, less than a point behind The Netherlands (296.23), in the team portion of the competition. Weber, from Ocala, FL, has a two-day score of 144.64...

Lexington, KY—EQUESTRIAN magazine, the official publication of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) since 1937, has recently been honored at the American Horse Publications (AHP) Annual Awards Program held in Saratoga Springs, NY, on June 21. AHP members were named finalists in the 2008 AHP Annual Awards Contest for material published in 2007. This year’s contest included 105 AHP members and 1,092 entries. A select panel of 29 industry judges reviewed the classes and critiqued the...

Lexington, KY - One of two Eventing Mandatory Outings gets underway at Barbury Castle July 4-6. Short Listed riders for the 2008 Olympic Games had a choice to run their horses in the Barbury Castle CIC*** this weekend or at a Mandatory Outing July 11-12 at The Fork Stables in Norwood, NC. Karen O’Connor, Gina Miles, Amy Tryon and Clark Montgomery chose the former and will test their skills against more than 100 of the world’s top horses and riders. Tryon did her dressage today with Poggio who...