Category Archives: USEF

Championships, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Events, Hunter/Equitation, USEF, Western/Reining

2011 IHSA National Championships – A Preview to the Road to Lexington

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Fairfield, CT — In poker it’s called re-shuffling the deck, and when the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) announced at the start of the 2010 semester that it had realigned its nine Zones to eight – changing the geography of its competitive regions and impacting coaching strategies – it promised to make the road to the 2011 IHSA National Championships, May 5-8, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, an interesting one.

With Regional and Zone Championships, and Western Semi-Finals, still ahead for the 370-plus schools and more than 8,700 students competing this 2010-2011 season, a lot can happen between now and May. But with the close of the fall semester, team and individual performances are beginning to suggest where Nationals candidates might emerge.

Zone Hunter Seat Championships and Western Semi-Finals this spring represent the final step for qualifying IHSA teams and individuals. Each Region sends its top individual riders and one team to their respective Hunter Seat Zone Championship; at Zones, the top two individual riders and top two teams move on to Nationals.

Continue reading 2011 IHSA National Championships – A Preview to the Road to Lexington →

Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Events, USEF

This Week in International Disciplines – Dressage

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Tina Konyot and Calecto V at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Photo by Shannon Brinkman/USEF Archives.

The first 2010 CDI kicked off the season in Florida over the weekend and Tina Konyot took top honors with Calecto V. They represented the U.S. at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games last fall and returned to form after a winter break with a convincing performance for a score of 71.745% to win the Grand Prix for the Freestyle. Konyot was then second in the Freestyle behind Tinne Vilhelmson-Silfven and Favourit from Sweden.

Elizabeth Austin scored a win in the Grand Prix for the Special with Olivier – their score of 66.809% gave them a clear victory over Tuny Page and Alina. The pair swapped places in the Special, with Page’s score of 65.771% relegating Austin and Olivier to second on 62.917%.

The small tour classes featured some exciting up-and-coming horses with qualification for the 2011 Pan Americana Games on their minds. Heather Blitz and Paragon scored 75.746% to win the Prix St Georges and 73.509% to win the Intermediaire I, Shawna Harding and Rigo were runners-up in both classes but went on to win the Intermediaire I Freestyle.

Complete results are available here: http://www.gcdafl.org/.

*Featured/Spotlights, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Events, USEF

Wellington Classic Dressage Challenge to Host 2011 Exquis World Dressage Masters CDI5*

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Steffen Peters and Ravel at the World Dressage Masters. Photo by Ken Braddick.

West Palm Beach, FL – Pending FEI approval, the Exquis World Dressage Masters CDI5* has been rescheduled for March 9-12 at the Wellington Classic Dressage Challenge in West Palm Beach, FL. The featured event, the Freestyle, will be held under the lights on Friday evening. The only CDI5* held annually in the United States, the World Dressage Masters attracts some of the world’s best.

Over the last two years, World, Olympic and World Cup Champions have all been in attendance and 2011 promises to not disappoint. Held for the first time at the world-class Palm Beach County Jim Brandon Equestrian Center in West Palm Beach – South Florida will again welcome the dressage world.

For more information, please visit: http://www.wellingtonclassicdressage.com/index.html or http://www.worlddressagemasters.com/EN/. Please contact Eva Salomon with questions at esalomon@usef.org.

Awards, Breeds, Contributors/Press, Events, USEF

PHR Silver Stirrup Awards Kick Off the Festivities at the USEF Annual Meeting

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USEF's Trisha Watkins with Silver Stirrup recipient Ashley Guidry. Photo by Geoff Oliver Bugbee/USEF.

Lexington, KY – Honors for the best in U.S. sport horse owners, breeders and sires were presented at the Performance Horse Registry’s (PHR) Annual Silver Stirrup Awards during the first of many celebrations hosted at the 2011 United States Equestrian Federation’s Annual Meeting held at the Downtown Hyatt in Lexington from January 19-23. Also on Thursday, the inaugural American Performance Horse Awards and the USEF/Rood & Riddle Thoroughbred Horses in Sport Awards were also bestowed.

Attendants from across the country applauded the horse owners and breeders. Among the many awards was one presented by familiar PHR and Silver Stirrup Awards sponsors Joan Irvine Smith and The Oaks. The winner of the South Pacific Award for Leading U.S.-based Jumper Sire, Lio Calyon (Holliostro x Zoellnerin), is owned by Wild Turkey Farm in Woodside, CA.

The Performance Horse Registry came to the USEF via the Jockey Club in 2000. Today, it serves several purposes: first, it is the main source of complete pedigree data on horses at the Federation. It also serves as a registry for horses that do not fit into the typical breed registry format. Many horses enter the PHR to do both: get their horse’s entire pedigree recorded with the Federation, and obtain identification papers for their horses. Those horses competing in USEF-licensed competitions can be nominated for the Silver Stirrup Awards.

Continue reading PHR Silver Stirrup Awards Kick Off the Festivities at the USEF Annual Meeting →

*Featured/Spotlights, Community/Charity, Contributors/Press, Dressage, Equestrian Assistance, Eventing/H.T., USEF

USEF Passes New Safety Helmet Rules for Eventing and Dressage Riders

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Steffen Peters wore a helmet during the Dressage Freestyle at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. Photo by Shannon Brinkman/USEF Archive.

Lexington, KY – The Board of Directors during this year’s United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Annual Meeting approved new helmet rules for riders in both eventing and dressage – just two weeks after dozens of stakeholders in equestrian sport met with the goal of improving rider safety across disciplines.

”If the technology is available to reduce head injuries, the time to use it is now,” said USEF President David O’Connor. “I am very proud of our organization for taking this very important step. It is a huge direction of change.”

Briefly, the first rule change requires anyone on a horse to wear a ASTM/SEI-approved helmet at all times while mounted on competition grounds at U.S. nationally rated eventing competitions. The rule change is effective immediately.

Further specifics regarding the changes to the rule for Protective Headgear for Eventing (EV 114.1) will be posted here in the future: http://www.usef.org/_IFrames/RuleBook/Changes/2011.aspx.

Continue reading USEF Passes New Safety Helmet Rules for Eventing and Dressage Riders →

*Featured/Spotlights, Awards, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Events, USEF, Western/Reining, World Equestrian Games

McCutcheon Scores 2010 USEF Equestrian of the Year Title; Harris Honored for a Lifetime of Excellence

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Tom McCutcheon, Don Harris and Kelsey Kimbler. Photo: Geoff Oliver Bugbee/USEF

Lexington, KY – In a year that equestrian sport was forever changed in the United States, an all-American horseman was honored for his golden achievement. For the second consecutive year, the voters for USEF Horse and Equestrian of the Year have crowned a horse and his rider as champions in both categories.

Tom McCutcheon, the only American double Gold medalist at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games had barely finished celebrating the achievements of Gunners Special Nite as 2010 Farnam/Platform USEF Horse of the Year on Friday evening at the USEF Annual Meeting, when he would find himself on stage again, this time picking up an honor all his own.

McCutcheon wrote his place in history, becoming the first reiner to be crowned USEF Equestrian of the Year.

Continue reading McCutcheon Scores 2010 USEF Equestrian of the Year Title; Harris Honored for a Lifetime of Excellence →

*Featured/Spotlights, Awards, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Events, USEF, Western/Reining, World Equestrian Games

Double Gold Medalist Gunners Special Nite Named 2010 Farnam/Platform USEF Horse of the Year

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Gunners Special Nite. Photo: Shannon Brinkman/USEF

Lexington, KY – The city of Lexington was largely defined by the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in 2010, so it proved a fitting setting to crown the 2010 Farnam/Platform USEF Horse of the Year.

And the winner couldn’t be more all-American.

The only multiple Gold medal-winning horse for Team USA, Gunners Special Nite, a six-year-old American Quarter Horse, brought the sport of reining to the forefront of the American equestrian community. People who had never heard of reining watched Gunners Special Nite put in a foot-perfect effort to cruise to victory with the Adequan U.S. Reining Team on NBC’s Broadcast. The team won a Team Gold medal by the largest margin in history.

But it was the Individual Championship where Gunners Special Nite stood out above the rest of the field. His performance with steely veteran Tom McCutcheon brought down the house in the Alltech Arena and secured Gunners Special Nite’s place in the history books.

Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=13065

*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Events, HITS, Hunter/Equitation, Show Jumping, USEF

2011 USEF Junior Hunter National Championships – East Coast Returns to HITS-on-the-Hudson

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©Lili Weik Photography. Taylor Ann Adams is congratulated after winning the 2009 Essex Classics/USHJA Hunterdon Cup at HITS Saugerties.

Wildcard Berths for the Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final to Be Awarded to Champion Riders from Each of the Four Junior Hunter Sections

SAUGERTIES, NY (January 28, 2011) — HITS, Inc. is pleased to announce that the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) has selected HITS-on-the-Hudson to be the host site for the 2011 Junior Hunter National Championships – East Coast, marking the return of the event to HITS facility for the sixth time in the past seven years.

The 2011 USEF Junior Hunter Championships – East Coast will be held August 1-3, between HITS-on-the-Hudson V and VI, at the HITS-on-the-Hudson show grounds in Saugerties, New York. The Championships will feature competition for all four sections of Junior Hunters: Small Juniors 15 and Under, Large Juniors 15 and Under, Small Juniors 16-17 and Large Juniors 16-17. Also held during this competition is the popular and prestigious Hunterdon Cup, which offers an exciting equitation championship for junior riders. Equitation classes will kick things off with the USEF/Pessoa Hunter Seat Medal, the ASPCA Maclay Horsemanship Medal, and the WIHS Equitation Classic taking place the first day of competition.

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Awards, Community/Charity, Contributors/Press, EQUUS Foundation, Events, Phelps Media Group, USEF

IHSA’s Bob Cacchione Selected as USEF/EQUUS Foundation Humanitarian Award Recipient

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WELLINGTON, FL – January 9, 2011 – Bob Cacchione, Executive Director of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA), will be honored as the recipient of The EQUUS Foundation Humanitarian Award presented by The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF). The presentation will take place on January 21, 2011, at the USEF Pegasus Awards Dinner during the Federation’s Annual Meeting in Lexington, KY.

The EQUUS Foundation Humanitarian Award is a celebration of the humanitarian achievements made by a member of the equestrian world.  Specifically, the goal of this humanitarian honor is to spotlight and exalt the selfless dedication one individual or a group of individuals has made, whether on a regional or national scale. From improving the health and welfare of the horse to promoting and expanding the general public’s appreciation and respect of the diverse roles of horses, the recipient of this award will be someone who has devoted considerable personal time to making the lives and quality of life of our equine partners paramount.

“I am totally overwhelmed with this honor; especially being recognized by my peers,” said Cacchione. “To be acknowledged for what I have tried to do for the youth of the equestrian world with the creation and development of the IHSA is just incredibly meaningful.”

Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=12913

Awards, Community/Charity, Contributors/Press, Events, USEF

USEF Announces the 2010 USEF Horse of the Year Candidates; Voting Now Open!

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Ravel, Horse of the Year in 2009. Photo by Shannon Brinkman/USEF

Lexington, KY – December 21 – To reach the highest level of excellence in equestrian sport takes talent, perseverance, a tremendous spirit and often, unwavering courage. In 2010, five horses have shown the world those qualities and more. And on January 22, the United States Equestrian Federation will bestow just one of them with the prestigious title of Horse of the Year, the highest honor the USEF awards a horse.

The five champions have earned their place on the elite list as USEF Horses of Honor, and each will be recognized at the USEF Horse of the Year Awards gala and dinner in January — part of the USEF Annual Meeting — at the Downtown Hyatt Regency in Lexington, KY.

Read more> http://www.horsesinthesouth.com/article/article_detail.aspx?id=12911