Category Archives: Championships

Associations/Breeds, Awards, Breeds, Championships, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Events, USEF

ASHA High Point Awards Program to Replace ASHA Regional Championships

Leave a comment

Lexington, KY – The American Saddlebred Horse Association (ASHA) has announced that the ASHA Regional Championships have been discontinued, effective in 2011.

This change allows for more focus to be placed on the new ASHA High Point Awards program being implemented in the 2011 competition year. The ASHA High Point Awards program, an initiative of the Charter Club Council, recognizes Saddlebred and Half Saddlebred achievement, not only in the traditional show ring, but also in a wide range of open breed competition including dressage, combined driving, eventing, endurance/distance/competitive trail, hunter/jumper, and other disciplines.

In order for the ASHA High Point Awards program to be as comprehensive as possible, ASHA encourages management of all competitions where Saddlebreds and Half-Saddlebreds compete, to register their competitions with ASHA and be included on the ASHA Competition Calendar. The competition registration form can be found here. All ASHA members are urged to notify ASHA if a competition in their local area is missing from the ASHA Competition Calendar.

Full details of the ASHA High Point Awards program are posted on the ASHA website, www.asha.net.

For questions about the ASHA High Point Awards program, contact Brenda Newell, Senior Program Administrator, at 859.475.1461 or b.newell@asha.net, or Susan Harris, Registry Associate/Competitions, at 864.293.2741 or s.harris@asha.net.

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

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

1 Comment

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 →

*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

Leave a comment
©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.

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

Associations/Breeds, Awards, Breeds, Championships, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Events, Racing, Racing Sources

Champions Announcements Broadcast Live January 12

Leave a comment

The American Quarter Horse Journal – The American Quarter Horse Association will announce the 2010 AQHA Racing Champions awards live at 6 p.m. CST on Wednesday, January 12, from Heritage Place in Oklahoma City. With an elite awards-ceremony atmosphere, this year’s event will include champagne and valet parking for attendees. If you can’t make it to the event, the show will be broadcast free of charge on Q-Racing Video.

This year’s awards are wide open, with a number of legitimate contenders in many categories.

The freshman crop saw a number of top performances throughout the year, including that of 2-year-old colt American Runaway, who won the Ruidoso Futurity (G1) and was second in three other Grade 1’s while leading the AQHA Racing-Horseplayernow.com 2-Year-Old Poll for much of the year. The 2-year-old filly category includes 10 tough contenders that include A Snowy Cartel, the only freshman to notch two Grade 1 wins, while California starlet Flying Fig was three times the runner-up in Grade 1 races with purses of $1 million-plus.

Continue reading Champions Announcements Broadcast Live January 12 →

Championships, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Events, JRPR, Products/Services, USDF

Arenus Gears Up for 2011 as Presenting Sponsor for United States Dressage Federation

Leave a comment
Arenus was the Presenting Sponsor of the USDF Breeders Championships at Dressage at Devon. Rabiola, owned by Mary Alice Malone and Iron Spring Farm, won the USDF Mare Championship. (Photo courtesy of JRPR)

St. Louis, MO (December 16, 2010) – Arenus, a premier provider of innovative health and nutritional products for pets and horses, is pleased to announce they will continue to be a Presenting Sponsor of the United States Dressage Federation (USDF) during 2011. Arenus was a Presenting Sponsor for the Breeders Championship for the USDF throughout 2010 as well.

“Arenus is pleased to continue as a Presenting Sponsor of the USDF Breeders Championship,” said Simone Pophal, DVM, PhD, Arenus Business Manager. “We have developed a great partnership with the USDF and look forward to a fantastic 2011.“

Throughout 2010, Arenus served as a Presenting Sponsor for the Breeders Championship Series, including a presentation at Dressage at Devon. “We saw some amazing, beautiful and talented horses and it was our pleasure to take part in the 35th Annual Dressage at Devon,” said Melissa Bennington, Arenus Sales Specialist, North East US.

During Dressage at Devon, horses from Mary Alice Malone’s Iron Spring Farm took home several Breeders Championships, including the USDF Foal Championship won by Florence; the USDF Colt Championship won by El Paso ISF; and the USDF Mare Championship won by the famous Iron Spring Farm mare Rabiola, who also won more than 10 championships while at Dressage at Devon.

Continue reading Arenus Gears Up for 2011 as Presenting Sponsor for United States Dressage Federation →

Championships, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Events, FEI, Western/Reining

Malmö to Host Inaugural FEI World Reining Finals in 2011

Leave a comment

Lausanne (SUI), 1 December 2010 – The FEI has announced today that Bökeberg, near Malmö (SWE), will host the inaugural FEI World Reining Finals in May 2011. Qualified riders will compete for the title of World Reining Champion at the Finals in Malmö, where $100,000 in prize money will be on offer.

The FEI World Reining Finals, which are a reworking of the FEI World Reining Masters, will be held on 22 May 2011 at the well-known equestrian facility at Bökeberg, just outside Malmö. This is the first time that the annual individual final has been held outside North America since 2005.

Bökeberg has hosted major FEI championships in the past, including the 2009 European Vaulting Championships. It has also hosted the Swedish National Reining Championship.

Continue reading Malmö to Host Inaugural FEI World Reining Finals in 2011 →

Associations/Breeds, Awards, Breeds, Championships, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Events, Racing Sources, Western/Reining

AQHA: World Show Wrap-Up

1 Comment

The American Quarter Horse Journal – The American Quarter Horse Association crowned 94 world champions in Oklahoma City during the Bank of America Amateur and FedEx Open World Championship Show November 6-20.

AQHA world champions received a prize package that included a Montana Silversmiths sterling-silver buckle with 14-karat gold overlay, a neck wreath, custom-designed gold-tone trophy, specially designed and logoed Cripple Creek jacket, medallion, a pair of smooth ostrich Techno Crepe Justin Boots, Professional’s Choice products, 100 pounds of Nutrena feed as well as a cash prize.

Meet each of our newly crowned AQHA world champions, and learn more about their accomplishments at www.aqha.com/worldshow.

AQHA also recognized some of the top competitors at the World Show, including the Farnam Superhorse, the Oklahoma Leading Owner and the Farnam All-Around Amateur.

Continue reading AQHA: World Show Wrap-Up →

*Featured/Spotlights, Championships, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Eventing/H.T., Events, FEI, Show Jumping

FEI Championships 2010 – Asian Games

2 Comments
Japan took team and individual gold in the Eventing Championships at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China today. Kenki Sato (2nd from left) claimed the individual title. Photo: Laixiongmin.

KENKI TAKES INDIVIDUAL TITLE AS JAPAN DOES THE DOUBLE IN EVENTING

Guangzhou (CHN), 20 November 2010 – Kenki Sato claimed individual gold and helped Japan to secure the team title in Eventing at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China today.  The Buddhist monk, who finished 35th with his other ride, Hop and Skip, at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Kentucky in October, was lying second with Toy Boy after dressage and added nothing further to his score to take the individual honours ahead of Korea’s Jai Sik Cheon.

Sato’s team-mate Yoshiaki Oiwa took individual bronze, and Japan scored a convincing victory in the team competition, finishing with a 26-point advantage over the silver medallists from Thailand while China pipped the squad from Hong Kong by the narrowest of margins in the battle for team bronze.

Continue reading FEI Championships 2010 – Asian Games →

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

More Than 30 Entries Received for the NRHA Open World Championship Shootout

Leave a comment

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – November 17, 2010 – More than 30 entries have been received for the inaugural $100,000 added National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) World Championship Shootout. The Shootout is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 2 at the NRHA Futurity & Adequan North American Affiliate Championship Show. It is this year’s largest added money NRHA-approved class in the world.

The $100,000 added Shootout, sponsored by Equine Sports Medicine and Kyle Tack, is an “Open-to-the-World” class where the top Open reining horses on the planet may compete in a dramatic showdown for the winner’s estimated purse of $30,000. Entries can still be submitted with the appropriate late fee.

In addition, the 2010 NRHA Open World Champion will be recognized and honored at the show – even though the World Champion and the Shootout winner may not be the same. To be named the 2010 NRHA Open World Champion, the horse must have earned money in seven or more NRHA Category 1 Open classes. Below is a list of NRHA Open World Championship contenders that have earned money at 6 or more NRHA Category 1 Open classes. These horses are scheduled to compete on December 2.

Continue reading More Than 30 Entries Received for the NRHA Open World Championship Shootout →

Championships, Competitions, Contributors/Press, Disciplines, Dressage, Events, FEI

FEI Championships 2010 – Asian Games

Leave a comment
(L to R) Silver medallist Quzandria Nur Binti Mahama Fathil from Malaysia, gold medallist Young Shik Hwang of Korea and bronze medallist Mohd Qabil Mahamad Fathil from Malaysia. Photo: Laixiongmin.

DOUBLE GOLD FOR KOREA IN DRESSAGE CHAMPIONSHIPS AT ASIAN GAMES

Guangzhou (CHN), 18 November 2010 – It was all gold for the Republic of Korea in the Dressage Championships at the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China this week.  On Sunday Dong Deon Kim, Kyun Sub Kim, Young Shik Hwang and Jun Sang Choi scooped the team title ahead of the host nation, and then Hwang, who celebrated his 20th birthday last Saturday and who dominated from the outset, came back to claim the individual title ahead of Malaysian siblings Quzandria Nur Binti Mahama Fathil and her brother Mohd Qabil Ambak Mahamad Fathil.

This was the fourth back-to-back team gold medal result for Korea, and their fifth in total since equestrian sport became part of the Asian Games programme at the ninth edition in Delhi, India in 1982.  The Asian Games is a multi-sport event staged every four years and the 2010 fixture, which began on 12 November and runs through to 27 November, includes a total of 476 events in 42 sports.  Riders from 16 countries are lining out in the three equestrian disciplines of Dressage, Eventing and Jumping.

Continue reading FEI Championships 2010 – Asian Games →