Cincinnati, OH – For the first time ever, the USEF crowned two horses with its highest honor, one from an International Discipline and one from a National Discipline. Neville Bardos and Sjoerd were named 2011 Horses of the Year at tonight’s USEF annual Horse of the Year celebration. Honored for their accomplishments in 2011 their roads through the last 12 months, while both exceptional, have been very different.
Videos of all of the Horses of Honor are available here: http://www.usefnetwork.com/featured/USEFAnnualMeeting2012.
Neville Bardos – Eventing
He shouldn’t have lived. But he did. He shouldn’t have returned to his life as an event horse. But he returned better than ever. Trapped in a burning barn for 45 minutes, Neville Bardos made a miraculous recovery from injuries sustained in a fire that claimed the lives of six other horses at his rider Boyd Martin’s barn in West Grove, PA. The now 13-year-old Australian Thoroughbred gelding won the USEF National CCI3* championship in 2009 and was 10th at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games – leading the U.S. effort. But his life changed dramatically in the early hours of Memorial Day in 2011. Martin pulled him out of the burning barn to safety. Neville Bardos was left with horrific injuries due to massive amounts of smoke inhalation and the subsequent damage to his throat.
Continue reading Neville Bardos and Sjoerd Named 2011 Horses of the Year by the USEF
Lausanne (SUI), 9 January 2012 – Twenty one nations are celebrating their Olympic qualification today, 9 January, which marks the 200-day countdown to London 2012 and 100 years of equestrian sport in the Olympic movement.
Lausanne (SUI), 31 December 2011 – The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has secured the final qualifying slot for the Jumping competition at the London 2012 Olympic Games. Saudi Arabia earned its qualification on the basis of the team’s combined classification among the FEI Olympic Group F teams – Africa and the Middle East – at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games 2010 and the 2011 FEI Group F Special Olympic qualifying competition, which took place on 30 December in Doha (QAT).
Lexington, KY – Elizabeth Busch Burke, one of the country’s most celebrated equestrian supporters and granddaughter of August A. Busch, Sr., co-founder of Anheuser-Busch, passed away on December 20, 2011, surrounded by her family and friends. Burke was 76.
Lexington, KY – The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) has posted the Selection Procedure and Application for the 2012 Show Jumping European Young Rider Tour. In addition, to the Young Rider Tour, there will be a Junior Rider Tour for up to two individual Junior Riders.