Year in Review, Part II
Thursday, December 22 2011
Don’t be fooled, On the Line’s perspective of the year in review is more People Magazine than New York Times , but oh what fun everyone haves indulging in a good issue of People . It’s ok, you can admit it too. These moments and events represent a very small but entertaining snapshot of our horse world during the last six months of 2011
- Published in On the Line, Z-Blogs
Leibler and Watson 108 Second in Freestyle at the FEI Young Rider World Cup Dressage Final in German
Monday, December 19 2011
Lexington, KY - Isabelle Leibler and Watson 108 came in second in Sunday’s B Final in the Freestyle, representing the U.S. at the FEI Young Rider World Cup Dressage Final in Frankfurt, Germany. Leibler (Greenwich, CT) scored 68.700 on the 14-year-old Westphalian gelding, just behind Simona Aeberhard, representing Switzerland. Leibler and Watson 108 were invited to represent the U.S. at the 2011 Finals after posting the highest average in the FEI Young Rider Freestyle Test at CDI-Y’s during the qualifying period. This pair landed in Germany after a strong 2011 campaign that included winning a team Bronze medal and two Gold medals, individual and freestyle, at the Adequan/FEI North American Junior and Young Riders Championships presented by Gotham North. Additionally, they were crowned National Young Rider Dressage Champions at the 2011 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Festival of Championships
- Published in What's Happenin', Z-Blogs
USEF Report from First Pre-Olympic Games Dressage Clinic
Wednesday, December 14 2011
Lexington, KY – The first of six pre-Olympic Games Dressage Clinics kicked off at beautiful Epona Farm in Thousand Oaks, CA. These clinics, a joint effort by the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) and the USET Foundation will help prepare horses and riders for the 2012 London Olympic Games
- Published in What's Happenin', Z-Blogs
USDF Approves National Dressage Championships
Monday, December 05 2011
[Lexington, KY] The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) is pleased to announce approval by its Board of Governors of a US national dressage championship beginning in 2013. This championship will be a head to head competition showcasing Adult Amateur and Open riders at Training Level through Grand Prix. With invitations to be extended to competitors who have qualified through the Great American Insurance Group/USDF Regional Dressage Championships, the inaugural championship (exact name TBD) will take place in the fall of 2013 at the Kentucky Horse Park (KHP) in Lexington, KY. The KHP was the site of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. It also hosts the annual Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event and the FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships. According to USDF President George Williams, the first formal discussions within the USDF, regarding a US national championship, started almost 20 years ago.
- Published in What's Happenin', Z-Blogs
FOR THE LOVE OF HORSES pt. 1
Thursday, December 01 2011
The following is a story that I researched and wrote for Sidelines’ February 2011 issue. It was a very challenging story to write, because of the subject matter: unwanted horses in the United States. I love horses, but my work doesn’t have me laughing all the way to the bank. Neigh, I live on a tight budget and if I splurge on anything, it’s on having one pony and one dog. That’s it. They eat before I do.
- Published in Lauren Gallops, Z-Blogs
Fun Bustin’ Muttons at WIHS
Friday, November 18 2011
Sure, the 53rd annual Washington International Horse Show (October 23-28, 2011 at the Verizon Center in downtown Washington, D.C.) may have been home to such prestigious competitions as the $100,000 President’s Cup Grand Prix CSI3*-W, the WIHS Equitation Classic Finals and the $25,000 Puissance, but what folks really came out to see was the tough as nails riders who braved the fiercely competitive mutton-busting class. That’s right, Mutton Busting! Show us a rider who will don a full-face helmet, wind their fingers through the rough wool of a writhing sheep and hang on for dear life as said sheep runs for its own, and we’ll show you a true champion. Hats off to all the 2011 WIHS Mutton Busters, and especially to this year’s Mutton Busting Champion, 8-year-old Marissa Jones of River Chase Farm. Out of the gate they came, in a fast-moving blaze of thick wool and hooved fury. . . . . . Some riders kept their eyes bravely forward, determined to tame their mutton by ring's end
- Published in What's Happenin', Z-Blogs
Equestrian Sport Productions Announces 2012 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival Schedule Highlights
Friday, November 18 2011
[Wellington, FL] Equestrian Sport Productions (ESP) is pleased to announce the schedule highlights of the 2012 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF), including the USEF Selection Trials for the U.S. Show Jumping Team for the 2012 Olympic Games along with the 2012 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival Prize List availability online. The prize list is online at their website, www.equestriansport.com under the “Horse Show” tab and “Prize List” link. The 2012 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival is the world’s largest and longest-running horse show, combining hunter, jumper, and equitation competition for 12 weeks from January 11 to April 1. There will be some changes to the upcoming year’s schedule, and all of the exciting classes from last year will return. Management company Equestrian Sport Productions welcomes equestrians to the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, Florida for the biggest and best FTI WEF yet. Once again the show leads the country in prize money with over $6 million awarded, with the highlight class, the $500,000 FTI Consulting Finale Grand Prix, CSI 5*, moving to week 12 and running on Saturday, March 31
- Published in What's Happenin', Z-Blogs
Calling All Show Jumpers!
Tuesday, November 08 2011
Interested in Participating in the 2011 Holiday HorseFest Event in Downtown West Palm Beach at the Meyer Amphitheatre? Wellington, FL – The second annual Holiday HorseFest is quickly approaching. Held on Sunday, December 11, from 1-5 p.m., the event will host a unique equestrian competition at the Meyer Amphitheatre in downtown West Palm Beach.
- Published in What's Happenin', Z-Blogs
Who’s Your Daddy?
Monday, October 31 2011
The Who’s Your (Horse’s) Daddy Contest , sponsored by Omega Fields The art of breeding depends on many things; bloodlines of the mare, bloodlines of the sire, performance, conformation, markings, the list goes on and on! And successfully breeding and raising that next big star requires knowledge, a good plan, and a whole lot of patience! For those of you who have been lucky (or crazy) enough to dip your toe into the deep pool of sporthorse breeding, our hat’s off to you. In honor of Sidelines Magazine ’s upcoming breeding focus issue, and also just for fun, we’ve partnered with Omega Fields to present a contest that asks foals and their humans, “who’s your daddy?” We’re looking for that foal who is the mirror image of his daddy. Markings, attitude, confirmation. We know being a lookalike isn’t necessarily a foal’s golden ticket to success in life, but it sure is fun to find the sires that really “stamp” their offspring. We want to see the best lookalike picture of your foal AND his sire. We’ll put them side-by-side, and let you vote for the foal who looks the most like his daddy.
- Published in What's Happenin', Z-Blogs
Market For Lemons
Wednesday, October 26 2011
WITH ONE SIMPLE RULE CHANGE, THE USEF COULD DRAMATICALLY IMPROVE THE HEALTH OF THE HORSE INDUSTRY. Here’s How: “The Market for Lemons: Quality Uncertainty and The Market Mechanism” is a paper written in 1970 by economist George Akerlof about the used car market. It sounds like another boring paper that no one but the heavy breathers could stay awake for. But it won the Nobel Prize for the author, because of its widespread application for the real world
- Published in Injecting Perspective, Z-Blogs