Lexington, Ky. – Effective December 1, 2014, and for the 2015 competition year, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) has implemented withdrawal practices following Intraarticular Injections and Shockwave Therapy as a resulted of rule changes passed at the USEF Annual Meeting in January, 2014. For Intraarticular Injections a four day withdrawal time from competition has been instituted, while a three day withdrawal from competition for Shockwave Therapy has been implemented. For more information see the 2015 Guidelines for Drugs and Medications.

Additionally, for the 2015 competition year the USEF has created an Online Medication Report Form for Therapeutic Administration of Forbidden Substances, which can be accessed here.

For more information about the USEF Drugs and Medications Program, visit:

Topic: What Equine Professionals Should Know About Avoiding Insurance Disputes
Date: December 8, 2014
Time: 5:30 pm Pacific – 7:30 pm Central – 8:30 pm Eastern
Place: Attend via your phone or computer
Speaker: Julie I. Fershtman, Attorney at Law

On December 8, 2014 Equestrian Professional will host an equine law webinar specifically for horse professionals. This horse business seminar will be presented by equine law expert, Julie I Fershtman, attorney at law and will discuss “What Equine Professionals Should Know About Avoiding Equine Insuring Disputes.”

Whether equine professionals buy equine insurance for their own horses or whether they maintain horses belonging to others that are insured, it is important to understand the fine points and details regarding coverage that can make the difference between a paid claim and a denied claim. Equine professionals can also protect themselves from possible liabilities for failing to protect their client’s interests as to insurance.

This webinar will explain important, but sometimes little-known, equine insurance requirements as well as suggestions for avoiding disputes with insurers and equine professionals’ clients. Equine professionals cannot afford to miss it.

Julie Fershtman, the presenter, is a nationally known equine law practitioner with 28 years of experience. She has handled, and won, numerous equine insurance cases around the country.

Be sure to sign up early! This seminar is free to all horse professionals but you must register to attend. You can learn more here

About The Speaker
Julie I. Fershtman is a Shareholder with the Michigan firm Foster Swift Collins & Smith, PC. She is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading counselors and litigators in Equine Law. Her law practice crosses all equine breeds and disciplines and serves stables, industry professionals, associations, businesses, show management, insurers, trainers, equestrian athletes, and “celebrity clinicians” across the United States. She is highly experienced in handling a wide variety of disputes frequently encountered in the equine industry, including business conflicts, contract disputes, personal injury, sales disputes, partnership disputes, and numerous others. She also drafts contracts involving equine transactions with the goal of helping her clients avoid disputes. Her expertise includes business litigation, fraud litigation, and insurance litigation. She has successfully tried equine-related cases before juries in 4 states and has been retained as special outside counsel on lawsuits in 14 jurisdictions nationwide.

Equestrian Professional.com
Contact: Elisabeth McMillan
info@equestrianprofessional.com

Denver, November 2014—The Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH Intl.) Award Winners were honored October 31, 2014, at the annual PATH Intl. Awards Banquet, an exciting highlight of the 2014 PATH Intl. Conference, Annual Meeting and Horse Expo, held this year at the Town and Country Resort in San Diego, CA. The banquet featured a fun opening with Polynesian dancers followed by an excellent dinner. Anticipation was high as attendees waited for the award winners to be announced. The night was a celebration of the people who exemplify the best of the wonderful population of equestrians, certified professionals, veterinarians, volunteers and equines who work together to change the lives of people who live with physical, mental, emotional and learning challenges.
The following people received 2014 PATH Intl. Achievement Awards:

James Brady Lifetime Achievement Award: Ainslie Kraeck, Region 11, San Diego Hippotherapy, a PATH Intl. Premier Accredited Center (PAC), Imperial Beach, CA

PATH Intl. Equine of the Year Award (sponsored by The Equus Foundation): Pete, Region 11, DreamPower Horsemanship, a PATH Intl. PAC, San Martin, CA
PATH Intl. Certified Professional of the Year (sponsored by Purina): Margaret (Marny) Mansfield, Region 2, Pegasus Therapeutic Riding, Inc, a PATH Intl. PAC, Brewster, NY

PATH Intl. Volunteer of the Year (sponsored by AIM/Equine Network): Harry Ayala, Region 5, Heavenly Hooves, Inc., Kissimmee, FL

PATH Intl. Veterinarian of the Year (sponsored by Luitpold Pharmaceuticals): Dr. Manuel Himenes, Region 11, Therapeutic Horsemanship of Hawaii, a PATH Intl. PAC, Waimanalo, HI

PATH Intl. President’s Award: Kim Henning, Chair, Membership Oversight Committee, Cheff Therapeutic Riding Center, a PATH Intl. PAC, Augusta, MI

Click here for more information on these winners as well as all the region winners.

About PATH Intl.:
The Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International® (PATH Intl®.) was formed in 1969 to promote safety and optimal outcomes in equine-assisted activities and therapies (EAAT) for individuals with special needs. At 852 member centers, more than 58,000 children and adults may find improved health, wellness and a sense of pride and independence through involvement with horses. Therapeutic horsemanship at member centers may include hippotherapy, equine-facilitated mental health, driving, interactive vaulting, trail riding, competition, ground work and stable management. Through a wide variety of educational resources, the association helps individuals start and maintain successful EAAT programs. There are nearly 53,000 volunteers, 4,544 instructors, 7,733 equines and thousands of contributors from all over the world helping people at PATH Intl. Member Centers.

For more information, contact:
Cher Smith, Communications Coordinator
(800) 369-7433, ext. 123
csmith@pathintl.org

By: Lindsay Y. McCall

Wellington, Florida – November 26, 2014 – Entries are now being accepted here0 through December 22, 2014, for the 2015 Adequan Global

Trainer Wes Dunham and WEG athletes Sydney Collier’s mount Willi Wesley at the 2014 Adequan Global Dressage Festival CPEDI3* horse inspection . Photo by Lindsay McCall

Dressage Festival CPEDI3*. Para-Equestrian Dressage athletes kick-off the show season with their their first international show of the year January 7-11, 2015, in Wellington, FL, in the Van Kampen covered arena. This show will include FEI Para-Equestrian Dressage athletes in Grades Ia, Ib, II, III, and IV. Thursday, January 8, is the Horse inspection at approximately 5:30 PM. Friday, January 9, is the FEI Para-Equestrian Dressage Team Test, followed by Saturday’s FEI Para-Dressage Individual Championship Test, and finally the FEI Para-Dressage Freestyle Test on Sunday, January 11. Para-Dressage riders are looking towards qualifying for the 2016 Paralympic Equestrian competition in Rio Di Janeiro, Brazil, September 7-18, 2016.

The 2015 Adequan Global Dressage Festival CPEDI3* is once again managed by Lloyd Landkamer. The FEI Ground Jury includes Mr. Freddy Leyman (BEL),
Mr. Kjell Myhre (NOR), Mr. Marc Urban (BEL), Ms. Kristi Wysocki (USA), and Ms. Adrianne Pot (USA). Global Dressage Festival I CDI W/1*/Y/J/P/U25 / CPEDI 3* January 7-11, 2015 is presented by Adequan. It features over $50,000 in prize money and is official qualifying competition for: The 2015 Adequan FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North; the 2015 USEF Pony Rider Dressage National Championship; 2015 AGCO/USEF Junior and Young Rider Dressage National Championships; and the 2015 USEF Young Adult ‘Brentina Cup’ Dressage National Championship. It’s also the official qualifying competition for the 2015 Markel/USEF Young and Developing Horse Dressage Championships, the Great American/USDF Regional Championships and USDF/Dover Adult Amateur Medal Program. The Adequan Global Dressage Festival is the world’s largest international and national dressage circuit featuring 8 CDIs, including five CDI-Ws, one 4* and one 5*, the only non-championship CDIO Nations’ Cup in the Western Hemisphere, as well as weekly U.S. National events.

The Prize List is available here:

Online entries:
Closing Date: Received by December 22, 2014 midnight Eastern Time

Website:

International Coordinator Thomas Baur 561-727-0229
Co-Manager and Secretary John Hoppman 612-799-6381
Co-Secretaries: Teresa Griner, Deb Landon, Peggy Warren, Angela Goodwin-Volpert
Veterinarian on grounds: Palm Beach Equine 561-793-1599
Farrier on grounds: Tony Bucci 561-798-8500
Competition Licensee: Equestrian Sport Productions LLC
Announcers: Nicho Meredith and Cyndi Kurth
Photographers: Susan Stickle at www.dressagephotos.com or susanjstickle.com

Location: The Stadium in Wellington, Florida

About the Adequan Global Dressage Festival:

The Adequan Global Dressage Festival is the world’s largest international and national dressage circuit featuring 8 CDIs, including five CDI-Ws, one 4* and one 5*, the only non-championship CDIO Nations’ Cup in the Western Hemisphere, as well as weekly U.S. National eventsThe Stadium at Palm Beach International Equestrian Center facility includes the Van Kampen covered arena (made possible by Kimberly and Frederic Boyer and family) and four outdoor arenas with world-class footing, 200 permanent stalls, and a VIP seating area for the International Arena fully catered for relaxing and having an enjoyable experience.

Para-Dressage athletes at the 2014 Adequan Global Dressage Festival CPEDI3* Photo by: Lindsay Y. McCall

Wellington, FL (November 26, 2014)— The winner of the 2014 United States Dressage Finals Grand Prix Championship is now also a radio star. FEI dressage competitor and trainer Devon Kane of Wellington, Florida, is featured as a guest on Dressage Radio Show’s “Dressage Radio Episode 285— US Dressage Finals Wrap.” In the thirty-five minute episode, Kane shares the exciting story of her unexpected journey to Lexington, Kentucky that resulted in national victory.

Dressage Radio Show, produced by the Horse Radio Network, broadcasts top dressage news and entertaining rider interviews every Friday. The show was eager to welcome Kane as the guest of Episode 285 on November 12, 2014. Equestrians Reese Koffler-Stanfield and Phillip Parkes hosted the episode, which featured successful U.S. Dressage Finals competitors Kane and Rachael Hicks. With an over twenty-hour trek from south Florida to the sleeting, stormy Lexington finals and the outstanding accomplishments of a spirited horse in the Grand Prix ring, Kane’s story is one that dressage enthusiasts will not want to miss.

“I wasn’t planning to go to Kentucky because of the distance and the traveling, but the more I thought about it, the experience of being able to go up there and ride in a real indoor arena was really something I couldn’t pass up,” Kane explains on the radio show. “I need that exposure and I need that time in the arena. It worked out greatly to our advantage, obviously!” Kane and her self-trained Danish Warmblood gelding Destiny took first place in the U.S. Dressage Finals Grand Prix Championship Open on Friday, November 7, with an impressive score of 72.000 percent. Since Kane purchased Destiny as a barely broke five-year-old, the pair has become a formidable team in the show ring. The now eleven-year-old horse is a brilliant example of Kane’s training abilities.

“My horse was wonderful! He was super and ready and we were so prepared,” Kane shares about the Finals. “Destiny is one of those really special horses. When I first met him, I knew there was something great in the horse. He’s a little spunky. He’s always been a little bit different and kind of difficult to keep together. But in the Grand Prix, he’s really come into his own. He’s so much happier in the Grand Prix work then in anything else. It keeps his mind and his body busy.” Both Destiny’s and Kane’s love for Grand Prix dressage was evident from their beautifully fluid movements throughout the test.

“The coolest part about nationals is there are so many different people and different areas represented that you don’t always see at other show circuits,” Kane enthused. “They made the atmosphere so electric and so exciting! I’m very happy that we did this.” As the winter competitive season of Wellington, Florida approaches, national champions Kane and Destiny are ready to continue their winning ways.

To listen to Kane’s exciting interview on Dressage Radio Show, click here. For more information about Devon Kane, Destiny, and Kane’s flourishing dressage training, boarding, and sales business Diamante Farms in Wellington, visit or call 561-307-2831.

London (GBR), 26 November 2014

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II today became the first recipient of the FEI Lifetime Achievement award in recognition of her leading role as supporter of equestrian sport throughout her reign as British monarch.

The award was presented to Her Majesty by FEI President HRH Princess Haya at a ceremony in Buckingham Palace this afternoon in the presence of former FEI President the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Phillip, and Keith Taylor, Chairman of the British Equestrian Federation.

Horses featured in The Queen’s life from a very young age. She had her first riding lesson in the private riding school at Buckingham Palace Mews in January 1930, when she was just three years old and was given her first pony, the Shetland mare Peggy, by her grandfather King George V on her fourth birthday.

One of The Queen’s favourite horses was the mare Burmese, a present from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1969 when they came to perform at the Royal Windsor Horse Show. The Queen rode Burmese side-saddle for 18 years at the Trooping the Colour ceremony, which celebrates the Sovereign’s birthday. The President’s Trophy, presented by Prince Philip for many years to the winning country in the FEI Nations Cup™ series, was a bronze of the Queen and Burmese.

In the Thoroughbred world, horses bred by The Queen have won more than 1,600 races, and, of the British Classics, only the Epsom Derby still eludes Her Majesty. She also breeds Shetland, Highland and Fell ponies to ensure the traditional bloodlines in these native breeds are preserved and enhanced.

As well as The Queen’s enduring love of racing, breeding and equestrian sport, the British Royal Family has a long history linked to the horse. The Duke of Edinburgh played polo until 1970 and then took up carriage driving the following year, and also played a key role in compiling rules for the international sport early in his 22-year tenure as FEI President. The Prince of Wales, Prince Charles, and two of The Queen’s grandsons, Princes William and Harry all play polo. The Queen also plays host to the annual Royal Windsor Horse Show, which features international Jumping, Dressage and Driving, and where many of the Queen’s home-bred native ponies line out in the showing classes.

Equestrian sport celebrated 100 years in the Olympic Movement at London 2012, where The Queen’s granddaughter Zara Phillips claimed team silver in Eventing. Zara Phillips won team and individual gold at the FEI World Equestrian Games™ in 2006 and was also crowned European champion in 2005, following in the footsteps of her mother, The Princess Royal, who won the European title in 1971 on Doublet, a horse bred by the Queen out of one of Prince Philip’s polo ponies. Princess Anne, also a former FEI President, is an IOC Member and President of the British Olympic Association, and competed at the Montreal Olympic Games in 1976, the first member of the British Royal Family to compete at Olympic level.

The Queen’s cousin Margaret Rhodes, interviewed last year for a BBC documentary, The Queen: A Passion For Horses, believes that the importance of horses in The Queen’s life cannot be overestimated: “When she became Queen, she had to sacrifice an awful lot of emotions and thoughts of the future, but with horses it’s another world in that it reduces you to just the person in relation to the animal, and you’re not a Queen, you’re just a human being.”

“Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth is a life-long lover of horses who has inspired millions around the world and I am honoured to be able to present the first-ever FEI Lifetime Achievement award to Her Majesty on behalf of the FEI today”, HRH Princess Haya said after the presentation in The Queen’s audience room at Buckingham Palace. “She is a true horsewoman, who still rides whenever State business allows, and her knowledge of breeding and bloodlines is incredible. The bond between The Queen and horses is truly extraordinary and I can’t think of anyone more fitting to receive this very special FEI award in the Year of the Horse. I am very proud to be giving this award on behalf of the FEI family.”

“Horses have played such a huge part in the life of The Queen, and it is a family passion shared particularly with her husband and the two world-class champions in her daughter and granddaughter”, said Keith Taylor. “The Queen has an incredible in-depth knowledge of breeding, both Thoroughbreds and native ponies, and is patron of the British Horse Society, the Fell Pony Society, the Highland Pony Society, the Shire Horse Society, the Welsh Pony and Cob Society and the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association. It’s impossible to think of the Royal Family without thinking of horses. We are truly blessed to have a sovereign who values the horse and its many types so highly.”

The FEI Lifetime Achievement award was created by Princess Haya in 2014, her final year as FEI President, to acknowledge an individual who has inspired generations across the global equestrian community. Recipients of this award are recommended by the FEI Executive Board, and the FEI Bureau was delighted that the first-ever award has gone to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.

The award is a stunning white gold and diamond brooch of nine interlinked horseshoes, created especially for today’s presentation, and mirroring the insignia of the FEI Awards.

The FEI Lifetime Achievement Award is part of this prestigious scheme, which was launched in 2009 to reward excellence, commitment, dedication and courage. Other global equestrian heroes will be honoured at a glittering Gala Dinner during the FEI General Assembly in Baku, Azerbaijan on 14 December. The shortlist of nominees and full information on the FEI Awards 2014 and past winners is available at this link

Photo Caption: Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II today became the first recipient of the FEI Lifetime Achievement award in recognition of her leading role as supporter of equestrian sport throughout her reign as British monarch. The award was presented to Her Majesty by FEI President HRH Princess Haya at a ceremony in Buckingham Palace this afternoon in the presence of former FEI President the Duke of Edinburgh Prince Phillip, and Keith Taylor, Chairman of the British Equestrian Federation. (Press Association)