The Area III Championships have been run and won again at Poplar Place in Hamilton Georgia this past weekend and as usual were a great success. With around 300 horses competing it was as always a busy weekend for riders, officials and ground staff.

A wonderful weekend at Pine Top with some exciting results. A dual winner on the day was Penny Rowland form Orangeville Ontario firstly in the Advanced FEI division on Windswept and later on Roundabout in the Advanced A2 division. Rowland on the Canadian National Team Short List is no stranger to Pine Top having two placings here in 2006. Windswept a 12yr old Conn/TB continues to be a consistent performer for Rowland.  

We are pleased to announce with a new Members area comes a Classifieds section and new Web Forum. In the Classifieds section we curently have 6 different catorgories but we will look at splitting those up into more target areas as things move along. You have to be at least a donating member to post your own adds but there is no restriction to how many adds you post. So thats a real bargain!

The USEF Executive Committee on February 20, approved several extraordinary rule changes to be effective immediately to Cross Country and also Stadium.

EV141.1.a Cross-country Scoring

1. FAULTS AT OBSTACLES:
A. Disobediences

1) First refusal run-out or circle 20 penalties
2) Second refusal, run-out or circle at the same obstacle 40 penalties
3) Third refusal, run-out or circle at the same obstacle Elimination
4) Fourth penalized disobedience on the entire course Elimination

Why not talk about this Rule Change on the new forum or read more on other changes to Stadium as well...!!!! 

At Pine Top this weekend chilly and windy weather greeted all competitors. Stuart Black had a great weekend with wins on Fleeceworks Starlight in Open Int. and Fleeceworks Mystere du Va and Leader Des Bieffes in Prelim. A summary of the winners were.

Well "Crikey" a famous Aussie once said. Dual Olympic Team Gold medalist Phillip Dutton has notified the Equestrian Federation of Australia that he plans to change nationality in order to ride for the United States. The news is the biggest in our sport in 2006 and huge shot in the arm for Eventing in the USA. Dutton is one of the world's most experienced international Eventing competitors having competed in four World Championships and three Olympic Games since his debut in 1994.

Dutton was part of Australia’s gold medal winning Eventing teams at the Atlanta and Sydney Olympics. He even had the honor of being flag bearer for the Australian team at this year’s World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany. Dutton moved to the USA in 1991 and with his American wife and three daughters lives in Avondale, Pennsylvania.

“I would like to thank the EFA for everything they have done for me and my career as a Three-Day Event rider,” Dutton has said. “It has been an honor to be a member of the Equestrian Federation of Australia and to represent Australia internationally for the past 12 years. Please know that Australia and the EFA will always be in my heart as I move forward in this new chapter of my life,” he wrote in a letter to the EFA.