Over 2,000 horses battled for cash and prizes at the 36th Annual U.S. National Arabian & Half-Arabian Championship Horse Show held October 11-19, in Louisville, Kentucky. More than 20 officials were needed for a full slate of classes that demonstrated the versatility of the Arabian Horse including dressage, hunter, jumper, working cow horse, cutting, reining and trail as well as the customary performance classes.

One of the exceptional classes of the show was the Arabian Park class that named Apollopalooza as the unanimous champion with Carmelle Rooker of Fenton, Michigan, in the irons for Esprit Arabians. The unanimous reserve champion was Aequus+//, with Bill Rodgers of Streetsboro, Ohio, for owners Circle G Stables. The Varian owned three-year-old, Khantina Girl, ridden by Bill Porcher, a 2001 USA Equestrian of Honor, of Santa Ynez, California, defeated 43 others to win the $30,000 Arabian Western Pleasure Futurity.

Hucklebey Berry+/ and Bob Battaglia of Boerne, Texas, made their last show ring appearance by presenting the American flag during the Saturday evening opening ceremonies. A bronze sculpture by Jill McKinney and commissioned by Bob Battaglia for Empress Arabians was unveiled during the show.

Entries must qualify at regional championships and IAHA-recognized shows to be eligible to compete. Some of the winners are listed below. For complete results please visit the IAHA web site at www.iaha.com.

PB Country Pleasure Driving
RF Chopin, ridden and owned by Alice Tremper of Baltimore, MD

PB Western Pleasure
Zalimited Edition, ridden by Josh Quintus of Arlington, TX and owned by Sharon Finley of Leawood, KS

PB Reining
Quais Habibi, ridden by Jessica Lynn Bein of Phoenix, AZ and owned by Lauren & Kelly Whyte of Las Vegas, NV

PB Senior Stallion
Dakar El Jamaal, ridden by Michael Byatt of New Ulm, TX and owned by Dakar Kartel LLC

PB Junior Mare
S Justadream, ridden by Greg Knowles of Scottsdale, AZ and owned by Michael Wilmet of Long Grove, IL

HA Western Pleasure
Vallejo Carmel Chip, ridden by Bob Hart Jr. of Afton, OK and owned by Sally Mullen Henry of Santa Fe, NM

HA/AA Regular Working Hunter
Blarney Stone X, ridden by Susan Hutchison of Temecula, CA and owned by Leslie Knill-Mangan of Vail, CO

HA/AA Hunter Pl Champ
Chance of A Lifetime, ridden by Larry Hoffman of Hastings, MN and owned by Megan & Rebecca Cassidy of Minneapolis, MN

HA Trail AAO
El Tesorro, ridden and owned by Jennifer Thomas Alcott of Spotsylvania, VA

Dressage Prix St. George Le Cheminee, ridden and owned by Sandi Chohany of Hampshire, IL

For more information, please contact Sarah Holt, Public Relations on (859) 225 6974 or via email at sholt@equestrian.org. USA Equestrian press releases are available on our web site - http://www.equestrian.org/ .

USA Equestrian Inc., as the National Equestrian Federation of the U.S., is the regulatory body for the Olympic and World Championship sports of dressage, driving, endurance, eventing, reining, show jumping, and vaulting, as well as 19 other breeds and disciplines of equestrian competition. As the country's largest multi-breed organization, the Federation has over 80,000 members and recognizes more than 2,800 competitions nationwide each year. It governs all aspects of competition, including educating and licensing all judges, stewards, and technical delegates who officiate at these shows.

VISION STATEMENT
The vision of USA Equestrian is to provide leadership for equestrian sport in the United States of America, promoting the pursuit of excellence from the grass roots to the Olympic Games, based on a foundation of fair, safe competition and the welfare of its horses, and embracing this vision, to be the best national equestrian federation in the world.