David J. O'Connor of The Plains, VA, has been named as the recipient of the 2002 USA Equestrian Sportsmanship Award. The Walter B. Devereux Trophy will be presented to him at the Pegasus Dinner, January 17, at the Marriott Griffin Gate Resort in Lexington, KY, as part of the USA Equestrian Annual Meeting.

The USA Equestrian Executive Committee and USA Equestrian Affiliated National Association Presidents and Executive Directors on the USA Equestrian Board, submit nominations for the recipient of the Devereux Award. The nominees are returned to the Executive Committee and voted on by secret ballot.

The USA Equestrian Sportsmanship Award is named for Walter B. Devereux II, who served the AHSA for many years as an officer and director during the 1960's and 1970's. O'Connor will join other distinguished horsemen and horsewomen who have been recipients of the award, including Ellin Dixon Miller, John Fritz, Judith Werner, Diana Firestone, Victor Hugo-Vidal and William Munford.

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.