GLADSTONE, NEW JERSEY-February 25, 2003-Clint Haverty of Krum, Texas, took top honors in the Cosequin/USEF Open Reining Championship Qualifier at the Florida State Fair Reining in Tampa on Saturday, February 21, riding Who Whiz It, owned by Haverty Ranch. The pair wowed the crowd with a score 222 and earned $4,691.60 in the third of six qualifying competitions for the 2003/2004 Season.

Competition was fierce as Bryant Pace of Smithville, North Carolina, took command right out of the box with Little Royal BH, owned by Kim Horn, receiving an impressive score of 218.5. That score held up for most of the class, until Haverty rode into the ring and took the lead. As the last to go, Pace then had one more chance to beat the leaders riding A Grand Prize, owned by Charlie Rome, Stephanie Rome and Ann Sterling. He had to settle for the reserve spot with a score of 220. Pace did earn the most money for the evening taking home $5864.50 by virtue of placing second and third.

There was a tie for fourth and fifth place between Mike McEntire on Dun It At Dawn, owned by Jennifer Kersey of Sussex, England, and the legendary pair of Bill Horn and Trashadeous, owned by Classic-S-Ranch, scoring 217.5. Horn and the 17-year-old chestnut received a standing ovation from the appreciative crowd as he and his legendary mount left the ring.

The USEF Open Reining Championship Qualifying schedule continues with the Scottsdale Reining Horse Classic and the Gordyville Breeders Cup in March and the National Reining Breeders Classic in April. The program culminates with the $75,000 Bayer/USEF Open Reining Championship Final that will take place at the NRHA Derby in Oklahoma City, OK on Sunday, May 23, 2004.

For more information about the Bayer/USEF Open Reining Championship and the Cosequin/USEF qualifying classes, please call Jamie Saults, USEF Director of Reining, at (908) 234-0848, ext. 40, or visit the website at www.usef.org .

U.S. 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.

The vision of U.S. 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.

The USET Foundation fosters the highest ideals of horsemanship and excellence in equestrian sport while promoting international goodwill. The USET Foundation supports US Equestrian teams by funding International High Performance programs, athletes and coaches.