In Friday evening's final round, August 27th, of the Individual Olympic Show Jumping competition in Athens, Chris Kappler said he felt Royal Kaliber take a bad step after jumping a fence in the jump-off for the silver and bronze medals. He immediately stopped Royal Kaliber and dismounted, and the horse was taken to the veterinary clinic on the grounds of the Markopoulo Equestrian Center. Royal Kaliber has been examined by a team of internationally recognized veterinarians and his injury has been described as an acute strain of the superficial digital flexor tendon to his left foreleg. According to Dr. Tim Ober, a veterinarian for the U.S. Team, Royal Kaliber's prognosis is good, he has no bone damage and with time he should be fine.

Friday's injury is unrelated to a slight filling in his hind leg occurring in mid-summer, from which he recovered in a short time.

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For more information, please contact Maria Partlow, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications on (859) 225-6941 or via email at mpartlow@usef.org. USEF press releases are available on our web site - www.usef.org.

The United States Equestrian Federation Inc.(USEF), 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 the United States Equestrian Federation 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.