Gladstone, NJ—April 10, 2001—The United States Equestrian Team (USET) is pleased to present the Lionel Guerrand-Hermes Trophy to Show Jumping rider Marilyn Little.

The Lionel Guerrand-Hermes Trophy is awarded annually to a Young Rider (age 16-21) who exemplifies the USET's ideals of sportsmanship and horsemanship. In 2000, Marilyn Little won the $10,000 Cosequin/USET Show Jumping Talent Derby, presented by BET On Jazz at the Bayer/USET Festival of Champions for the third consecutive year.

Little had an amazing streak winning all three Cosequin/USET Talent Derby classes at the Festival, an accomplishment heightened by the fact that she placed first, second and third in the Talent Derby Final. Little won all three classes on Pico de Gallo, owned by her family’s Raylyn Farms.

Little, daughter of USET veteran show jumping rider Lynn Little, was awarded a $5,000 USET Young Rider Show Jumping Training Grant last year for her impressive record during the Cosequin Winter Equestrian Festival Challenge Cup Series in Florida.

She was also awarded the USET's Maxine Beard Award to travel to the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia as a guest of the USET. Additionally, she received USET Show Jumping Developing Rider funding to compete in Europe.

Over the years, she compiled an impressive record in the junior jumper division, winning many championships. While still a teenager she accomplished a rare feat when she competed in Grandprix events with her mother.

In 1983, Patrick Guerrand-Hermes, of the Paris based saddlery and fashion company, presented a trophy to the USET in memory of his son, Lionel, a talented young rider who was killed in an automobile accident in 1981 at the age of eighteen. The USET has honored talented young equestrians with this award each year since. Little will receive her award in a special ceremony at the 2001 Bayer/USET Festival of Champions, presented by State Line Tack, a the USET Olympic Training Center in Gladstone, NJ, in June.

The United States Equestrian Team is a non-profit organization that selects, trains, equips and finances equestrians of the highest possible standard to represent our country in major international competition, including the Olympic Games and the World Championships. To accomplish this the USET seeks out and nurtures the development of talented athletes - riders, drivers and horses - and provides the support and guidance they need to help them attain their fullest potential. For more information on the USET, please call (908) 234-1251, or visit USET ONLINE at www.uset.org.