WHEN:
June 20-23, 2002

WHERE:
USET Olympic Training Center, Pottersville Road, Gladstone, New Jersey

WHY:
The 2002 Bayer/USET Festival of Champions, presented by State Line Tack, the only event of its kind in the country, showcases competition in five equestrian disciplines -- dressage, show jumping, combined driving, endurance and reining, the USET’s first Western riding discipline. The nation's best horses, riders and drivers vie for USET Championships and the right to represent the United States in international competition.

The 2002 Bayer/USET Festival of Champions will feature final selection trials to choose the riders who will represent the U.S. in the first ever Reining World Championship at the World Equestrian Games in Jerez, Spain in September and also final selection trials for drivers for the 2002 Singles Driving World Championship to be held in Conty, France in August and the Four In Hand World Championship at the World Equestrian Games.

Along with these selection trials, the Festival will host dressage competition, the ballet of equestrian sports, featuring the USET Intermediaire I Championship. The $100,000 Rolex/USET Show Jumping Championship and the USET Junior and Amateur/Owner Show Jumping Talent Derbies both presented by BET On Jazz will highlight the Fleet Show Jumping Division. The 65 Mile Sooner/USET Endurance Championship, sanctioned by the American Endurance Ride Conference and the East Coast Trail Riders Association, will again take place in around the USET. This year’s Festival will again feature the $100,000 USET Reining Championship presented by Bayer that will serve as the final selection trial for the World Equestrian Games, along with a CRIO Nations Cup competition, Futures Championship, and Reining Young Rider Medal Final.

For more family fun and entertainment, there are equine demonstrations from the sport’s leading professionals, falconry and blacksmithing demonstrations, a Children’s Corral, a wide range of gourmet dining options and an outstanding Country Fair with top-quality products for the home and stable from more than 70 vendors.

TICKETS:
General Admission: $10.00
Children 12 and under: $6.00
Children under 6: FREE

MEDIA
Marty Bauman, Classic Communications, (508) 698-6810, uset.pr@verizon.net

CONTACTS:
or Joanna Smith, USET (908) 234-1251, jsmith@uset.org, USET ONLINE at www.uset.org Bayer/USET Festival of Champions hotline, (908) 234-0555