The United States Para-Equestrian Team claimed a gold medal and team member Mary Jordan won an individual silver medal at the 2011 Saddleworld Dressage Festival CPEDI*** competition in Melbourne, Australia. The event was held in Werribee, Victoria, and drew competitors from Australia, New Zealand, and Japan as well as the United States.

Jordan, who is sponsored by Kentucky Equine Research (KER), rode a borrowed horse in her tests. The difficulty of riding well on an unknown mount was compounded by the severe weather that included high winds, torrential rain, lightning, and some flooding at the Werribee Park National Equestrian Centre venue. Helping her horse to focus and listen, Jordan took second out of 14 entries in all three of her Grade IV tests, finishing second to Hannah Dodd, the reigning Australian champion.

Jordan expressed her appreciation to the owners of Northern Charmer, a bay Warmblood mare lent for the competition by Dr. Adrian and Elaine Castellini. She found the horse to be well-trained and the owners to be extremely helpful, providing not just the horse but also tack, stable equipment, grooming tools, and feed.

When she returns home to Wells, Maine, Jordan will continue to use KER products such as Restore, RiteTrac, KER-Flex, and EO-3 to keep her own horses performing at their best while guarding against joint damage and gastrointestinal upsets.

John Crandell III, a legend of American endurance riding sponsored by Kentucky Equine Research (KER), qualified to represent the United States at the Pan American Endurance Championship. The ride will take place October 22 near Santo Domingo, Chile.

Crandell will ride Heraldic, on whom he won the Tevis Cup in 2010 and 2006, as well as the 120-km OCTRA Spring Ride and 160-km FITS in 2011. See more of their successes.

Heraldic trains and competes on KER products, including:

• EquiShure, a time-released hindgut buffer;
• RiteTrac to support total digestive tract health;
• Nano∙E, a nanodispersed, natural source of vitamin E.

Other KER products that Crandell utilizes in his training program are:

• Hemabuild, trace minerals and vitamin B;
• Preserve, vitamin E and selenium;
• I.R. Pellet, concentrated, low-calorie, low-starch source of vitamins and trace minerals;
• Synovate HA, a safe, easily absorbed, and easy-to-use form of sodium hyaluronate.

For training updates, follow Heraldic on Facebook.

KER-sponsored equestrian Shelly Temple and her driving ponies, Cooper and Harry

The cold temperatures in Windsor, South Carolina, did not dampen the enthusiasm of KER-sponsored equestrian Shelly Temple or her horses at the Katydid CDE.

Held at Katrina Becker's Katydid Farm, the Katydid CDE featured four days of combined driving at the training, preliminary, and intermediate levels. Shelly and her new combination of ponies, reigning national champion Cooper and former national champion Harry, finished out their season with a win. Harry is owned by Jack Wetzel of Aiken, South Carolina.

"The ponies continue to come together as a team," remarked Shelly after winning dressage with a 40.22. "The boys will have a little time off and will then go back to work to build on the foundation we established this fall." Saturday saw the team, including Shelly's husband/navigator, Fran Doto, take fourth place in marathon yet preserve its overall first-place standing. Sunday's cones competition featured another cool but sunny day and a double-clear round for Shelly and her ponies, resulting in a win in only their second competition.

Shelly is excited about the 2011 season as the ponies progress in their training. "The support of my sponsors has helped make this season a success, and I look forward to the spring with the help of Kentucky Equine Research and my other sponsors."

Plan to visit Kentucky Equine Research (KER) at the International Equestrian Festival, held in Lexington, Ky., and coinciding with the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG), September 25-October 10, 2010.

"Showcasing KER's products and services at International Equestrian Festival seems a natural fit, considering the company's far-reaching worldwide scope," said KER Global Marketing Manager Kim Brown. "The fact that we are able to welcome the international equine community into our backyard and share everything that is unique about Central Kentucky is an added boon."

On display at the KER booth will be products and product literature. Demonstrations of the company's software programs will be given, including its ration-evaluation program, MicroSteed, and growth-tracking program, Gro-Trac.

Also scheduled are meet and greets with some of KER's sponsored riders and nutritionists. Other activities include prize drawings and other giveaway contests.

The International Equestrian Festival will feature more than 100 horse-related exhibits, and will be held at the Lexington Convention Center, just a few miles from the site of the WEG. More information on the event.

Chester Weber

Kentucky Equine Research (KER) has joined forces with combined driver Chester Weber, becoming the latest Team Weber sponsor to join the championship team as they head toward the 2010 World Equestrian Games. Weber, a force to be reckoned with in the field of four-in-hand combined driving, became the first American to win an individual medal at the World Championships and his high-profile team includes the now-famous Jamaica, the 2008 USEF Horse of the Year.

KER is a world-renowned nutrition and consultation company that works with feed manufacturers to develop horse feeds suited for the particular regions in which they are to be fed. Dr. Joe Pagan, president of KER, believes research efforts are the cornerstone of KER and he personally directs all scientific trials. Conclusions drawn from these trials are used in the formulation of technologically advanced feeds.

"KER is very pleased to join Chester's team of sponsors and we look forward to working with him," Pagan said. "Our partnership will be a beneficial one as both Chester and KER believe in accomplishing what is best for the horse."

The world-class horses that make up Team Weber use Restore, a carefully formulated electrolyte supplement designed to match the composition of horses' sweat. "Developed by KER, Restore is designed to replenish electrolytes in any situation where horses might sweat, particularly after training, travel, racing, during hot weather or competition," Pagan said.

Chester Weber

Weber and his team are the United States Four-In-Hand Combined Driving Champions, a title they have held for the past six years. Team Weber is currently preparing again for the U.S. Championships, hoping to earn an unprecedented seventh consecutive win.

"My horses are top athletes and they work hard and sweat hard," Weber said. "Restore is designed for elite athletes and I have confidence that this product will do the job it is designed for."

In addition to its research endeavors, KER has a rich tradition of providing top-of-the-line feeds to the greatest equine athletes in the world. In 2000, the company was tapped to be the official nutritionist of the United States Equestrian Federation. KER has also played a pivotal role in procuring feeds for the last four Olympic Games as well as other international competitions.

KER formulated the feed for Pennfield Equine Feed Technologies, another Team Weber sponsor. "Chester feeds his team the EnuroEvent Ener-G feed from Pennfield's Gold Medal Line. It is a feed designed for the intense needs of high-performance horses," Pagan said. "Chester has dominated the field of combined driving for many years and it isn't by accident. He works hard and makes sure that his horses have the best care, nutrition and training possible."

For second year in a row, a Pennfield Promise Partner horse wins the prestigious USEF Horse of the Year award

LANCASTER, Pennsylvania, January 20, 2009 -- It was a night of high energy, excitement and recognition for a year of dedication and hard work among equestrians from coast to coast. But you could have heard a pin drop in the room prior to the most anticipated award of the night - the 2008 USEF Horse of the Year. The black-tie crowd was ecstatic at the announcement that a horse, who at one time was slated for the slaughterhouse, would be named the most exceptional horse in the country. Chester Weber's most valuable team player, Jamaica - the horse that won his heart eight years ago in a tourist stable in Belgium, and whom Weber gambled would one day be a champion - was now bestowed with the most prestigious award in the nation: USEF Horse of the Year. More

Lexington, KY-- The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) announces the new partnership with Pennfield Equine Feed Technologies as the "Official Horse Feed of the USEF." Pennfield is a widely respected, family-owned feed company in Pennsylvania that has been serving the eastern seaboard states since 1919 and has partnered with Kentucky Equine Research (KER) for their unparalleled nutritional expertise since 1996. Known for using only the finest, most consistent feed ingredients and precise manufacturing techniques that ensure top quality "fixed formula" feeds, Pennfield has earned the trust of world-class trainers and competitors throughout the equine industry.

"Earning the respect of partners like KER and now USEF speaks volumes on what Pennfield Feed is all about," explains Jeff Katelan, national sales and marketing manager of Pennfield Country Life Products. "From day one, Pennfield has been a company that prides itself on always putting the horse first and on caring about the well-being of the horse as much as the riders do. It was our founding partner's mission almost a hundred years ago and it's still our mission today. So it's a great honor to be recognized as the 'Official Horse Feed' of an organization that values and protects the well-being of the riding community the way USEF is known to do."

In addition, Pennfield Equine Feed Technologies, KER and the USEF will be hosting an eight-city "That's a Promise" East Coast tour. This event will bring equestrian fans together with Olympic riders to celebrate and explore the meaning of "promise", which is "to develop the full power (potential) of yourself and your horses and living up to the promise (principle) that you make to your horses to care for them to the best of your ability." The tour will kick off at the Wellington show grounds in February and will follow the competitive season northward up the coast.

Each "That's a Promise" gala will feature the attendance of one or more top riders who rely on Pennfield to fuel their horses top efforts, including multi-Olympic medalists Phillip Dutton, Karen and David O'Connor and Bruce Davidson; U.S. Four-in-Hand Driving Champion Chester Weber; 2008 U.S. Dressage Team alternate Michael Barisone; and other top riders. Attendees will be able to mingle with these riders in a relaxed setting, obtain autographs and help support the USEF Young Riders program by bidding on unique silent auction items donated by USEF and others in the riding community.

All are welcome to attend, though seating will be limited to approximately 200, depending on venue. Reservations may be made by calling Beth Ann Parise at 717-295-8735 and more information may be found at www.thatsapromisetour.com. A $10 donation is requested per attendee, with 100% forwarded to the North American Junior and Young Rider program.

By Stacey Meier