Equestrian Australia (EA) has announced the 2012 National Squads. Megan Jones and her nine-year-old Thoroughbred gelding Kirby Park Allofasudden have been selected for the Eventing National "A" squad. The Elite- and "A" Squad-listed combinations for dressage, eventing, jumping, and para-equestrian will form the Shadow Teams for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Brett Mace, Equestrian Australia's High Performance Manager, explained the composition of the Shadow Teams. "Elite-listed combinations are presently the front-runners for the Olympic and Paralympic teams," he said.  "However, I am sure our "A" Squad members will make the most of every opportunity to claim a place on the team through exceptional performances in the lead-up to London. Through the National Performance Directors and selection panels, we will continue to monitor our combinations at major events prior to nominations being due to the Australian Paralympic Committee and the Australian Olympic Committee in May and June."

Megan Jones is sponsored by Kentucky Equine Research (KER) and Barastoc, a KER Team Member. Jones and Kirby Park Allofasudden have had a consistent season and will certainly be looking to catch the selectors' eye at events in the near future.

Bruce "Buck" Davidson, Jr., an eventing rider who is a Promise Partner for Pennfield Equine Feed Technologies, made history at the recent United States Eventing Association (USEA) annual meeting. Davidson was the first rider to collect Rider of the Year, Horse of the Year, Mare of the Year, Advanced Horse of the Year, and Adequan/USEA Gold Cup Series Championship honors in the same year. Davidson's father, Bruce Davidson Sr., was named USEA Rider of the Year fifteen times, and more recently Phillip Dutton, another top rider sponsored by Kentucky Equine Research (KER), won the honor for eleven years.

To keep his horses in condition for their training and competition schedule, Buck chooses feeds formulated by KER and manufactured by Pennfield Equine Feed Technologies, a KER Team Member. These feed products contain levels of energy, protein, vitamins, and minerals that support the demands of strenuous exercise, allowing the horses to perform to their maximum potential.

With three of his eventing mounts named to the USEF High Performance Training List, Buck Davidson will have a busy winter season in what is traditionally a brief period of rest for horses and riders. Horses and riders on the list were selected on the basis of consideration for the team that will represent the United States in Olympic Games eventing competition in 2012.

Davidson is listed with BallyNoe Castle RM, an Irish Sport Horse gelding; The Apprentice, an Oldenburg gelding; and Absolute Liberty, a Thoroughbred/Oldenburg-cross mare. He is a sponsored Promise Partner of Pennfield Equine Feed Technologies.

Training sessions will be held throughout the winter in locations that may include California, Florida, and South Carolina. To fuel his horses' exercise regimens, Davidson, who has been honored as Young Rider of the Year and two-time National Four Star Champion, feeds Fibregized Omega and EnduroEvent Ener-G. Manufactured by Pennfield Corporation, a Kentucky Equine Research (KER) Team Member, these products are formulated by KER to provide energy and nutrients that support the demands of intense exercise.

Show jumper Christine McCrea rode her horse Romantovich Take One to an individual gold medal and also collected a team gold medal at the Pan American Games held in October of 2011. The show jumping team's first-place finish at the Guadalajara, Mexico, venue clinched Olympic Games qualification for the United States show jumpers.

McCrea trusts Pennfield Equine Feed Technologies, a Kentucky Equine Research (KER) Team Member, to provide the right feed products to keep Romantovich Take One at the top of his game. Formulated by the equine nutrition experts at KER and manufactured by Pennfield, feeds like Fibregized Omega are designed to meet the needs of horses that are intensely trained. Fibregized Omega is formulated to be a calm source of energy. Because it derives the majority of its digestible energy content from fermentable fiber and fat sources, it gives a horse long-term, sustainable energy sources that do not cause rapid changes in blood sugar. 

In the discipline of eventing, Buck Davidson and his mount Absolute Liberty also captured two medals for the United States, a gold in the team competition and a bronze for his individual efforts, at the Pan American Games. The U.S. eventing team accomplished a record by having all five riders finish on their dressage scores, a feat that has never been done in a team eventing championship.

Like McCrea, Davidson is sponsored byPennfield Equine Feed Technologies. He has chosen Fibregized Omega and EnduroEvent Ener-G, another product designed for high-performance horses, to keep his mounts fueled throughout their training and competition efforts.

Megan Jones finished sixth and twelfth on Kirby Park Allofasudden and Kirby Park Irish Jester respectively at the Australian International Three Day Event held at Adelaide.

Kirby Park Irish Jester made an impressive return to top-level eventing, winning the dressage with a formidable score of 43.3. Unfortunately, a stop at the water complex on cross-country saw the pair drop out of contention. Despite the stop, Megan is ecstatic that Jester, who has been out of competition for over a year, had a great round and "felt like he had never been out of work." One rail in show jumping saw the pair finish commendably just out of the top ten.

Megan's other ride, Kirby Park Allofasudden, had a consistent event, finishing fifteenth after dressage, then picking up four time penalties cross-country and one show jumping rail to finish sixth overall.

Karen O'Connor finished in twelfth place on Veronica at the United States Equestrian Foundation Fall Eventing Championship CCI*** competition. The competition took place at the Fair Hill International 3-Day Event in Maryland. The event was O'Connor's first time to compete Veronica, a 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare, at this highly demanding level of performance.

With the eventing season winding down, O'Connor's horses have been shipped to their winter headquarters in Ocala, Florida where they will have several weeks of rest and relaxation. Training will pick up again in January to begin conditioning the horses for the spring season.

O'Connor is pleased with the sponsoring support given to her competition horses by the nutritional supplements provided by Kentucky Equine Research (KER). Competition horses Veronica and Harbour Pilot are supplemented with Restore to replace vital electrolytes that are lost in sweat during hard exercise. Hemabuild provides important vitamins and minerals that support the efforts of competition and recovery after performance. EO•3, a source of omega-3 fatty acids, helps to reduce inflammation and support the immune system.    

The best eventing and show jumping riders in Australia will compete at the inaugural equestrian grand final jumping and exhibition eventing, held as part of Equitana.

The field of 18 includes the cream-of-the-crop, including international star and KER-sponsored rider Chris Chugg, who will be riding Diamond B Vigo, a daughter of his 2010 World Equestrian Games mount Vivant.

In the exhibition eventing, the field of 15 will boast many of Australia's leading riders, including KER and Barastoc sponsored rider, Megan Jones.

Traditionally the exciting sport of eventing requires wide-open spaces. However, exhibition eventing has been developed to capture the spirit and skill of eventing in a more confined area, providing the opportunity for fans to get close to this adrenaline-packed sport.

The equestrian grand final jumping will be held from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. Friday, 11 November, in the spectacular 5,000-seat indoor Dome Arena at Sydney Showground.

The exhibition eventing final will be held from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sunday, 13 November, in the main arena at Sydney Showground.

Jodi Perkins has noticed a significant improvement in her 11-year-old Thoroughbred eventer since consulting with a Kentucky Equine Research (KER) nutrition advisor. Jodi won some KER supplements at the recent KER-sponsored TTT Horse Trials in Victoria.

"Following our team's placing at TTT Horse Trials, a KER advisor did a feed analysis for my horse, Comedian, and sent me some KERx EquiShure and KER Restore. I changed him to the suggested feeding regime, which also included Low GI Cube, and have noticed a marked improvement in his appearance and particularly his weight. He has never looked so well in the two years I've had him.

"I have been competing Comedian in Level 4 HRCAV. He is very susceptible to hindgut acidosis, which did progress to colic on two or three occasions. He is also difficult to keep weight on, and trips away to compete usually resulted in a 10kg weight loss. He is also a nervous horse and can be easily distracted at events. Since using the Low GI Cube, he has gained weight and his coat is fantastic. He has not had any hindgut acidosis. He is also very relaxed at events, which I credit to EquiShure."

Buck Davidson, an eventing rider sponsored by Kentucky Equine Research (KER) Team Member Pennfield Equine Feed Technologies, won the Richland Park CIC*** aboard Ballynoe Castle RM. Davidson also qualified to represent the United States at the 2011 Pan American Games aboard Absolute Liberty.

Over the past 15 years, KER has collaborated with Pennfield to design feeds that have fueled many top sport horses in the United States. Davidson feeds Pennfield's Fibregized Omega and EnduroEvent Ener-G. Read more about Davidson and Pennfield.

Phillip Dutton, a rider sponsored by both Pennfield and KER, placed third and fourth in the same division at Richland Park. Dutton also feeds EnduroEvent Ener-G and Fibregized, as well as KER's Restore electrolyte, EO∙3, a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, and EquiShure, KER's unique time-released hindgut buffer.

Megan Jones' four-star event horse, Kirby Park Irish Jester, has made a successful return to eventing following a relatively tough year.

Megan Jones and Kirby Park Irish Jester

Megan said she is extremely happy with how "Festy" has come back into work.

"The team here has been working really hard on him in conjunction with my wonderful farrier to get him back to the Festy we all know and love," Jones said. "He is building up more body bulk as he can be fed more now that he is being worked. He is on a diet of Barastoc and KER feed.

"He started back to work in June with quiet longeing and then I started riding him in mid July. He has jumped half a dozen times and with each session he feels more confident in his feet and is feeling pretty much normal, if not better than last year!"

Festy made his first appearance at a CNC two-star at Mount Gambier in late August.

"He was super happy to be out and I didn't even have to go really slow cross country. He loved it. So now we take it one week at a time and see if he can get to Adelaide in November," Jones said.