US Equestrian is pleased to announce the recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Junior Equestrian of the Year Award to be presented at the 2022 US Equestrian Annual Meeting. Kathy Kusner and Howard Simpson are the winners of the 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award, while Sophia Huffman is the 2021 Junior Equestrian of the Year. Kusner, Simpson, and Huffman will be recognized at the Pegasus Awards Dinner Celebration on Thursday, January 13.
Howard Simpson
Howard Simpson (Lake Forest, Ill.) grew up fox hunting and later served as Master of the Foxhounds for the Mill Creek Hunt. Simpson married the late Martha Smith Simpson in 1984, and the next year, their family’s Tempel Farms hosted the first American Continental Young Riders Championship. In 1988, the competition became the North American Young Rider Championships, which evolved into the North American Youth Championships. In 1997, Simpson took over as the sole organizer of the NAYC and provided financial support for the program. He served as the director of the NAYC for more than 20 years and Tempel Farms hosted the championships 13 times between 1985 and 2004.
In addition to his work with NAYC, Simpson was involved in site selection for important events. In December 1996, Simpson along with Captain Mark Phillips investigated potential sites for the first four-star (now five-star) in North America, eventually recommending the Kentucky Three-Day Event. Simpson also led the evaluation team that recommended the Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill as the second CCI5*-L in North America.
Simpson has been active in governance of equestrian sport over the years. He was on the Board of Directors and several committees and councils for US Equestrian. He was on the Board of Governors, served as Vice President of Communications, and is currently a member of the Rebecca Broussard International Developing Rider Grant Selection Committee for the United States Eventing Association Foundation.
Pegasus Awards
In addition to the above awards and the Equestrians of Honor, the Pegasus Awards are made up of numerous honors for a renowned group of equestrians.
Ellen Scripps Davis Memorial Breeders’ Award – Sporting Chance Farm
Kip Rosenthal Memorial High Score Equitation Award – Zayna Rizvi
Pegasus Medal of Honor – Susan Morey, Dr. Timothy Ober, Roxanne Trunnell, and Elisabeth Williams
Richard E. McDevitt Award of Merit – Anne Barlow Ramsay, Naomi Blumenthal, Vickey Bowman, Tremaine Cooper, Joanne Crockett, John Franzreb, Grace Greenlee, Lewis Haines, Sue Hershey, Mason Phelps, Richard Taylor, Glena Wirtanen, and Jodi Zeier
Sallie Busch Wheeler Trophy – To be announced at the Pegasus Awards Dinner Celebration
USEF/EQUUS Foundation Humanitarian Award – Octavia Brown
USEF Youth Sportsman’s Award – Rebecca Share
Walter B. Devereux Sportsmanship Award – Ralph Caristo
Has this horse quality? The answer is definitely yes. This first impression is so important. As a selector for the Goresbridge Go for Gold Event horse sale, I have an abbreviation ‘GPO’ which stands for "Good Pull Out." It means that the first look prompts the potential client the need to bring the horse out of his box for a further look.
It was a beautiful but chilly weekend in the pines at the Setters' Run Farm Carolina International. After a record-setting 19.4 in the CCI4*-S dressage, Will Coleman became the first three-time winner in the event's history when he led from start to finish on Hyperion Stud's Chin Tonic HS.
West Coast eventers experienced tremendous success in 2022. Tamie Smith recorded top-10 finishes at Badminton in England, at the FEI World Championships at Pratoni in Italy, and at the Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill. Helen Alliston won the $60,000 Adequan USEA Advanced Final, and Tommy Greengard captured the USEA Intermediate Championship at the USEA American Eventing Championships (AEC), presented by Nutrena Feeds. James Alliston returned to the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event for the first time since 2017 and finished third in the CCI4*-S.
I first met Moose (JC: Plain Brown Wrap) when he was an 18-year-old lesson horse in April 2020 in Texas. I was a 40-year-old mom of four young girls who had stopped riding before my 20s but had somehow convinced my husband to buy a pony for our girls two years earlier. But once COVID hit, to get some “me” time, I started taking jump lessons at the eventing barn where we boarded our pony.