February Zone 7 Update
Thank you for being a Zone 7 member! Apply for the Emerging Athletes Program, test your horsemanship knowledge, learn about grant opportunities and more.
Applications Open for Emerging Athletes Program Regional Training Sessions
Interested in participating in the Lindsay Maxwell Charitable Fund/USHJA Emerging Athletes Program this year? It's time to apply!

The session in Zone 7 is:
  • June 8-12, Great Southwest Equestrian Center, Katy, Texas, led by Julie Winkel and stable manager Nanci Snyder

Zone 7 offers EAP Grants to help members attend Regional Training Sessions. Click here to apply by April 1.
Congratulations to Horse of the Year and Stirrup Cup Year-End Award Winners
Congratulations to our members who received 2019 Horse of the Year and Stirrup Cup year-end honors! Check 2019 Zone 7 standings to see who received awards here:

Check 2020 Zone 7 standings here:
Save the Date for Zone 7 Championships
Dates and locations for Zone HOTY Championships and other special classes have been announced.

Equitation Championship, Sept. 2-6
Lake St. Louis Indoor Preview, Lake St. Louis, Mo. 

Horse of the Year Championship North, Nov. 4-8
Lake St. Louis Hunter Jumper Show, Lake St. Louis, Mo. 

Horse of the Year Championship South
Nov. 4-8, Great Southwest Autumn Classic, Katy, Texas

Handy Hunter Challenges, held throughout the year, see the full schedule
The Horsemanship Quiz Challenge is Open
Registration to the USHJA Horsemanship Quiz Challenge is open!

Exciting changes being implemented for 2020:

  • Updated free online HQC study guide with new sections added covering saddle fitting, teeth and more
  • The program will open to adult amateurs ages 21 and above later in 2020. More information to be announced.
Mark Your Calendar for the Sallie B Wheeler/USEF/USHJA Hunter Breeding National Championships
Mark your calendar for the 2020 Sallie B Wheeler/USEF/USHJA Hunter Breeding National Championships, presented by Mr. & Mrs. Ernest Oare, which will be held August 22 at Virginia Young Horse Festival for the East Coast, and August 26 at Showpark All Season Summer Tournament for the West Coast! 

Special congratulations to HOTY Hunter Breeding 3 Year Old Champion Will Emblazon, winner of the 3 Year Old Under Saddle class at the East Coast 2019 Sallie B Wheeler/USEF/USHJA Hunter Breeding National Championships, owned by Rachael Goebel, ridden Christopher Webb, and bred by Hil Cat Farm. Check out the graduates page here. 
Early Application Deadline for USHJA Platinum and Zone Jumper Team Championships is April 10
Applications are open for the USHJA Zone Jumper Team Championships, open to juniors and amateurs at the 1.10/1.15m, 1.20/1.25m and 1.30/1.35m levels, and the USHJA Platinum Jumper Championships, open to juniors, amateurs and professionals at the 1.40/1.45m level. You must apply to have your points count toward qualifying.

The Championships for USHJA Zones 7 & 8 at Hipico Santa Fe Summer Series - Sonrisa Week in Santa Fe, N.M., July 22-26, 2020 (Qualifying Period: August 27, 2019 - June 7, 2020).

*Early application deadline for the $75 rate is April 10. Starting April 11 until applications close, the price increases to $150.
USHJA Affiliate Member Organization News
American National Riding Commission

The ANRC National Equitation Championships are coming up April 9-11 at Swan Lake Stables in Littlestown, Pennsylvania.

The championships will now include adult amateur and ANRC alumni divisions, in addition to the traditional junior and college divisions.

Entries for the Championships are due March 1!

The Championships will be livestreamed on USEF Network. 
Sport History: Fun Facts from the USHJA Wheeler Museum
The Caprilli Revolution

American hunter/jumper equitation developed from new ideas introduced by Italian Cavalry officer Federico Caprilli in the early 1900s. His “forward seat” changed forever ideas about the safety and comfort of the horse and rider over fences.

When foxhunters and military riders began jumping fences cross-country in the 1800s, they rode in a “chair” seat with legs pushed forward because sitting vertical in the classical (dressage) seat was tiring, and they leaned back over fences in case the horse stumbled. Horses instead were struggling to keep their own balance, let alone that of the rider. Caprill’s method of sitting forward with shorter stirrups to rise out of saddle created angles in the rider’s hips, knees, and ankles that act as springs and allow the rider’s arms to follow the motion of a horse’s head and neck over jumps.

A hundred years later, Caprilli’s principles to help riders perform “with safety and dispatch” and horses to “respond to what is required of them quietly and smoothly with the minimum possible wear and tear” still hold.

Pictured above: Left: Caprilli's Forward Seat. Right: Hunting Chair Seat
Know Your Zone 7 Committee Members
  • Nancy Jones, Chair
  • Carl Hansen, Vice Chair
  • Joey Brumbaugh, Treasurer
  • Janis Collette
  • Laura Connaway
  • Matt Cyphert
  • Valerie Garza
  • Genie Harper
  • Kalea Maxwell
  • Kelly McCabe-Cyphert
  • John McQueen
  • Frank Owens
  • Sandra Tabio
  • Bill Whisenant
Special thanks to these members who serve our zone! For more information about the committee and contact information, click here.
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Photos by: Tricia Booker, Jump Media, Rachel Sowinski
United States Hunter Jumper Association | (859) 225-6700 | ushja.org