Rolf-Göran Bengtsson (SWE) is celebrating after securing the world number one slot in the Rolex Rankings for the first time in his career. The Hong Kong individual silver medallist has also made history by becoming the first Swedish world number in an Olympic discipline. ...

2011 certainly whizzed by, so we'd all better start marking important dates for 2012 in our calendars now! One event not to be missed is the Sydney Gold Cup Polo, being held on 4 November at Sydney Polo Club. ...

It seems the holiday season wasn't quite as carefree as the last week in December usually is, for Olympic Games horse owners and competitors, with some major decisions being made! The FEI rules state that "Horses entered for the Equestrian Events at the Olympic Games must have been registered with FEI as property of owners of the same nationality as the Athlete, by 31 December 2011". So as the end of 2011 and with the FEI deadline fast approaching, several 11th hour deals were struck! ...

The Westfalian foundation stallion Florestan I has passed away at age 26 at his home Landgestut Warendorf in Germany, on Tuesday 2 January 2011, due to problems connected with his age. The stallion stopped breeding three years ago and was enjoying his retirement at the stud farm. ...

Equestrian Australia (EA) and Pony Club Australia (PCA) are proud to announce the first of many joint initiatives, the PCA/EA Dual Member Rebate Scheme. The PCA/EA Dual Member Rebate Scheme is a program jointly developed by Pony Club Australia and Equestrian Australia to provide a benefit to riding members of both organisations. This rebate recognises the commitment of dual members and assists to facilitate lifelong equestrian participation via a pathway through Pony Club and Equestrian Australia. ...

Congratulations to James Arkins of Bellevue Hill, NSW who has won the 2011 Tekna Young Rider Selection Series. James will receive a Tekna package which will contain a new saddle, and lots of other fantastic items from the Tekna range. See the Tekna product range at http://www.teknasaddlery.com/home.asp ...

The largest ever Snowy Mountains Showjumping Festival kicked into gear on 3 January 2012. With Record numbers embracing Cooma as their home over a week, the Cooma Showground is now bursting at the seams. With over 450 horses stabled at the ground and over 1000 people camping, a mini horse city has been created! With trade stalls, horse feed, jumps and the all important Cosmorex Coffee stand, day one of the Festival started and never seemed to end. ...

British Showjumper Ben Maher has lost one of his top young horses in what appears to be a freak heart attack. Balvaro, a five-year-old by Calvaro who had shown immense promise over the fences and had been touted as an Olympic prospect for 2016, collapsed while being lunged by one of Ben’s grooms between Christmas and New Year. ...

A deceased horse on a property in the Townsville area has returned a positive test result for Hendra virus infection. Queensland Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Rick Symons said the horse had shown rapid onset of illness. “The horse died on Tuesday and the positive result for the virus came back late last night,” Dr Symons said. “The veterinarian who attended the horse used the proper precautions including the use of personal protective equipment (PPE). Biosecurity Queensland is in the process of quarantining this property and will test and monitor the other five horses at this location over the next month.” ...

As horse people, we really appreciate a great horse photo and know from taking happy snaps of our own equines, how difficult it is to capture the perfect picture! So what does it take to capture a great horse photograph? Tripwire Magazine has investigated some of the main “ingredients” in capturing a great equine photo....