Welcome to the Year of Youth's equestrian blog for youth riders, horse lovers and horsey people. Join in the discussion on facebook, twitter, myspace, bebo and flikr.

What a great picture!

Photograph by Nileeka Gunawardene exclusively for the FEI Year of Youth blog.

A member of Canada’s 2007 Young Riders Dressage Team, Andrea Wetzel has spent the last 10 years training with Olympian Belinda Trussell at Oakcrest Farms, just outside of Toronto. Andrea divides her time between showing at the Grand Prix level, studying in the Honours BA program at York University, volunteering at her local dressage club and managing special projects and contests for the popular Barnmice social community. Andrea can be contacted (and “friended”) on her Barnmice page.

The FEI’s Year of Youth has been officially launched by FEI President Her Royal Highness (HRH) Princess Haya. Speaking at the launch event at the Alltech FEI European Jumping and Dressage Championships HRH Princess Haya said “Equestrian sport is fortunate to have a generation of ambitious and hard working young people emerging onto the international stage”.

The Princess took time out of her busy schedule to meet youth riders who were helping out and competing at Windsor to launch the Year of Youth with a photoshoot. Having the president at the launch of the event was symbolic of the FEI’s commitment to communicate with youth riders.

FEI Youth Director Nici Kennedy added: “Our goal for the Year of Youth is to ensure we hear the opinions of the competitors, grooms, fans, volunteers and support teams of all those aged 12 and 21 involved in equestrian sport in order to help us best shape and drive the sport in the future”. “It is a tremendous opportunity and we are really looking forward to hearing from a great diversity of perspectives.”

The FEI Year of Youth runs from August 2009 right up until the Youth Olympic Games which take place in Singapore next year. We want to break down the barriers of distance by bringing young equestrians together via the website and social media products such as Twitter and Facebook so that your voices are heard.

We’ll be sharing your best tips and stories on this site and speaking to some of the superstars of the equestrian world in order to bring you the best advice on all things equine. If you’ve got a story that you’d like to see on these pages then drop us a line and let us know paulino@feiyearofyouth.org

FEI President HRH Princess Haya surrounded by young riders at the Alltech FEI European Jumping and Dressage Championships. © Kit Houghton

We’d love to see your horsey pictures too, so be sure to tag them with “FEIYOY” and check out the official Year of Youth Flickr stream here

When was the last time you did something nice for your groom? Do you take the time to appreciate all their hard work? Well there’s good news! Grooms are to be finally recognized as an important part of the equestrian community.

The FEI Awards has a specific category for ‘Best Groom’ and it’s open to any groom who has shown dedication and passion in their work.

Now is the time to celebrate those often-overlooked members of the community and reward their hard work, so if you know someone who deserves to win the coveted title of ‘Best Groom’, visit the FEI Awards website and make sure that they’re nominated. Every vote counts!

FEI Year of Youth Blogger Lisa Stock visits the ponies of the New Forest in the South of England…

Over the weekend I decided to take a trip to the New Forest. Having been there before I knew what to expect – lots and lots of wild ponies roaming the streets! Driving through Beaulieu I came a cross two grey ponies just standing in the middle of the road, after much persuasion they walked to the verge where they were admired by tourists.

During my walk I came close to the ponies, they walk up to you and don’t mind a stroke or two which makes me question are they really that wild? Looking healthy but a tad scruffy the ponies seem happy and love the attention they receive. Nibbling the grass on the side of the road and drinking from the pond they couldn’t be anymore wild and at home with nature. With the constant contact with humans who pester them daily I am sure they are becoming more used to life outside the forest!

It is lovely to see the ponies free and wild I just hope everyone who visits them understands that they are still wild animals at heart and should be careful what they feed them and how close they get!

Lisa

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Here is a pic of two foals who were hiding in the trees…

Here are a few pics of me and the cute ponies…

It was August 2008 my best friend and I were waiting in the arena at Rancho Murieta for Junior Champs. Our two ponies in their black polos with red fringe, and our saddle pads white with black and red fringe and sequins. Pas De Deux time. We got into our starting spots, Edi started flipping his head, he was getting impatient. As the music started we trotted in, so far so good. Halt Salute the way a dressage test starts and ends. As we got to the canter part of our routine Edi got a little more hyper and picked up a faster canter, I was worried we would cut our corner to tight and go out of the area, but we didn’t. I wasn’t sure how my ride looked to judges but I knew Zoe’s ride was great.

After the ponies were untacked we walked to retrieve our score, on the way there I told Zoe if we didn’t get a good score it was probably because of me. After I said that our trainer walked out with a huge smile on her face. I remember we couldn’t believe our ears when she said “86.75%”. That was one of the happiest moments of my life. Everyone knew our ponies were cute but I don’t think that anyone saw this coming. And to top such a great day Zoe got Pony Champion and pony of the year for training level test 4. Our little 42 inch ponies did really well, so never judge a book by its cover…or in this case size!!!

With so many great equestrians out there its hard to pick who is the best!

 Whether you’re into Show Jumping, Dressage, Vaulting, Para- equestrian, Eventing or Endurance why don’t you show your appreciation to your favourite rider?

 The FEI awards features a category called ‘Best Athlete’, an award for the equestrian who has shown exceptional sportsmanship and determination and skill to take the sport to a whole new level!

 Any top equestrian from around the world can be a candidate, so if you have someone in mind, now is the time to put in your nominations!

Check out the official FEI Awards site and cast your votes!