Gladstone, NJ—February 2, 2004— McLain Ward of Brewster, NY, was named United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) International High Performance Athlete of the Month for January after he had an impressive beginning to the 2004 show jumping season by winning, on three different horses, the first three Grand Prix in which he competed.

On January 11, in Wellington, FL, Ward won the $25,000 Radisson Seven Seas Grand Prix on La Belle besting a field of 26 entries. The following week, on January 18 also in Wellington, Ward and Quickstar II Z won the $25,000 RV Sales of Broward Grand Prix over a field of 20 entries. He also placed seventh on La Belle. On January 28, he won the $25,000 Nutrena/Western Hay WEF Challenge Cup Grand Prix on Goldika over a field of 50 entries. That win was Ward’s record 10th win in the WEF Challenge Cup Series since the Series began in 1990.

U.S. Equestrian Inc., as the National Equestrian Federation of the U.S., is the regulatory body for the Olympic and World Championship sports of dressage, driving, endurance, eventing, reining, show jumping, and vaulting, as well as 19 other breeds and disciplines of equestrian competition. As the country’s largest multi-breed organization, the Federation has over 80,000 members and recognizes more than 2,800 competitions nationwide each year. It governs all aspects of competition, including educating and licensing all judges, stewards, and technical delegates who officiate at these shows.

The vision of U.S. Equestrian is to provide leadership for equestrian sport in the United States of America, promoting the pursuit of excellence from the grass roots to the Olympic Games, based on a foundation of fair, safe competition and the welfare of its horses, and embracing this vision, to be the best national equestrian federation in the world.

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