2005 USEF Annual Convention

USEF Honors its Stars of 2004 at Athletes’ Luncheon and Pegasus Awards Dinner

Kappler Awarded Whitney Stone Memorial Cup

Friday proved to be a day of widespread celebration at the 2005 USEF Annual Meeting as two special events brought audiences to their feet with thunderous applause and accolades for athletes and honorees. During the Friday Recognition Luncheon in honor of Athletes and Owners, the United States Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation presented the coveted Whitney Stone Memorial Cup to one of the world’s most successful international show jumpers, Chris Kappler, for the year 2005. At the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, Kappler, aboard Royal Kaliber, was the only show jumping rider to win two medals – an Individual Bronze and a Team Silver.

“I am deeply honored to receive the Whitney Stone Memorial Cup, and I wish to sincerely thank the United States Equestrian Team Foundation,” said Kappler. “To be included among the people previously singled out for their contributions to equestrian sport, people I greatly admire for their own achievements, is humbling.” Kappler was obviously moved during his heartfelt and humble acceptance speech. In September of last year, his longtime competitive mount, Royal Kaliber, was humanely euthanized in the Netherlands after undergoing colic surgery.

Kappler was not the only international star in attendance. Many of the United States’ elite athletes made the trip to Louisville, to take part in an afternoon of honors and awards. Eventers Kim Severson (Bronze Team medalist and Individual Silver medalist), Darren Chiacchia (Bronze Team medalist), and John Williams (Bronze Team medalist), were saluted. From the Athens Dressage Team, six-time Olympian Robert Dover (Bronze Team medalist) was in attendance. Kappler (Individual Bronze medalist and Team Silver medalist) represented the show jumpers.

Later in the evening, during the Pegasus Awards Dinner, Equestrians from every discipline and across the country joined in a night of salutes. “The prestigious awards presented tonight have a long and valued tradition,” said USEF President David O’Connor. “It is the time we come together lift our voices in praise of what this sport is truly about – sportsmanship, honor and our unending love of our horses and our sport.”

O’Connor wasted no time in bringing award recipients to the stage. Among the night’s many honorees were Richard Jeffery (Grand Prix Show Jumping Course Designer of the Year Award), Diana Dodge, of Virginia, and Herb Kohler, of Wisconsin, (Ellen Scripps Davis Memorial Breeder’s Award), Howard Simpson, of Illinois, (Walter B. Devereux Trophy and Sportsmanship Award), Bill Moroney, of Virginia, (Sallie Busch Wheeler Trophy for distinguished service to equestrian sport), Kathy Kusner, of California; Edna Griswald Lytle of Maryland; Margaret Price of Pennsylvania; and Alvin Topping of Virginia (Pegasus Medals of Honor), and posthumous honors for horsemen Stephen Hawkins and Dr. Eugene LaCroix.

The pinnacle award for young equestrians – the Junior Equestrian of the Year Award –was bestowed upon Morgan enthusiast and multi-discipline equestrian Meagan Drew of Colorado. Meagan earned her first Gold medal over fences at an Oklahoma City horse show, and three years later, she repeated her Gold medal performance, this time in the dressage ring. Her next disciplines to tackle were saddle seat and western, and she admittedly surprised herself when she took home the Western Seat World Championship in 2004.