United States Equestrian Team Announces U.S. Team for CSIO Wellington

Gladstone, New Jersey—February 27, 2003—The United States Equestrian Team (USET) has announced the U.S. team that will compete at CSIO Wellington at the Winter Equestrian Festival, March 5-9 at the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club in Wellington, FL, at which the primary competition is the Samsung Nations’ Cup, presented by CN.

The four riders, chosen based on their ranking on the USET Show Jumping Computer List as of January 24, 2003, are Margie Goldstein Engle of Wellington, FL; Lauren Hough of Ocala, FL; Beezie Madden of Cazenovia, NY; and McLain Ward of Brewster, NY. The alternate for the team is Schuyler Riley of Wellington, FL.

Three of these riders were members of the U.S. team that took first place in the Samsung Nations’ Cup competition at CSIO Wellington in 2002 – Engle, an Olympic veteran and record seven-time American Grandprix Association (AGA) Rider of the Year; Hough, Engle’s 2000 Sydney Olympic teammate; and Ward, who is currently in first place in the FEI World Cup standings for the USA East Coast League.

Joining these riders is Madden, who was on the U.S. team that competed in the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Spain.

The alternate for the 2003 team, Riley won the 2001 AGA Show Jumping Championship and the $150,000 Budweiser American Invitational, the culminating event of the Winter Equestrian Festival, in 2000.

The United States Equestrian Team is a non-profit organization that selects, trains, equips and finances equestrians of the highest possible standard to represent our country in major international competition, including the Olympic Games and the World Championships. To accomplish this, the USET seeks out and nurtures the development of talented athletes - riders, drivers and horses - and provides the support and guidance they need to help them attain their fullest potential. For more information on the USET, please call (908) 234-1251, or visit USET ONLINE at www.uset.org