Alida D'Angona, Miss Massachusetts 2011. (Photo courtesy AMHA.) Shelburne, VT — Alida D'Angona, 24, from Bolton, MA, recently was crowned Miss Massachusetts 2011, and will be a presenter at the American Morgan Horse Association's annual awards banquet on Saturday, February 26 in Boston. Born in California, D'Angona traveled with her family as a child across the world to live in Hong Kong before settling in Bolton. With an interest in music as well as the sciences, D'Angona quickly became...

Cherri Reiber and the Lusitanos Zerbino Interagro and Vistor Interagro. (Photo courtesy JRPR.) Wellington, FL – Spectators at the February 19th Grand Prix and Great Charity Challenge at the 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival are in for a treat when Samba dancers and an exhibition by Lusitanos bring a flair of Brazil to the International Arena. The Brazilian-themed exhibition is in anticipation of the 2011 Lusitano CollectionTM International Horse Auction, considered the social event of the...

Michael Tokaruk and Roger Rabbit. (Photo by Sportfot©.) Wellington, FL - February 16, 2011 - In an unusual class on the opening morning of week 6 at the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival, there was a tie for the win in the $8,000 G&C Farm 1.45m Jumpers. Laura Kraut, on The Freedom Group's Dona Evita, and Michael Tokaruk with Roger Rabbit, owned by Castle Point Farm LLC, both finished the speed class with no faults and in the same time of 63.121 seconds. The FTI Winter Equestrian Festival's sixth...

Taylor McMurtry and Just An Illusion. (ESI Photography©.) Ocala, FL - February 16, 2011 - The sun continues to shine in Ocala after a successful first AA-rated week of show jumping at HITS Post Time Farm. High-Performance and talented hunter riders once again pleased the crowd with awe-inspiring performances in the $50,000 EMO Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health and $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix. Young star Taylor McMurtry won her first Grand Prix ever aboard her own Just An Illusion...

Traverse City, MI - February 16, 2011 - Horse Sports by the Bay, Inc. and Flintfields Horse Park are pleased to announce details for the upcoming 2011 Horse Shows by the Bay Equestrian Festival, which is expanding to five contiguous weeks this year. Held each summer in beautiful Traverse City, MI, the Horse Shows by the Bay Equestrian Festival features some of the country's best horses and riders competing in the hunter, jumper, equitation, and dressage disciplines. Events will be starting on...

Lexington, KY - Through the process of balloting by its members, the American Saddlebred Horse Association (ASHA) has elected new members to the ASHA Board of Directors. The newly elected members of the ASHA Board are: Bret Day (Kentucky), Lisa Duncan (Kentucky), Robert (Bob) Funkhouser (Massachusetts), and Tandy Patrick (Kentucky). Re-elected to the Board were Carl Holden (Kentucky) and Margaret McNeese (Texas). Leaving the board due to expiring terms are Victoria Gillenwater (Tennessee),...

Dressage The Palm Beach County Jim Brandon Equestrian Center in West Palm Beach, FL, hosted The Wellington Classic Spring Challenge CDI-W. On Friday, Tina Konyot and her partner from the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, Calecto V, topped the field in the Grand Prix for Freestyle scoring a 70.043%. Elizabeth Austin riding Olivier and Shawna Harding riding Come On III collected second and third place honors. Konyot took another commanding win in the Freestyle, scoring a 75.300%. Harding...

Last March I made my inaugural visit to Wellington, FL and the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center for CSIO week, which included the USEF Selection Trials for the US Show Jumping Team for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and the $75,000 FEI Nations Cup presented by CN. My partner in crime, Melissa Davis, and I set-up our Merchandise “Fort” and sold-out of nearly all the USA and patriotic coats, polos and hats we’d shipped down. Unseasonably chilly temperatures for Palm Beach...

Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) will resume broadcasting live equestrian events to viewers across the country later this week on its premier multi-media platform USEFNetwork.com. Fifteen days of action-packed and on-demand programming will launch the 2011 broadcast season starting with the WCHR Palm Beach Hunter Classic Spectacular on Friday, February 18. The tentative schedule for USEF Network through May 1, 2011, is listed below. Please note that all times are...

Ocala, FL - February 15, 2011 - It wasn't just an illusion when Taylor McMurtry and her own Just An Illusion won Sunday's $50,000 EMO Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health. The horse-and-rider combination celebrated their first Grand Prix win ever to conclude the Ocala Winter Classic. "I'm so happy!" exclaimed McMurtry, 18, who found her way to the top on a beautiful sunny day at HITS Post Time Farm. "I'm overwhelmed. Especially since it was my goal to win a Grand Prix this year, I am...