Steffen Peters and Ravel (Shannon Brinkman) Greenwich, UK - The four American horses presented before the Dressage Ground Jury in the main arena at the 2012 Olympic Games painted a picture of healthy composure. A mixture of experience and youth will represent the United States when the Dressage competition gets underway on Thursday with the Grand Prix. Ten teams and 20 individual will be representing their countries. The U.S. has drawn sixth. The four grooms, veterinarian Dr. Rick Mitchell,...

Greenwich Park, England - July 31, 2012 - The United States Equestrian Team Foundation is pleased to announce that the NBC Olympic Zone will be showing a special feature on U.S. Dressage competitors Jan Ebeling and Rafalca. The presentation will begin at 7:30 p.m. EDT and can be seen at https://www.nbcolympics.com . Ebeling and Rafalca will begin competing at the 2012 London Olympics in Greenwich Park on Thursday, August 2, 2012. The pair has recently shown the spotlight on Dressage while...

Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) is pleased to announce that the 2012 Adequan/USEF National Open Reining Championships will be held at the Ariat Tulsa Reining Classic, August 30-31, in Tulsa, OK. For information regarding the championships please visit https://www.tulsareining.com or contact Leah Oliveto, USEF Sport Programs Assistant, [email protected] . The USEF is now accepting bids to host the 2013 Adequan/USEF National Open Reining Championships. The event is...

Karen O'Connor and Mr. Medicott (Shannon Brinkman) Greenwich, UK - The German Olympic Eventing Team was in a class of its own as history was made at Greenwich Park. Michael Jung led a charge that finished with him winning Team and Individual Gold in a flawless effort on Sam. They were the only combination to finish the entire competition without adding anything to their dressage score. That score of 40.6 meant that Jung is the first person ever to be the reigning European, Olympic, and World...

Phillip Dutton and Mystery Whisper over the last fence. (Shannon Brinkman) Greenwich, UK - The U.S. Olympic Eventing Team climbed into fifth place with three strong cross country rounds around Sue Benson's testing cross country course against the stunning backdrop of Greenwich Park. Germany continues to lead the team effort on a score of 124.7 followed closely by Great Britain (130.2) and Sweden (131.4). New Zealand is on a score of 133.4 in fourth and the USA's score of 155.2 has them...

Laura Chapot and Umberto on course in the $75,000 Chartis Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health. (ESI Photography) Saugerties, NY – HITS-on-the-Hudson has been dubbed The Chapot Show as Laura Chapot of Neshanic Station, New Jersey won her third Grand Prix in a row when she produced the only double-clear ride in Sunday’s $75,000 Chartis Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health. Last Sunday during HITS-on-the-Hudson IV, Chapot won the $50,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by...

Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation has approved the nominated entry for the U.S. Endurance Team for the 2012 FEI World Endurance Championship as follows in alphabetical order. Melody Blittersdorf on her own Synthetic Cody Boysen on Roxi Welling's Viktory Banner John Crandell III on John Crandell Jr's Heraldic Becky Hart on her own No Repeat Valerie Kanavy on her own Reach For The Gold Nicki Meuten on her own Not Tonight Ellen Olson on Jeremy Olson's SA...

Lexington, KY - Sarah Hood is not your typical high school cross country runner. On torrid Georgia afternoons, after classes are over, she joins her teammates for practice and runs for miles. After that, most of her teammates head home. Sarah Hood heads to the barn. "As my teammates and l left every day, drenched in sweat and exhausted," she says, "many complained about being tired and couldn't wait to go home and crash. I just smiled as l left, knowing that I had horses waiting to be...

A retired couple from Western New York and their two young Thoroughbreds are poised to pick up a pair of championships at the Career2 Grand Finale, to be held at the Millbrook Horse Trials in Millbrook, N.Y., Aug. 2-5. Career2 is the new program created to promote eventing as a second career opportunity for retired racehorses. Linda and Jack Walnes of Avon, N.Y., lead the Beginner/Novice and Novice Divisions as Career2 heads into the Grand Finale. Mr. Walnes is also vying for a championship in...

The seventh in a series of guest blog posts from Michelle Binder Before we learn to read we must learn the ABC’s. William Cavendish, Duke of Newcastle (1593-1676) suggested an analogy between the education of a child and horse trainers who made unrealistic demands on young horses. Centuries ago he asked, ‘I would fain ask such stupid people, whether, by beating a boy, they could teach him to read, without first showing him his alphabet?’1 Systematic progressive training is not...