The dual sportswoman, who combines careers as a three-day eventer and trainer with that of a professional race car driver and performance driving coach, won the Open Pre-Novice category of the British Eventing Horse Trials at Tweseldown riding her horse Donovan (Intrepid). The event marked a return to competition for Donovan who has missed the past four months due to a muscle injury. What was planned as a gentle return to action became a complete domination of the Open Pre-Novice category as...

The professional hunter divisions and the Amateur-Owner Hunter divisions wrapped-up their second day of competition on Wednesday, October 21, at the Washington International Horse Show with the presentation of Grand Championship awards. Scott Stewart and Declaration led the way, earning the Green Conformation Hunter Championship, and going on to win the Grand Green Working Hunter Award, as well as the Grand Champion Hunter Award. After his excellent performance, Stewart also received the...

The EQUUS Foundation and the Syracuse Invitational Sporthorse Tournament have joined forces to promote the importance of excellent horsemanship at the USEF Horsemastership Training Session, which will be held January 5-9, 2010, in Wellington, FL. The mounted sessions will be held in the grand prix ring on the South Grounds of the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. USEF, the legendary horseman and chef d'équipe of the Olympic Gold-medal show-jumping team in 2009 in Hong Kong, will lead...

Today at Arabian Sport Horse Nationals (SHN), my fellow Arabian horse lovers and I were treated to a preview of the new Arabian Horse Galleries at the Kentucky Horse Park's International Museum of the Horse. The Purebred Arabian Trust funded a 9,000 square foot building to be added on to the existing museum, although they are still requesting donations to finish the exhibit. Those of us at SHN were invited to a special presentation (with a sales pitch artfully thrown in) to see what the...

Besides delighting my readers with scintillating stories (we writers like to use words like "scintillating" because we think it makes us sound writerly), my main purpose for being at Sport Horse Nationals here in beautiful, damp Kentucky is to help out (in other words, provide slave labor for) my good friend and mentor, Patience Prine-Carr. This means that I get a lot of mane pulling and braiding practice every day. While it's good for me to get the practice, it's frustrating because...

The Elite Hanoverian stallion Fielding (Fred Astair x Lessing), bred by Autumn Hill Farm and Kate Palmquist, has already accomplished a lot in a short career. As a three-year-old in 2007, Fielding finished fifth at his 100-day test, earned the coveted Class 1 status with his 125 points overall, and achieved the highest finish for a North American-bred stallion. In the fall of 2008 he moved to Hilltop Farm to stand as a Guest Stallion for the 2009 season. Paired with Hilltop Farm trainer Michael...

Dressage trainer Todd Flettrich is currently in Germany training with Olympic Gold medalist Hubertus Schmidt at his Paderborn farm and has begun competing with Cherry Knoll Farm’s horses, 13-year-old Otto and nine-year-old Danseur, in national competition. At a recent show at Hof Bettenrode, Flettrich qualified both Otto and Danseur for the Grand Prix Special after very successful qualifying tests. The Wellington-based trainer was very pleased with both of the horse’s performances. “This was...

Hi Hopes Farm, of Charlotte, NC, took home multiple tricolor ribbons and trophies after a successful two weeks of competition at the 86th Annual Blowing Rock Charity Horse Show. Lucille Oken received the Jennifer Cox Memorial Trophy for high-point rider showing horses and ponies. Alise Oken took home the Large Junior 16-17 Hunter championship award after her excellent performance with her top mount, Take Away. Alise and Lucille Oken both train under the tutelage of top instructors Steve...

The Fifth International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the Foot is pleased to announce that farrier Michael Wildenstein will be a featured speaker at this year's event. Wildenstein will be conducting a workshop on Foot Management Strategies for Laminitis with Dr. Mike Steward. The conference will be held November 6-8, 2009, at the Palm Beach County Convention Center in West Palm Beach, FL. The goals of the Fifth International Equine Conference on Laminitis and Diseases of the...

Canada and Mexico Share Podium in Debut Event for Kentucky Horse Park's New Indoor Arena Team USA rider Tom McCutcheon of Aubrey, TX, won the individual final in Kentucky Cup Reining, the first test event for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG). Held in the Kentucky Horse Park's new indoor arena, Kentucky Cup Reining, a CRIO**** competition officially sanctioned by the International Equestrian Federation (FEI), featured 12 riders, four each from Canada, Mexico, and the United...