Photo by Flashpoint Photography (Shakira do Jacare and owner Sarah Owen during the retirement ceremony.) Shakira do Jacare, the brilliant 14-year-old Brazilian-bred chestnut mare owned by Sarah Owen and Muny Sunk Stables officially retired from the sport of show jumping in an emotional ceremony during the 2010 Atlanta Summer Classics. Dubbed the “Queen of Speed” by her competitors, Shakira’s presence alone at many a grand prix was enough to rattle the nerves of most seasoned jumpers. However,...

A dramatic win by Darragh Kenny of Ireland in the $75,000 Hermès Grand Prix CSI 2* for the Whitney Perpetual Challenge Trophy highlighted the 41st Annual Lake Placid Horse Show. Only five entries from the starting field of 24 succeeded in completing the 16-jump, first-round course designed by Olaf Petersen, Jr., of Germany without penalty. They returned for the nine-jump jump-off at the North Elba Showgrounds. First to go was Callan Solem of Chester Springs, PA, who set the mark to beat by...

Hunters had a big week at the High Prairie Farms Spring Final. More than 20 horse-and-rider combinations competed in the $2,500 United States Hunter Jumper Association National Hunter Classic on a perfect May evening in the main hunter ring. When it was all over, Libby Copeland claimed the championship riding Remember When (Jennifer Wallen, owner). Copeland, a Kansas City native, rides and trains out of Michael Dennehy’s Bridlewood Farms. She has been there for a little more than a year after...

Photo by James Leslie Parker (Laura Chapot.) Laura Chapot took top honors at the Devon Horse Show and Country Fair, winning the Open Jumper Championship on Bradberry with 30 points and also taking the Leading Open Jumper Rider title for the fourth time in six years, and the fifth time overall. Along with her four wins in the Open Jumper division that counted towards the leading Rider title, Chapot also won two six-year-old classes and a seven-year-old class for an unprecedented seven jumper...

Photo by ESI Photography (Kelsey Hart and Agostino in the $10,000 Devoucoux Hunter Derby. ) Two of the most decorated high-performance riders in the country became serious contenders to qualify for the unprecedented Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix after a pair of impressive outings at HITS-on-the-Hudson I in Saugerties, NY. First, in Friday's $25,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, it was Olympian Margie Engle and Hidden Creek's Pamina L that took the blue ribbon in her first...

Photo by Jon Kassel (Grand Prix Course at the sold out Alliant Energy Center Arena .) The 10,000 seat John Deere Coliseum at Madison's Alliant Energy Center was standing room only Saturday night as five of 38 entries passed the course's first test and were asked back for the tie-breaking round. Ultimately it was the feisty chestnut mare Happy Z and Ohio's Wilhelm Genn who laid down an unbeatable jump-off track for the win. Laura Linback and As di Villagana, competing last, also put in a...

Allison Springer and Arthur (Shannon Brinkman/USEF) Lexington, KY – William Fox-Pitt made a monumental effort to get to the Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event presented by Bridgestone and so far, after the first phase of the competition – it had returned the favor. Delayed by the Icelandic volcano, Fox-Pitt arrived later than planned, but in plenty of time to put in a winning effort in the dressage ring. The British rider rode Cool Mountain to a beautiful effort in the Johnson Arena under very...

Mandiba and Karen O'Connor (Shannon Brinkman ) Lexington, KY – The first half of the field in the 2010 Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by Bridgestone took to the dressage ring today under the looming threat of rain. It never really materialized but it was a sharp reminder that the glorious weather of the past weeks is coming to a close. Rolex and a little bit of rain has become a tradition. Of the first group, Olympic veteran and three-time winner, Karen O’Connor was the best of the...

So here it is, my 13th time at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. Who would have thought that when I went to my first Rolex in 1997 that I would end up only missing one between then and now (the 2009 event). My Rolex experiences started out as a day-trip jaunt from Western Kentucky University where I was attending school. It was my first year of college and an equine photographer that my friend, Laura, and I had met told us about the event. Since I was studying photojournalism at the time, I...

Very good news for the international equestrian community as FEI TV (www.feitv.org) will offer live streaming and extensive Video on Demand coverage from the first leg of the HSBC FEI Classics, the Rolex Three Day Event in Lexington, KY. The provisional schedule for the live broadcasts is as follows: Cross-Country - Saturday, April 24, 2010: 15:00-22:00 CEST / 13:00-20:00 GMT; Jumping - Sunday, April 25, 2010: 19:00-20:30 CEST / 17:00-18:30 GMT. Please check www.feitv.org for broadcasting times...