The fourth in a series of guest blog posts from Michelle Binder Every day I head out to the barn to work. Like other trainers, I work outside in temperatures from 0 to 100 7 days a week, almost 365 days a year, from dawn till dark and sometimes longer. As a professional trainer and riding instructor I am called on to muck stalls, fix fence, buck hay, dump grain, rake footing, fill water buckets, sweep the aisle, clean tack, change bandages, medicate, lead beginners, longe riders, heft children...

Kathleen Fisher and North Shore won the Junior Hunter Grand Championship at the Brandywine Valley Summer Series. (Rebecca Walton/PMG) Devon, PA - It was all about the juniors during the fourth day of the Brandywine Valley Summer Series presented by Taylor Harris Insurance Services (THIS). The riders were thrilled to showcase their mounts in the Dixon Oval at the prestigious Devon Show Grounds. After laying down beautiful trips with her talented mount North Shore in the Junior 16-17 Hunters,...

Lillie Keenan and Zycarla Z won the M&T Bank $5,000 High Junior/Amateur-Owner Show Jumping Hall of Fame Classic at the Brandywine Valley Summer Series. (Rebecca Walton/PMG) Devon, PA - The jumper divisions concluded tonight at the Devon Show Grounds with the High and Low Junior/Amateur Owner Jumper Classics during the Brandywine Valley Summer Series horse show, presented by Taylor Harris Insurance Services (THIS). Junior rider Lillie Keenan of New York, NY completed her clean sweep of both...

The second in a series of guest blog posts from Michelle Binder I started formal riding lessons when I was four years old. English riding lessons. The doctors told my mom it would be good for me. It was 1969. The Academy where I learned is now a national historic landmark. By the time I was 6, I was riding with double reins. My introduction to western riding came when my parents purchased a POA stallion for me the summer of my sixth year. That pony could buck my dad off! ‘Nuff said. When...

Caroline Roffman and Pie (Susan J. Stickle) Gladstone, NJ - The second week of the 2012 USEF Dressage Festival of Champions began Thursday with competitors in the National Intermediaire I Dressage Championship performing the FEI Prix St. Georges Test. Caroline Roffman cantered down centerline as the second competitor of the morning, then was forced to wait as the remainder of the 14 horse division tried to top her score of 73.974%. A total of five combinations were able to break the 70% barrier...

David Marcus riding Chrevi’s Capital won the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Special at the CDI3* Lexington, Kentucky, held May 24-27 at the Kentucky Horse Park. (Andrew Woodley) Lexington, KY – David Marcus, 31, of Campbellville, ON, scored two more victories to put himself firmly in contention for the Canadian Dressage Team headed to the 2012 London Olympic Games. Marcus won both the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Special at CDI3* Lexington, an international dressage competition held at the...

Kent Farrington and Venus won the $20,000 Bluegrass Classic at the Kentucky Spring Classic. (Rebecca Walton/PMG) Lexington, KY - Kent Farrington concluded the Kentucky Spring Classic on a great note, claiming first and second during this morning's $20,000 Bluegrass Classic aboard Venus and Voyeur, respectively. With a baker's dozen in the jump-off, Farrington completed the fastest two double-clear efforts with the talented mounts. Young rider Michael Murphy earned the third place award...

Lourdes de Guardiola and Autumn Rhythm won the $5,000 Hallway Feeds USHJA National Hunter Derby at the Kentucky Spring Classic. (Kendall Bierer/PMG) Lexington, KY - The $5,000 Hallway Feeds USHJA National Hunter Derby saw nothing short of fierce competition this evening in the Stonelea Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park. It was Lourdes de Guardiola and Autumn Rhythm who rode to the top of the leader board with two fantastic rounds, catching the judges' eyes and being dually rewarded for their...

Morton, IL - The American Shetland Pony Club, Inc., one of the oldest breed registries in the United States, is not sitting on its laurels in 2012. Instead, this multi-faceted and multi-breed association is boldly expanding some of its offerings and upgrading other programs or division for a fresh new approach this year. The American Shetland Pony Club, Inc., (ASPC) was established in 1888 to govern the then-burgeoning interest in Shetlands in the United States. ASPC is one of this...

Ashlee Bond and Cadett 7 won the $32,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic at the Kentucky Spring Classic (Rebecca Walton/PMG) Lexington, KY - It was another speedy night at the Kentucky Horse Park, as six double-clear finishers raced for the top prize in the $32,000 Hagyard Lexington Classic during the Kentucky Spring Classic. Proving that they are quickly reaching top form once again, veteran duo Ashlee Bond and Cadett 7 galloped over the short track in 38.54 seconds with all the fences in place to...