Grass Lake, Michigan - The 2016 United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Para-Equestrian Dressage National Championships sponsored by Deloitte and Selection Event for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games Prize List and Entry Form is available online at HorseShowOffice.com . Taking place at Waterloo Hunt Club in Grass Lake, Michigan, the 2016 USEF Selection Event; Para-Equestrian Dressage National Championships; and Open Para-Dressage National Show is scheduled for June 3-5, 2016. The weekend event...

Lauren Hough and Ohlala (Spruce Meadows Media Service) Calgary, Alberta - Weather conditions were markedly improved for today's opening competition of the Spruce Meadows 'Masters' Tournament. While originally scheduled to start yesterday, snowfall, downed trees, and power outages pushed the start of all competition to Thursday at the 'Masters', the first instance of a complete day's reschedule of competition in the 39-year history of Spruce Meadows tournaments. There...

Danielle Torano and Herault (David Mullinix Photography) East Dorset, Vt. - Danielle Torano of Ft. Lauderdale, FL, riding Herault won the $10,000 Show Jumping Hall of Fame (SJHOF) High Junior-Amateur Owner Jumper Classic on Sunday, August 3, at the Vermont Summer Festival in East Dorset, VT. The Torano family has had a banner weekend at the Vermont Summer Festival, with Danielle’s husband Jimmy Torano winning Saturday’s $30,000 Manchester & the Mountains Grand Prix. Torano also...

Sofia Roberts and Brownland's Mr. Mack (Emily Riden/Phelps Media Group) Lexington, Ky. - The Kentucky Summer Horse Shows have seen large numbers of entries all summer, but this weekend those numbers skyrocketed in the pony divisions. The 2014 US Pony Finals competition kicks off at the Kentucky Horse Park in just two days, and hundreds of ponies and young riders took advantage of the opportunity to prepare for the prestigious Pony Finals at the Kentucky Summer Classic. Among them were two Pony...

Spencer Smith and Beau Van Het Keysershof (Sportfot) Wellington, Fla. - Spencer Smith and Ashland Farm's Beau Van Het Keysershof, a 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood, topped the Platinum Performance USEF Show Jumping Talent Search on Friday morning at the FTI WEF. This was the second week in a row the pair collected the top prize for the class. Second place went to Victoria Colvin with Stallone VDL and the top three was rounded out by Lilly Ulrich and Vocus. The top ten riders over fences were...

Last week I posted a virtual show entry video from an amazingly brave woman who continues to allow me to use her material for examples in this blog. Her courage and generosity inspire me and I hope that her open heart and willingness to be visible inspire you too. I hope that some of you readers are able to identify with her as a peer, a rider struggling to understand riding and training her stock horse and that you professionals at least respect her courage. Reaction to the video has been...

Note to Self: 1. Prepare classical instructor that you will be appearing before him in western tack and riding an Appaloosa stallion, NOT your third level Westfalen import and 2. Don’t ride in a clinic without a photographer A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…. I got a book from the library called The Schooling of the Western Horse by John Richard Young. It was published in 1945 (practically the dark ages) and outlined progressive training for western horses. Critically...

Rich Fellers and Flexible rode to the winner’s circle over an impressive field this weekend to collect first-place honors in the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis, at HITS Thermal (Flying Horse Photography) Thermal, CA – Fifty-three horse-and-rider combinations took the field, but it was the reigning World Cup winners who ruled the day Friday, when Rich Fellers and Flexible rode to victory in the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis. The rider from Wilsonville,...

Today’s post comes from Sin City, Las Vegas Nevada. Since I am here in the region of Southwest Western Dressage, I decided to write the blog as an interview with someone from the Las Vegas equestrian community who was doing Western Dressage. So I opened up the phone book to call a local barn. Every barn number but one was disconnected or no longer in service. The one that was working was a casino! So I called a feed store, thinking that at the feed store would be someone who knew someone...

Abigail McArdle of the Zone 5 Team on Cosma 20. (Al Cook) Harrisburg, PA - The Zone 5 team captured the gold medal in the $15,000 Randolph College/USEF Prix de States Team Championship at the 67th Annual Pennsylvania National Horse Show on Friday evening. The team members were: Kalvin Dobbs of Tallahassee, FL riding Winde; Abigail McArdle of Barrington Hills, IL on Cosma 20; Lillie Ross of Wheaton, IL aboard Pako; and Catherine Tyree of Chicago, IL on Wetter. Following a modified Nation's...