Reed Kessler and Ligist with ringmaster John Franzreb, Andrea King and Emanuel Andrade of Hollow Creek Farm, and WIHS Executive Director Bridget Love Meehan. (Shawn McMillen Photography) Washington D.C. - The $20,000 International Open Jumper Gambler’s Choice Costume Class, sponsored by Hollow Creek Farm, is always an exciting event at WIHS, especially with Barn Night and thousands of young fans cheering on the riders. In tonight’s class, 18-year-old Reed Kessler, of Lexington, KY,...

Paragon He’s only eight years old but he’s the talk of the dressage world. Yesterday people came to watch him school because they had seen him on YouTube and they wanted to see him in person. Luckily for the U.S. he’s on our team at the 2011 Pan American Games, after claiming reserve championship honors at the 2011 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Dressage Festival of Champions. Owned and ridden by Heather Blitz, the lanky 18- plus-hand chestnut gelding has jaw-dropping movement in...

Traverse City, Mich. – The 2023 edition of the FEI North American Youth Dressage Championships Presented by USDF came to a spectacular conclusion on Sunday, August 13, as the Juniors and Young Riders performed their freestyle tests. ©KTB Creative Group Junior Freestyle Championship After winning two silver medals in team and individual competition, Madison Sumner (Wellington, Fla.) and Briar, the 2007 KWPN gelding she co-owns with Wayne Sumner, struck gold in the freestyle. The pair...

San Juan Capistrano, Calif. – The 2022 Adequan®/USEF Junior Hunter National Championship – West closed out with exciting championship wins in the 3’3” section, with the Overall Grand National Champion 3’3” title going to Sofia Baiker and C’est Jolie with a total weighted score of 260.30. Katherine Simonds and Notorious earned the Overall Reserve Grand Championship title in the 3’3’’ section with a total weighted score of 252.20....

Barcelona, Spain – The NetJets ® U.S. Jumping Team finished fifth in the 2021 Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ CSIO5* on October 3, 2021, in Barcelona, Spain, at the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona. Led by Chef d’Equipe Robert Ridland, the team consisted of Lillie Keenan, Laura Kraut, Schuyler Riley, and Spencer Smith. Ridland noted, “When we arrived here and looked at what we were going up against, those teams were the real deal teams; it was the ‘A’...

Equine influenza outbreaks have been making headlines lately on both sides of the Atlantic, prompting As in human flu cases, vaccinated horses can still come down with equine flu, but the vaccine can lessen the disease’s severity. Photo: AdobeStock/vchalup horse owners and managers to review their biosecurity and vaccine protocols. Equine flu isn’t usually fatal, but it is highly contagious and can cost a horse weeks of training and competition time. Dr. Nimet Browne of Hagyard...

When fellow equestrians and Paso Fino enthusiasts first suggested that Heidi Young consider riding with a drill team, Young demurred. “I had bought myself a very good-looking Paso Fino, and they said, ‘You should try this, because it’s fun, and your horse would look great,’” recalled Young, a Connecticut native and US Equestrian member who now resides in Horseshoe Bend, Idaho. “I said, ‘Oh, no, I don’t do that kind of thing. I don’t like...

Wellington, Fla. – The Dutta Corp. U.S. Dressage Team earned a silver medal in the Stillpoint Farm FEI Nations Cup™ CDIO3* on Thursday. The U.S. team gave a collective effort for a team total of 432.661. Canada took gold with a score of 434.538, and Spain earned bronze with a score of 397.690. In the first U25 Nations Cup in the United States, the U.S. teams claimed gold and silver. “I want to congratulate all our super Grand Prix riders and our winning U25 riders at the...

Lexington, Ky. - Aug. 20, 2016 - A hush fell over the Kentucky Horse Park’s Rolex Stadium as the final two riders prepared to take the stage in the 2016 USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship. As Jennifer Alfano and the SBS Farms team looked on anxiously from the sidelines, Kristy Herrera entered the ring with Miss Lucy and laid down the trip of a lifetime to secure the sweetest victory, bringing a true fairytale ending to life for the SBS Farms team during the Bluegrass Festival...

Jack Hardin Towell and New York (Spruce Meadows Media Services) Calgary, AB, Canada - Jack Hardin Towell didn’t plan to even compete in the McDaniel & Associates Cup 1.45m, but when his barn manager Chris Howard entered New York and told him he was first in the ring, he gave it a go. A good go, in fact, as he was the first clear in round one and the first to return in the jump-off. They set down an unbeatable time of 40.80 seconds to win a wire-to-wire victory. Coming close behind in...