Lexington, KY - James Kennedy “Jimmy” Skipton, Jr., age 76, Saddlebred owner, ASHA member, and father of longtime exhibitor and American Saddlebred Museum curator Kim Skipton, died on Wednesday, May 25, 2011 in Houston, TX. Skipton was founder and president of Texas Fire & Safety, Inc. with locations throughout Texas. He was a lifetime member of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, an early supporter of the Pin Oak Charity Horse Show, a founder and President of the Texas...

Dressage Steffen Peters swept the 2011 World Dressage Masters Palm Beach presented by the International Polo Club, dominating both the Grand Prix and the Grand Prix Freestyle at Jim Brandon Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL. The California combination scored a personal best CDI Grand Prix score of 80.872% and a Freestyle score of 84.525% at the only CDI5* in the United States. Tina Konyot and Calecto V were second in the Grand Prix and third in the Freestyle to complete a strong showing for...

Steffen Peters and Ravel (SusanJStickle.com) Wellington, FL – Before a sold-out crowd, the Jim Brandon Equestrian Center continued to play host to World Dressage Masters Palm Beach CDI5* presented by the International Polo Club. After Thursday’s Grand Prix and Friday afternoon’s Grand Prix Special, eight of the top riders from across the United States and Europe rode their freestyles on a cool Florida evening. And, by the luck of the draw – the best was saved for last. Steffen Peters and Ravel...

Gunners Special Nite (Shannon Brinkman/USEF) Lexington, KY - The city of Lexington was largely defined by the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in 2010, so it proved a fitting setting to crown the 2010 Farnam/Platform USEF Horse of the Year. And the winner couldn't be more all-American. The only multiple Gold medal-winning horse for Team USA, Gunners Special Nite, a six-year-old American Quarter Horse brought the sport of reining to the forefront of the American equestrian community. People...

Margie Engle and Indigo at the Syracuse Invitational (Photo credit: Reflections Photography.) Syracuse, NY - November 6, 2010 -The fast paced action continued in downtown Syracuse today. The featured class of the night was the $100,000 Detwiler Fenton FEI World Cup Qualifier of Syracuse presented by G&C Farm. The great US rider, Margie Engle, out rode 27 riders representing six countries to take the lionshare $100,000 purse. As she stepped into the arena as the last of three qualifiers of the...

Traverse City, MI - The 2010 Great American Insurance Group/USDF Region 2 Dressage Championships continued on Saturday at Flintfields Horse Park in Traverse City, MI. Yvonne Barteau, of Maple Park, IL, had a great day with her mount GP Raymeister, first winning the FEI Intermediaire II Championship and then topping the FEI Intermediaire I Freestyle Championship later in the day. The championship classes are being held in conjunction with the Dressage by the Bay Fall Classic, which offers a full...

Lexington, KY - Ten days to go before the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (September 25-October 10) and the American horses and riders are putting the finishing touches on their preparation. Where are they and what are they up to? The DRESSAGE horses have all made it back to Gladstone, NJ where they are training at the USET Foundation Headquarters up until the WEG. Ravel and Steffen Peters had their trip delayed a couple of days by Hurricane Earl, but they arrived safe and sound on...

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. Just ask Miami University of Ohio freshman, Tom Schoen, the 2010 recipient of the Jon Conyers Memorial Scholarship. Schoen rides on the Miami University Equestrian Team (MUET), representing his Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) teammates in the Walk Trot division, under coaches Heather Pinnick and Lori Cramer. Remarkably, the English Education major was not a rider before college. But it’s clear after listening to him talk about his passion for...

Randi Muster (Isabelle Caccamise and her medium pony, Better Than Good, won the title in the Medal Finals. ) Lexington, KY - August 15, 2010 - A mist of Show Sheen, check. A dab of hoof polish, check. A last pat for good luck, check. On Sunday, the clock began to wind down on the six-days of excitement that was the 2010 USEF Pony Finals National Championships. Still, as riders gathered for the final contest, The Equisport Insurance/USEF Pony Medal, attention to detail was not lost. Over 190...

Tina Konyot and Calecto V (SusanJStickle.com Photo) Gladstone, NJ – Tina Konyot closed out the 2010 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Grand Prix National Dressage Championship in impressive fashion to sweep the four legs of competition and stamp herself and Calecto V and win her very first National Grand Prix Championship. Konyot (Palm City, FL) and Calecto rocked to music by KT Tunstall and brought the full house down to Black Horse and the Cherry Tree at the USEF Foundation Headquarters. Over four...