Colombian dressage rider Marco Bernal lived every rider’s dream during the 2010 Palm Beach Dressage Derby CDI, when he heard his country’s national anthem played three times for three great wins. Bernal’s success came aboard his Westphalian stallion Farewell IV, the same stallion that he set the world record on at the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) in 2005 when they scored a record high score of 85.385%. “This was the best show for me so far. It is nice when you work so long with a horse and...

In celebration of its 35th anniversary, September 28-October 3, 2010, Dressage at Devon is adding two exciting new championship programs—the Pro-Am Challenge and the Young Performance Horse Championship. The goal of both awards is to identify success in two important groups of competitors—amateur riders and young horses. "We always strive to find new ways to recognize greatness at Dressage at Devon," said Lori Kaminski, President and CEO of the event. "This fall, while some of the...

Randi Muster/Mustphoto, Inc. (Richard Spooner and Cristallo) Wellington, FL – The test of endurance which serves as the USEF Selection Trials for the US Show Jumping Team for the Alltech 2010 FEI World Equestrian Games continued with the fourth round of jumping in the International Arena at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. Twenty-six American horses jumped in the penultimate Trial and clear rounds continued to prove very valuable. There were four clear rounds and three that added...

A total of 15 riders from 10 nations will compete at the 25th anniversary final of the FEI World Cup™ Dressage series at 's-Hertogenbosch, The Netherlands, later this month. The 2008/2009 series champion, Steffen Peters of the U.S., will not be defending his title, but two spots still remain open for riders from the North American league which has just one last qualifier remaining. The Western European League line-up is already decided following last weekend's final qualifying leg in...

Photo Courtesy Rolling Stone Farm (Shakespeare RSF ) The 2004 dark brown Hanoverian stallion Shakespeare RSF by Sandro Hit, out of EM Acapella, by Arrian, was named Champion of his 70-Day Stallion Performance Test held October 4-December 12, 2009, at Silver Creek Farms in Broken Arrow, OK. Shakespeare is owned and bred by Maurine (Mo) and Jim Swanson of Rolling Stone Farm in Slatington, PA. Shakespeare achieved Class I status with a score of 130.53 points overall (this score reflects a 5%...

Photo by Phelps Media Group (Olympian Nona Garson, pictured with Steve Williams and Janet Rizzo, hosted a very successful 7th Annual InterContinental Sport Horse Auction. ) The Seventh Annual InterContinental Sport Horse Auction was held on Sunday, February 14, 2010, and received rave reviews from its crowd of over 300 bidders during the hugely successful evening. Olympian Nona Garson hosted the event at The Ridge Farm in Wellington, FL, where horsemen of all disciplines gathered to bid on the...

Photo Courtesy Iron Spring Farm (UB40) Two of Iron Spring Farm's flagship stallions, Meinse 439 and UB40, began the 2010 show season with big wins. Meinse 439 claimed the Second Level Reserve Championship and High Score Non-Warmblood at Ocala Winter Dressage. The six-year-old KFPS stallion followed that up with wins in both of his Second Level classes at American Dressage Concours with scores to 70.714%. UB40 also impressed. The nine-year-old KWPN stallion won all of his classes, receiving...

Photo by Robbi Meisel (Eirin Bruheim and NLF Trans Atlantic) Thermometers were up and down, weathermen forecasted gloom and doom with the supposed arrival of three inches or more of snow, and like all good businesses the managers of the Gulf Coast Winter Classics decided to aire on the side of caution by cancelling Friday classes. The good news was that aside from some nasty rain, it truly was a “non event” day as Bob Bell co-chairman had hoped. Saturday saw the return of warmer temperatures,...

Photo Courtesy JRPR (Lauren Sammis, left, won the FEI Test of Choice aboard High Field’s Casimirov, owned by Paula Runnells.) Courtney King-Dye and Grandioso III, owned by Hampton Green Farms, turned in an award-winning ride in the Intermediaire II class at the Wellington Classic Dressage Spring Challenge CDI. The class was sponsored by Sho Clothes, and King-Dye and Grandioso rode away with a beautiful scrim from the upscale dressage boutique in Wellington that specializes in the latest and...

Ravel Settles for Second (SusanJStickle.com) Wellington, FL – Having convincingly won the Grand Prix at the 2010 Exquis World Dressage Masters on Thursday afternoon, the pressure was on Steffen Peters to continue his winning tear with Ravel. But unfortunately for the US fans, it was a repeat of 2009 and he still couldn’t eclipse Anky van Grunsven and her Olympic champion Salinero. The reigning Gold medalist wowed the fans with a classic fault-free performance and a score of 84.4% for the...