Shane Sweetnam and Cyklon 1083 (Sportfot) Wellington, Fla. - The 2014 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) began its third week of competition, sponsored by Fidelity Investments®, on Wednesday, January 22, with a win for Shane Sweetnam (IRL) and Spy Coast Farm LLC's Cyklon 1083 in the $34,000 G&C Farm 1.45m FEI world ranking class. Week three continues through Sunday, January 26. The week will feature the $34,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 3 on Thursday,...

Ronan McGuigan and Capall Zidane (Sportfot) Wellington, Fla. - Ireland's Ronan McGuigan and Capall Zidane were double clear and blazing fast for the win in Saturday night's $50,000 Wellington Equestrian Realty Grand Prix CSI 2*, the highlight event of week two at the 2014 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF). Riders representing nine different countries showed under the lights in the International Arena at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) with top...

Lexington, Ky. - Voting is now open for the coveted 2013 USEF Equestrian of the Year award. Following decades of tradition, the winner will again be announced when the horse world meets at the United States Equestrian Federation's annual Pegasus Awards gala. This year's gala will be held on Friday, January 10, 2014 at the Hyatt Regency Lexington in Lexington, Ky., and broadcast live on the USEFNetwork presented by Smartpak. Known as the USEF Equestrians of Honor, eight stars of...

Todd Minikus and Quality Girl (Mancini Photos) Wellington, Fla. - Equestrian Sport Productions' (ESP) 2013 Holiday & Horses competition began on Wednesday, November 27, at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center with a win for Todd Minikus (USA) and Quality Girl in the $33,000 Nutrena Holiday & Horses Opener. Holiday & Horses competition will continue through Sunday, December 1. Upcoming highlights include the $33,000 G&C Farm 1.45m FEI class on Friday, November 29;...

Findlay, Ohio - November 18 - After four days of riding instruction, stable management, a written test and the Nations Cup competition, Sunny Drescher stood out among her peers and earned top honors in the USHJA Emerging Athletes National Training Session, presented by Dover Saddlery, November 14-17. "Sunny's the whole package. She's another kid whom we admire in all aspects of her horsemanship," said show jumping Olympic gold medalist and lead clinician Peter Wylde. "She's an...

Andrew Ramsey and Woitcek (Flying Horse Photography) Sacramento, CA - This year's Sacramento International Horse Show saw bigger crowds and greater competitor numbers than ever before. Show Managers Dale Harvey and Rudy Leone put on a smoothly-run, top-notch event from the time the first horse entered the in-gate during Welcome Week until the last fence was jumped Sunday at the close of World Cup Week. Looking back over the last two weeks, here are some of the highlights: World Cup Week saw...

Liza Boyd and Crack On (Shawn McMillen Photography) pper Marlboro, MD – Professional riders gain points all year in order to be the top six in the country and qualify for the WCHR Professional Finals, sponsored by the John R. Ingram Fund, at the Capital Challenge Horse Show. This year, the top six were Liza Boyd, Kelley Farmer, John French, Peter Pletcher, Amanda Steege, and Scott Stewart, and it was Liza Boyd who finished the competition with top honors. In the afternoon session, Haleigh...

Welcome to the fourth installment of a different kind of blog from WDAA! The purpose of this post is to allow the reader "into the heads" of both a trainer/judge/competitor, Karen Abbattista and her student, Deborah Herbert, a Florida WDAA member. We would like to share with you some moments in Deb's journey as she pursues her riding goals with her AQHA mare "GenuineArcticSpring", barn name "Belle". Please enjoy as you follow along with these posts that we consider interesting or...

Paul O'Shea and Primo de Revel Win$75,000 Equestrian Estates Planning Group Grand Prix at Silver Oak (Tammy Hardy) Hampton Falls, NH - The inaugural edition of the Silver Oak Jumper Tournament drew to a close on Sunday, under gorgeous sunny skies, low humidity and perfect temperatures in mid 70's. The fantastic weather put an exclamation point on what can only be described as an extraordinary debut for what certainly will become one of the nation's premier show jumping extravaganzas. A...

Welcome to the third installment of a different kind of blog from WDAA! The purpose of this post is to allow the reader "into the heads" of both a trainer/judge/competitor, Karen Abbattista and her student, Deborah Herbert, a Florida WDAA member. We would like to share with you some moments in Deb's journey as she pursues her riding goals with her AQHA mare "GenuineArcticSpring", barn name "Belle". Please enjoy as you follow along with these posts that we consider interesting or challenging...