Allyson Blais and Rocca K were the first of four to go clean over a tough, twisting course designed by Pierre Jolicoeur. The pair went on to top of the field of 30 in the $10,000 North American League (NAL) Children’s Jumper Finals, held at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in Harrisburg, PA. “The first course was very difficult. You would think you were turning right and you would have to turn left,” explained Blais, 16, who went third in the order and was followed by numerous knockdowns,...

One step out of the ring, internationally renowned equestrian Lynn Seidemann and Phoenix B knew they had put on a good show. Slated to ride second to last in the line-up, the pair pulled out all the stops to wow the judges with a spectacular performance Thursday. Make that a Silver medal-winning performance that surprised even Lynn. “It was a good day,” Lynn said modestly after the news started to filter back through the time zones into the States. With a Silver medal in tow and a...

It was a difficult evening for the United States Team as an unusual equipment failure in the middle of his final round, a broken bit, caused McLain Ward of Brewster, NY to retire from the competition for the individual medals. Then, in a jump-off for the silver and bronze medals Chris Kappler of Pittstown, NJ was pitted against Brazilian rider Rodrigo Pessoa and his Baloubet du Rouet when he felt his horse, Royal Kaliber, take a bad step. He immediately stopped and dismounted, ending his bid...

The Grand Prix Special was ahead for the dressage riders at Markopoulo Equestrian Center today, and an early morning start saw them performing in the Second Qualifier. Twenty-five riders and their mounts posted scores leading into Wednesday’s final day of dressage and the Final Grand Prix Freestyle. And at the end of Wednesday, we will know who will be awarded the 2004 Athens Olympics Individual medals. The U.S. team is coming off their successful bid for a Team medal. They took home the Bronze...

A great second-round recovery by the home team, with particularly brilliant performances from Athens-bound Nick Skelton and Robert Smith, saw the British win the sixth leg of the 2004 Samsung Super League Nations Cup series in Hickstead on Friday, July 23, 2004. Lying equal-third with 16 faults along with the strong favorites from France, the USA and Belgium at the halfway stage added just a single time fault to complete with 17, while the French slotted into the runner-up spot with 20 ahead of...

San Juan Capistrano, California – Again today Robert Dover and FBW Kennedy demonstrated masterful consistency and solidity, the hallmarks of their vast experience. They won the Grand Prix Special in the Selection Trials with a score of 78.640%, with two judges scoring them just over 80%. Dover summed up his two very different rides on Kennedy and Ranier, “honestly, I was actually really relaxed going into the ring today, and excited about especially riding Kennedy today, because I...

San Juan Capistrano, CA – Veteran Olympic Judge Axel Steiner was doing color commentary at the trials today and described Robert Dover’s ride on FBW Kennedy as “one of the nicest Grand Prix rides in the United States.” The enthusiastic applause of the knowledgeable crowd indicated they agreed. Their score of 76.292% leads Gunter Seidel on Aragon, who had a score of 72.375%. Seidel was also third on Nikolaus 7 with a score of 71.458%. Steffan Peters on Floriano was fourth with 71.333%. “You...

Two of the world’s most prestigious and glamorous equine events are coming to the United States in 2005! For the first time ever in international competition, two World Cup Championship events will be held concurrently in one location, Las Vegas, Nevada, April 20-24, 2005. The 2005 World Cup Champions in both jumping and dressage will be crowned in Las Vegas. Following its previous hosting of two World Cup Jumping finals, the highly-acclaimed Budweiser World Cups in 2000 and 2003, Las Vegas...

Wellington, Fla. – In a battle for top honors and striving to gain valuable team experience, the U.S. Young Rider, Junior, and Children’s Jumping Teams dominated their respective competitions in the Palm Beach Masters CSI on Saturday, February 15, sweeping the first place podiums for the second year in a row. The Children’s team started the day with a win in the $3,500 Children’s Team Competition, followed by the U.S. Junior Jumping Teams winning first and second place...

Wayne, Ill. – The list of national champions at the 2018 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions continued to grow on Saturday, including Emma Asher and Traneenggaards Akondo, Emily Miles and Sole Mio, Michael Bragdell and SenSation HW, Heather Blitz and Praestemarkens Quatero, Endel Ots and Lucky Strike, and Codi Harrison and Katholt’s Bossco. One division performed their first tests of the championship, while the final five titles will be decided on Sunday. USEF Junior Dressage...