Laura Kraut and Teirra (Sportfot) Wellington, FL - The ninth week of the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival began with this morning's $32,000 G&C Farm 1.45m Classic, and Laura Kraut (USA) rode Stars and Stripes' Teirra to victory. Richard Spooner (USA) and Billy Bianca, owned by Molly Ohrstrom, were second, while Ben Maher (GBR) and Rowan, owned by Miss Louise Flower, were third. Sponsored by the Bainbridge Companies, week nine will host the $200,000 FEI World Cup Qualifier...

Major Equestrian competitions attended by US athletes, both domestic and overseas, are listed in this weekly preview. Please look below to find competition listings by discipline* and breed. We hope you will follow the competitions that most interest you, but check the USEF Week in Review on Monday for a report of any top finishes by US Equestrians. *lists of competitions in all international disciplines will include only FEI competitions within the USA and international FEI competitions in...

Major Equestrian competitions attended by US athletes, both domestic and overseas, are listed in this weekly preview. Please look below to find competition listings by discipline* and breed. We hope you will follow the competitions that most interest you, but check the USEF Week in Review on Monday for a report of any top finishes by US Equestrians. *lists of competitions in all international disciplines will include only FEI competitions within the USA and international FEI competitions in...

Wellington, FL - Excitement is mounting for the World Dressage Masters Palm Beach presented by International Polo Club Palm Beach, which gets under way in just one week. The World Dressage Masters presented by Axel Johnson Group is the richest dressage series in the world; over half a million dollars in prize money was awarded at four WDM competitions in 2011. The WDM Palm Beach is the only WDM event outside of Europe, and the only five star CDI in North America. International Polo Club Palm...

Wellington, FL - Olympic gold medalist McLain Ward (USA) was able to beat a field of 39 competitors to take the first round victory in the $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup Series at the 2012 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival. He and Oh' D Eole triumphed in the jump-off over Charlie Jayne (USA) on Chill R Z and Darragh Kerins (IRL) with Hot Wheels. Today's grand prix marked the start of an exciting show jumping season, where riders will compete over 12 weeks to win bonus money in the...

Twenty one nations are celebrating their Olympic qualification today, 9 January, which marks the 200-day countdown to London 2012 and 100 years of equestrian sport in the Olympic movement. Eleven countries have now secured the opportunity to join the nine nations already qualified at the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2010 in Kentucky and hosts Great Britain at London 2012 through a series of nail-biting qualifiers held around the world for their Olympic Group. Australia, Belgium,...

USA placed 2nd in the Nations Cup Saturday afternoon! Jessie Springsteen put in a flawless double clear, Catherine Pasmore contributed a clear and a four, Ricky Neal and Reed Kessler both had a rough start in the first round, but both came back and pulled out a four-fault round to finish. We lost by only eight faults so a good lesson was learned by all. You really have to fight for it no matter what. Even if you have had three down in the course already, you can't give up because that...

Defending champion Edward Gal (NED) will be sixth to go in the grand prix as the Reem Acra FEI World Cup™ Final gets underway in Leipzig, Germany tomorrow. The draw took place this evening, and the order of go will be as follows: 1, Kompliment (Sergey Pusko) UKR; 2, Weinzauber (Robert Acs) HUN; 3, Rafalca (Jan Ebeling) USA; 4, Skovlunds Mas Guapo (Mikaela Lindh) FIN; 5, Ekwador (Katarzyna Milczarek) POL; 6, Sisther de Jeu (Edward Gal) NED; 7, Come on 111 (Shawna Harding) USA; 8, Leo Af...

Kreuth, Germany - The 2011 National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) European Futurity hosted ancillary classes in the $15,000 added Open, $7,500 added Non Pro, $1,000 added Novice Horse Open Level 2 and $1,000 added Novice Horse Non Pro Level 2 this week. The $15,000 added Open Champion is Volker Schmitt (GER) riding Chic Magnetic. The two scored a 228 earning both the NRHA Lawson trophy and $4,653 in prize money. Bernard Fonck (BEL) and Kitas Spark claimed the Reserve Champion title scoring a...

Paul O'Shea and Daydream St. Ghyvan Z. (Photo by Sportfot©.) Wellington, FL - The eighth week of the 2011 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival has begun, and this week is the CSIO "international" week of competition. The opening international class was the $5,000 CSIO Welcome Stake. Paul O'Shea of Ireland had the fastest speed round for victory with Daydream St. Ghyvan Z, owned by Harry Gill. The FTI Winter Equestrian Festival's eighth week of competition continues through Sunday, March 6. Week...