McLain Ward and HH Carlos Z (SportFot) Wellington, Fla. - Week four of the 2015 Winter Equestrian Festival, sponsored by Fidelity Investments®, concluded on Sunday with the $85,000 Suncast® 1.50M Championship Jumper Classic featured in the International Arena at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC). The class saw a win for McLain Ward (USA) and Double H Farm's HH Carlos Z in a very fast 20-horse jump-off over Todd Minikus (USA) and Quality Girl. They were followed...

Peter Pletcher and Thanks for the Gold (Sportfot) Wellington, Fla. - Peter Pletcher and Thanks For The Gold kicked off hunter action for WEF 3 in the Shapley's Grooming Products Green Conformation Hunters. Thanks For The Gold, owned by Rancho De Los Arboles of Oak Point, TX, topped two of the over fences classes, along with the model and under saddle, to finish the day as champions. Also turning in consistent performances over the two days were Having Said That ridden by Kelley Farmer. The...

Scott Stewart and A Million Reasons (SportFot) Wellington, Fla. - For the second week in a row Dr. Betsee Parker's A Million Reasons, ridden by Scott Stewart, has taken home championship honors in the Wrenwood Farms High Performance Working Hunters. This was A Million Reasons second show in the High Performance Working Hunters, having done the Second Year Green Hunters last year. "She [A Million Reasons] is a really good jumper, a great mover, beautiful, big stride. She's like the...

Darragh Kenny and Windbreaker (Sportfot) Wellington, Fla. - Week one of the 2015 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) continued on Friday at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, FL, with the $6,000 Spy Coast Farm 1.40m jump-off and Speed Challenge classes held in the International Arena in the afternoon. The jump-off class went first with a win for Ireland's Darragh Kenny aboard Windbreaker. The Speed Challenge saw a win for Laura Chapot (USA) and Shooting Star....

Erin Sylvester and No Boundaries (Libby Law Photography) Pau, France - Two Americans stand within the top 10 following an influential cross country day at the Les Étoiles de Pau CCI4*. Erin Sylvester and Lauren Kieffer both produced clear jumping efforts over Pierre Michelet’s demanding track and will head to into the show jumping in competitive positions. Sylvester (Unionville, Pa.) and her own and Jill Tallman’s No Boundaries climbed 23 places up the leaderboard after only...

Lauren Kieffer and Veronica (Libby Law Photography) Pau, France - The Ground Jury of Jane Tolley, Eric Lieby, and Polly Ann Huntington saw 34 horse and rider combinations head down centerline during the first phase of competition at the Les Étoiles de Pau CCI4*. After the dressage, Germany’s Ingrid Klimke with Horseware Hale Bob and Great Britain’s William Fox-Pitt with Parklane Hawk stand tied atop the leaderboard on 39.3 but the Americans have slotted two combinations into...

Leslie Berndl and Uminco (Janos and Zoltan Varaljai) Izsak, Hungary – The U.S. sent two drivers down centerline on Thursday to kick off the FEI World Driving Championships for Singles in Izsak, Hungary, with both competitors standing within the top 25 after the first day of competition. Before the Ground Jury of Pierre Cazas, József Borka, Reiner Wannenwetsch, Diana Brownlee, and Sarah Mullins, Leslie Berndl drove Uminco through nervousness to stand sixth, while Donna Crookston...

San Juan Capistrano, Calif. - Amid a weekend packed full of equitation and young jumper finals, the $30,000 Markel Insurance Grand Prix saw twenty-five entries vying for the top prize on Saturday afternoon in the popular 1.40m highlight class. Course designer Anthony D'Ambrosio set a technical track with 16 efforts in a time allowed of 80 seconds. In designing the course for the last qualifying class before the $50,000+ Markel Insurance 1.40m Series Finals at the Las Vegas National in...

Woodstock, England – The Fidelity Blenheim International Horse Trials CCI3* came to a conclusion on Sunday with the influential final show jumping phase. Leading the American effort were USEF Land Rover Competition Grant Recipients Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Cubalawn, who earned a top 20 placing in their first CCI3* together. Phillip Dutton and Fernhill Cubalawn (Libby Law Photography) Dutton (West Grove, Pa.) and Tom Tierney and Simon Roosevelt’s 11-year-old Holsteiner gelding...

Lexington, Ky. - The country's best examples of hunter breeding will be on display this week on both coasts to compete in the 2014 Sallie B. Wheeler/US National Hunter Breeding Championship. Judges Linda Andrisani, of Phoenix, Md., and Daniel Robertshaw, of Camden, S.C., will travel to both coasts to assess the entrants. On August 27, young horses on the West Coast will meet at the Showpark All Seasons Summer Tournament in Del Mar, Calif. The championship then moves to the East Coast to the...