Andrew Kocher and Zantos II won Sunday's $50,000 Grand Prix of Williamsburg CSI2* to wrap-up Week Five at the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival. (Taylor Renner/Phelps Media Group) Traverse City, Mich. - Aug. 14, 2016 - Week Five's feature event at the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival (GLEF), the $50,000 Grand Prix of Williamsburg CSI2*, went to Andrew Kocher (USA) and brand new mount Zantos II. With only having ridden and competed the 12-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding for less than a month,...

Lexington, Ky. – A week of competition at the 2016 US Pony Finals presented by Collecting Gaits Farm came to a close Sunday with the most coveted award of the championship. The Marshall & Sterling/US Pony Medal Finals took place in the Alltech Arena with 182 riders vying for top honors in front of judges Scott Hofstetter and Jack Towell. Following excellent performances through the day, Caroline Passarelli earned the Marshall & Sterling/US Pony Medal Finals title. Caroline...

I started this blog this morning with the aim of completing by the start of the jumping competition and extolling the virtues of the Glorious 12th. However it is now evening and the blog is only just being started due to the time consuming shenanigans of the Annoying 14th. It has been one of those days that Rio 2016 have perfected the art of creating; frustrating and unnecessary. Casting my mind back to the Glorious 12th, I still get goosebumps combined with deep reoccurring nervous tension...

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – The show jumping competition, the third and final equestrian discipline at the 2016 Olympic Games, got underway at the Deodoro Olympic Equestrian Center, on Sunday, showcasing 75 athlete-and-horse combinations from 27 nations. In addition to serving as the first individual qualifier, Sunday’s results determined the starting order for the Team Competition. Kent Farrington produced a clear round for the U.S., while teammates Lucy Davis, McLain Ward, and Beezie...

Atherton, Calif. - Saturday is a special day at Menlo Charity Horse Show (MCHS) from the Leadline to the $40,000 Bentley Los Gatos and Bentley San Francisco Grand Prix; there truly is an event for everyone. Don DeFranco has been on the MCHS committee since 2007 and began sponsoring the Leadline Class in memory of his father, V. James DeFranco a pediatrician and family practitioner, who passed in May 2013. “He was a very charitable man and did a lot of good for a lot of people and I just...

Lexington, Ky. - The US Hunter Pony Championships presented by Sallee Horse Vans came to a close on Saturday at the Kentucky Horse Park. Medium Regular Hunter Ponies went to task in the Walnut Arena in their Over Fences phase to determine the 2016 Champion. Natalie Jayne and Woodlands Stevie Ray emerged victorious on Saturday afternoon, but it was Wednesday’s Large Regular Hunter Pony champion, Storyteller, that proved unbeatable as he was named the Grand Champion Hunter Pony of the 2016...

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – Show jumping enthusiasts from around the world have been eagerly anticipating the start of the third and final discipline at the 2016 Olympic Games. The show jumping competition got underway at Rio’s Deodoro Olympic Equestrian Center Friday with the horse inspection. Representing the United States are Lucy Davis, Kent Farrington, Beezie Madden, and McLain Ward. The U.S. team is led by Chef d’Equipe Robert Ridland. McLain Ward and Azur (Shannon Brinkman...

Lexington, Ky. – The Team Championship of the US Pony Jumper National Championships took place Friday evening in the Alltech Arena as teams competed in the two-round Nations Cup format. Following the first round, the top teams came back to jump the same Jasen Shelley-designed course in round two, with a total of 32 combinations jumping for individual classification. For the 2016 US Pony Finals presented by Collecting Gaits Farm, the Zones 5/6 team stood atop the podium. The team,...

Lexington, Ky. – It was another exciting day of competition at the US Pony Finals presented by Collecting Gaits Farm as two more championship titles in the US Hunter Pony Championship presented by Sallee Horse Vans were decided on Friday. Kyla Sullivan and Not So Secret collected Medium Green Hunter Pony honors, while Madeline Schaefer and Minted were named the Large Green Hunter Pony Champions. Both championship divisions completed the Over Fences phase on Friday, earning the final 50%...

Allison Brock, Laura Graves, Kasey Perry-Glass, and Steffen Peters (Shannon Brinkman Photo) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – The U.S. Dressage Team won the Bronze medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on Friday following the conclusion of the second half of team competition, the Grand Prix Special. Led by Chef d’Equipe Robert Dover, the team, comprised of, Allison Brock and Rosevelt, Laura Graves and Verdades, Kasey Perry-Glass and Dublet, and Steffen Peters and Legolas 92 won the Bronze...