Candyland and Hope Smith (Sportfot) Wellington, Fla. - Over two days of competition, Hope Smith rode her own Candyland to the Forré Fine Art Low Adult Hunter 2'6" Section A championship. The duo won three of the four over fences classes and placed third in the under saddle to finish a top the field of 32 competitors. Christy Powell and her own Savion finished the day as the Forré Fine Art Low Adult Hunter 2'6" Section B champions. The pair won both over fences classes...

Lisa Goldman and Centurion B take the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix at the HITS Ocala January Festival (ESI Photography) Ocala, Fla. - The $25,000 Smart Pak Grand Prix, held in the Ocala Horse Properties Stadium, boasted 33 competitors vying for their share of the prize money. Goldman came out on top again, this time aboard Centurion B whom she has had since he was a 2-year-old. Eight riders advanced to the jump off over Esparza’s first round course of 15 jumping efforts. Goldman said,...

McLain Ward and Best Buy (Kendall Bierer/Phelps Media Group) Wellington, Fla. - Set amidst lush pastures, voluminous trees and a cloudless sky, The Ridge at Wellington Turf Tour ended the third of its 12-week series. Friday, McLain Ward and Best Buy would ride to the top of the leader board, tripping the timers in an untouchable 37.911 seconds, a second and a half faster than second place finisher Beth Underhill with Viggo. Riders were faced with 15 efforts in a challenging course designed by...

Lars Petersen and Mariett (SusanJStickle.com) Wellington, Fla. - Lars Petersen (DEN) and Mariett, a 1998 Danish Warmblood mare, topped the FEI Grand Prix CDI W class sponsored by the U.S. P.R.E. Association on the first day of competition during Week 3 of the 2015 Adequan® Global Dressage Festival (AGDF). The duo scored a 73.220% to take the win, followed closely by Jose Daniel Martin Dockx (ESP) aboard the beautiful P.R.E. stallion Grandioso, scoring a 72.360%, and Shelly Francis (USA) and...

Wellington, FL – United States dressage competitor Adrienne Lyle has announced the retirement of Wizard, her Olympic and World Equestrian Games partner. The 16-year-old Oldenburg gelding (Weltmeyer-Pica, Classiker) is owned by Peggy Thomas. Highlights of Lyle and Wizard’s long partnership include representing the United States at the 2012 London Olympic Games as well as at the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy, France, where they contributed to a fourth place team...

Lexington, Ky. - The Split Rock Jumping Tour, a new international show jumping series making its debut in 2015 in Lexington, Kentucky, the "Horse Capital of the World," is excited to announce a partnership with the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Foundation. A portion of proceeds from all sales of Split Rock Jumping Tour Hospitality packages will go directly to the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Foundation to support their programs. "We are thrilled to help support the local...

Adrienne Lyle and Wizard at Aachen in 2014 (Shannon Brinkman Photo) Wellington, FL – United States dressage competitor Adrienne Lyle has announced the retirement of Wizard, her Olympic and World Equestrian Games partner. The 16-year-old Oldenburg gelding (Weltmeyer-Pica, Classiker) is owned by Peggy Thomas. Highlights of Lyle and Wizard’s long partnership include representing the United States at the 2012 London Olympic Games as well as at the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games...

Alex Granato and Gangsta (Shannon Bower/Phelps Media Group) Wellington, Fla. - The Ridge at Wellington's Turf Tour returned home to The Ridge at Wellington for its third week of competition. Michel Ismalun, a member of the course design team from World Equestrian Games 2014 and a world-renowned course designer, built the young jumper course on the grand prix field. The course proved to be very inviting and educational for each of the divisions, allowing the younger horses to go forward and...

William Simpson and Katie Riddle jump to victory in the $50,000 (ESI Photography) Thermal, Calif. - Will Simpson won his second Grand Prix victory in the first week of HITS Thermal Desert Circuit I, this time on Katie Riddle, owned by Monarch International and the Von Heidegger family, in the $50,000 Equine Couture/TuffRider Grand Prix. Simpson and Katie Riddle jumped with no faults in both the first round and jump off, with a time of 43.070 to win $15,000, topping a final field of 12 riders on...

Contina and Jackquelyn Maggiore jump to victory in the $1,500 Platinum Performance Hunter Prix Saturday, January 17 (ESI Photography) Ocala, Fla. - A 13-year veteran of HITS Ocala events, Maggiore, of South Boston, Massachusetts, secured her top spot with a strong first round score of 86, followed by a 78 in the second round. Earning a second-place finish was Mindy Whitman of Marstons Mills, Massachusetts, on Holman Imports LLC’s Herrold, with scores of 73 in Round 1 and 85 in Round 2....