Victoria Colvin (The Book LLC) Devon, PA - The final day of Devon was off to a beautiful start; the sun was shining, a nice breeze was blowing, and spectators lined the stands waiting for the first Hunter Derby rider to enter the in-gate. The ring was filled with hunter-style jumps--natural wood, shrubbery, a crisp hedge roll top, and numerous branches decorated a series of obstacles. The Derby is a unique set of classes, with fences set to different heights so riders can chose the high of low...

I guess the beginning is a great place to start. I grew up in Maine, the oldest of five, to a father who was in the military and a mother who was a housewife until the youngest of my siblings was in Junior-High school. We grew up on the other side of middle-class, OK, we were poor. I grew up watching spaghetti westerns in black and white on Saturday afternoons. I always loved the intrigue of being a Cowboy, pushing cattle up the Chisholm Trail, fighting bad guys and Indians. Next to the pony...

Petra Warlimont and Lorenzo in the Markel USEF/ Young Horse 5-Year-Old Qualifier (Sue Weakley) Parker, CO - High Prairie Dressage III at the Colorado Horse Park held a series of Markel/USEF Young Horse Qualifying classes Sunday, part of a program using special dressage tests for 4-, 5-, and 6-year-old horses to help scout out potential outstanding talent for future careers at the FEI level or participation in U.S. High Performance Teams. A key component of the classes is personalized feedback...

Todd Minikus and Quality Girl jumping their way to a win in the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis, at HITS Saugerties (©ESI Photography) Saugerties, NY - After two in-the-money finishes last week at HITS Saugerties, Todd Minikus and Quality Girl kicked off Week II grand prix action by topping a ten-horse jump-off in the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Zoetis. Minikus won the Week I $10,000 Brook Ledge Open Welcome at HITS Saugerties and picked up sixth and eighth-place...

Julie Wolfert and Buenos Dias Parker, CO - Many competitors had rave reviews for cross-country day at the Colorado Horse Park's CCI*/Training Three-Day/Horse Trials, but Julie Wolfert had more reasons than most to be happy. Wolfert turned in three double-clear cross-country rounds to cement her lead in the CCI* with Buenos Dias, taking over the lead in Open Intermediate with Buenos Aires, and moving up a notch from fifth to fourth in Novice Horse with Vindicated. "She was fantastic,"...

Kaitlin Campbell on Rocky W Devon, PA - This evening's open jumper class was the Idle Dice Open Jumper Stakes class. The class was named after famed jumper horse Idle Dice. Idle Dice was originally bred as a thoroughbred race horse, but he was discovered and retrained by Bernie Traurig who showed him as a hunter. He was later purchased by Harry Gill and shown as a jumper by Rodney Jenkins. Idle Dice won over $400,000 in his career (an amount that would triple if adjusted to the value of...

Lexington, KY - In preparation for future success on the international stage, many of the top American dressage combinations have travelled overseas to hone their skills in Europe. Talented horse-and-rider pairs from throughout the U.S. will compete in many of the most prestigious European CDIs throughout the course of this summer. "Dressage is a ‘Who Beats Whom, Where Sport’ and this fact makes it imperative that our American athletes at all levels compete against the best in the...

McLain Ward (The Book, LLC) Devon, PA - The 2013 Devon Horse Show and Country Fair has featured a little of everything. A little rain, plenty of sunshine, record-breaking 90 degree temperatures, light snow, and even jumper rider Mclain Ward winning a Saddlebred class. But nothing could have been more business as usual as the hours ticked down to the Wells Fargo Grand Prix of Devon. The boxes began filling with spectators armed with picnic baskets and wine and cheese plates from the Garden...

Major equestrian competitions attended by U.S. 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 Equestrian Weekly on Monday for a report of any top finishes by U.S. Equestrians. *lists of competitions in all international disciplines will include only FEI competitions or USEF Championships within the USA and international FEI...

Woodside, CA – Matt Brown punctuated a memorable weekend at the Woodside Horse Trials by winning the Horse division of the Preliminary Challenge on Che Landscape (32.4) and finishing fourth on Happenstance (36.0), while Kiera Carter rode Corinthoz to first place (32.0) in the Rider division. Professional’s Choice and Equine Insurance of California were the Presenting Sponsors of the Woodside Preliminary Challenge. The Preliminary Challenge reached an exciting climax in the...