“Wow, this feels really good. I think I am still in shock,” said a proud Sandy Ferrell of Bernville, PA, after negotiating Sarah Chovnick’s Late Entry to win the 2006 AHJF Hunter Classic Spectacular at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL, on Saturday evening, February 18. A record crowd witnessed the 38-year-old professional negotiate the seven-year-old bay Hanoverian gelding to their first Hunter Classic victory. Started in 1997, the Hunter Classic was celebrating its 10th...

Wamberto (Rousseau-Voltaire-Dutch Boy), bred by Mr. and Mrs. Heida of Wolvega, The Netherlands, was the clear winner of the championship ring for the dressage stallions at the 2006 KWPN Stallion Show. An absolute model in type, the wave of applause from the audience followed him as Wamberto toured the arena with extraordinary buoyancy, fluidity and expression. His movement was beautifully natural and soft, rolling forward with unparalleled suppleness and freedom. Wamberto's super character was...

Wellington Dressage at the 2006 Winter Equestrian Festival wrapped up on Sunday, February 5, following four days of dressage competition at the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club in Wellington, FL. More than 200 horses from across the country competed in the four-ring show, which included 60 classes encompassing Training Level through Grand Prix. Featured classes were the qualifying competitions for the 2006 FEI World Equestrian Games Selection Trials, and qualifiers for the 2006 Collecting Gaits...

Richard Spooner couldn't catch his breath. The Indio Desert Circuit's all-time leading money winner had five mounts in the $30,000 Ariat Grand Prix, and he brought three into the jump-off. Quirino 3 delivered Spooner another victory, posting the jump-off's best time of 39.36. Ezrah also had a clean-round at 40.08 giving him second place in the competition. His third mount, Airtime, smacked into jump 12, a white and blue vertical jump near the end of the course, leaving him sixth. In the opening...

Langer Equestrian Group, Inc., jumped into the new year with record entries at the LAEC Opener, January 20-22. The USEF A-rated show attracted over 300 horses and riders to the first major show of the new year. "We've had really great weather, and I think that everyone could get their horses out and were looking forward to a nice show," said Langer Equestrian Group President Larry Langer. The new show season attracts new faces and new horses. Archie Cox found another winner to add to his string...

The 2005 National Pleasure Horse Award winners have been named in eight divisions, all of which are based on a high-point scoring system. All registered American Saddlebreds are eligible for these awards without payment of additional fees. The National Pleasure Horse Awards are based on a formula that favors horses that are consistent winners across the country. The system, which crowns eight champions, is based on the USEF rating of the show and the number of entries in the class. The complete...

Hilltop Farm announces an exciting addition to their International Frozen Semen Program for 2006: Cyrano de Bergerac, a very successful show jumping stallion under Franke Sloothaak. Cyrano de Bergerac (Coriano-Ricardo-Labrador) is a Baden Wurtenburg stallion with a star-studded pedigree and ample international success as a show jumper. As a young stallion, he won the qualification for the German National Championships (the Bundeschampionat) with a score of 9.0, under Franke Sloothaak. The pair...

The Arabian Horse Association (AHA) has totally revamped its International Arabian Breeders Sweepstakes (Sweepstakes) program to rally excitement surrounding the breeding and showing of Arabian, Half-Arabian and Anglo-Arabian horses. Sweepstakes was initiated in 1983 and has served a broad spectrum of the Arabian horse industry, providing almost $4 million in annual prize money at regional and national shows and financial incentives to stallion owners. The new program expands Sweepstakes role...

The 2005 USEF/Markel Young Horse Dressage National Championships turned into a landmark for the ISR-Oldenburg Registry N.A. and its breeders. The prestigious FEI final of the five-year-old dressage horses was dominated by U.S.-bred and even more by ISR-Oldenburg N.A. horses. In the past, most of the horses which made it to the National Finals were imported. For the first time ever in 2005 the majority of the finalists were U.S.-bred horses (eight of 13). "I think I was more excited about the...

Stephen B. Macfarlane, 59, died following surgery in Louisville on January 11. Macfarlane had spent his lifetime as a multi-faceted horseman, winning championship titles in American Saddlebred, Roadster, Pony and coaching competitions. Macfarlane had just returned to Kentucky from his winter home in Ft. Meyers, FL. He had been taking blood-thinning medication for a diagnostic procedure scheduled later this week, when he suffered a head injury resulting in edema that could not be controlled...