Walk Tall II and Cian O'Connor (Sportfot) Wellington, FL - Ireland's Cian O'Connor is back in Wellington for the remaining weeks of competition at the 2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival after an exciting 2012 season. Following a fantastic Florida circuit last winter, O'Connor and his top mount, Blue Loyd 12, traveled to London to earn an individual bronze medal in this summer's Olympic Games. Blue Loyd was recently sold to young Canadian rider Nicole Walker, and...

A new National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA) coaches poll was released Wednesday and as expected, there wasn’t any shakeup among the top hree teams. The most notable change was Kansas State’s flip with South Carolina to No.4 and No.5 respectively. Coming into the spring season the top four spots were occupied by SEC teams. Though the conference still has a stranglehold on the top two, good showings by Oklahoma State and Kansas State, in conjunction with South Carolina and...

After a second-place finish in last week’s $5,000 offering, Jenny Karazissis stepped up for the cash and finished first in the $10,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix, this time aboard Undeniable. Karazissis hopes to again make the trip east this year for the Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final (Flying Horse Photography) Thermal, CA - It was a rewarding day for hunter riders in Thermal, as Desert Circuit III wound to a close with two big-money competitions on Sunday, which marked the conclusion of...

Alise Oken and Teirra. (Sportfot) Wellington, FL - Week four of the2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF), sponsored by Fidelity Investments®, concluded on Sunday afternoon with a win for 21-year-old Alise Oken and Hi Hopes Farm, LLC's Teirra in the $25,000 Suncast® 1.50m Championship Jumper Classic. Leopoldo Palacios of Venezuela set the courses for week four jumper competition in the International Arena at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC)....

Charlie Jacobs and Flaming Star. (Sportfot) Wellington, FL - Week four of the2013 FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) continued on Thursday with a win for Charlie Jacobs and CMJ Sporthorse, LLC's Flaming Star in the $33,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 4. In a 23-horse jump-off, Jacobs and Flaming Star topped an all-star field with second place honors going to Conor Swail (IRL) riding Lansdowne and third place awarded to Brianne Goutal (USA) aboard Nice de...

The NCEA spring season began last weekend, but competition really heats up Friday and Saturday with the top seven ranked NCEA teams (NCEA Coaches Poll) back in action. With no team clearly dominant at the end of the fall season, matches this weekend will go a long way toward determining the trajectory of the spring season, and could factor into National Championship seeding as well. No.1 University of South Carolina vs. No.3* University of Georgia The marquee matchup of the weekend will be in...

Peter Wylde and Zidane. (Sportfot) Wellington, FL - Week three of the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) began with the $8,000 G&C Farm 1.45m speed class on Wednesday morning at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC). The win went to Olympic gold medalist Peter Wylde (USA) aboard Windward Farm and Jessica Suida's Zidane, a nine-year-old KWPN gelding by Sam R x Cantos. Week three of the FTI WEF runs January 23-27. The week will feature the FTI Consulting...

Laura Kraut and Jubilee d'Ouilly (Sportfot) Wellington, FL - Laura Kraut and Jubilee d'Ouilly jumped to victory in the $33,000 Ruby et Violette WEF Challenge Cup Round 2 on Thursday afternoon at the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival (FTI WEF) in an exciting jump-off of top competitors. Last to go in a 24-horse tie breaker with McLain Ward holding the first and second positions, Kraut and Jubilee shaved fractions off of the leading time to win in a dramatic finish. The second week of...

Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) is pleased to announce the winners of two prestigious awards in the discipline of Endurance, the Maggy Price Endurance Excellence Award and the Brunjes Junior/Young Rider Trophy. The awards will be presented at the USEF Horse of the Year Awards gala and dinner on Friday, January 18, 2013 at the Louisville Marriott Downtown in Louisville, Kentucky. Heather Reynolds (left) riding Riverwatch at the 2012 Longines FEI World Endurance...

Germany's Anja Plönzke competes against the backdrop of a sold-out house at the World Dressage Masters. (Susan J. Stickle) Wellington, FL - The excitement is building as many of North America and Europe's top riders are vying for highly-coveted spots in the line-up for the World Dressage Masters (WDM) Palm Beach CDI5* to be hosted January 23-26, 2013, by Wellington Classic Dressage during the Wellington Classic Sunshine Challenge CDI3* show weekend at the Palm Beach County Jim Brandon...