Madeline Backus and P.S. Arianna (Shannon Brinkman Photo) Madeline Backus and P.S. Arianna are first-time competitors this year at the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by Land Rover, but their partnership goes back years. “My mom’s farrier, Dennis Ackerman at Pendragon Stud in Colorado, actually bred her,” Backus said of the Anglo-Trakehner mare. “So I’ve known her for her whole life. It’s been quite an adventure.” Backus, whose mother Laura...

Omaha, Neb. – Three strong dressage combinations will represent the U.S. in the 2017 FEI World Cup™ Dressage Final at the CenturyLink Center Omaha, Neb. Running from March 30-April 1, 2017, Laura Graves & Verdades, Kasey Perry-Glass & Goerklintgaards Dublet, and Steffen Peters & Rosamunde are in excellent form heading into the Final. Laura Graves and Verdades (Shannon Brinkman Photo) Graves (Geneva, Fla.) has found much success since her last Final appearance in 2015,...

Laura Graves and Kasey Perry-Glass snap a selfie before flight. U.S. Dressage riders Laura Graves and Kasey Perry-Glass were among the “flying grooms” accompanying horses as they jetted to the FEI World Cup Final in Omaha, Nebraska. The event will take place at the CenturyLink Center Omaha March 29-April 2; Graves’s mount Verdades and Perry-Glass’s ride Goerklintgaards Dublet both arrived at Omaha’s Eppley Airfield on March 27. The two were on the same three-hour...

Dr. John Steele (Kenneth Kraus) Acclaimed veterinarian Dr. John Steele was the linchpin behind the success of some of equestrian sports’ biggest names and their mounts. Up until his passing last month, one could find the 91-year-old Dr. Steele, or “Doc,” as many throughout the equestrian sport community knew him, hustling around show grounds, administering the utmost care to his equine clients. His tireless dedication to the horse and its rider made him one of the most...

Tune in to USEF Network ’s coverage of Live Oak International and you’ll see a lot of great performances in both combined driving and show jumping. Here are two storylines to follow: Jumping: For Chloe Reid, Live Oak Is a Family Affair Photo Credit: PicsOfYou.com The backstory: Chloe Reid , 20, has good reason to love the Live Oak venue. The competition takes place on the 4,500-acre Live Oak Plantation in Ocala, Fla., that her grandmother, Thoroughbred breeder Charlotte Weber, owns....

Boekelo, The Netherlands - The U.S. contingent had a respectable performance in the solid international field of 97 combinations in the Military Boekelo-Enschede CCIO3*. Land Rover/USEF Eventing Competition Grant recipient Lauren Kieffer and Meadowbrook’s Scarlett led the way as the top U.S. pair in fourth place. Lauren Kieffer and Meadowbrook's Scarlett (Libby Law Photography) Kieffer (Middleburg, Va.) began the competition with a fabulous dressage test aboard Marie Le Menestrel’s...

Julie McCrady won the 2015 Third Level Freestyle Adult Amateur Championship with her Hanoverian mare Remanessa, and looks to return to Lexington again this year to try for a Fourth Level title. (Susan J. Stickle) Lexington, Ky. - “You bet I’ll be back. I’ve declared and I made my hotel reservations in Lexington months ago!” Every November since 2013, Julie McCrady and her husband have made the trek to Kentucky from Raymore, Mo. with their home-bred Hanoverian mare...

Columbus, Ohio -- The Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA) has partnered with the National Collegiate Equestrian Association (NCEA), Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA) and the American National Riding Commission (ANRC) to bring more knowledge to IEA members on how to prepare for college riding through the "Collegiate Connection" education series. A combination of live webinars and Twitter TakeOvers will offer an interactive platform with the leaders of these major college...

Louisville, Ky. - Beginning on Saturday, August 20th, and ending on Saturday, August 27th, 2016, nearly 2,000 American Saddlebreds, Hackneys, and Roadsters competed for the World’s Championship titles in Freedom Hall at the Kentucky State Fair. The exhilarating and glamorous event culminated on the final Saturday night when seven top horses competed for the crown jewel of the American Saddlebred world as they vied for the Five-Gaited World’s Grand Champion title. After a thrilling...

Rio 2016 continue to mess up a perfectly functional transport system, U.S. Dressage rider hits another Personal Best, and the Jumping horses have started leaping. All is good in Rio. The transport (to be more precise the Drop Off / Pick Up) debacle would be comical if it wasn’t so disruptive to everything that we (and other Nations) have been doing for the last two weeks. To then be told that it was our fault and that we, the Teams, were disobeying the rules was insulting and insane....