The award-winning Midwest Charity Horse Show has taken advantage of the long snowy winter in adding several new classes to this year’s edition. Midwest’s board of directors tightened up the schedule and added a Hackney Horse division—classes include a Single Horse Open, an Amateur Single Horse, Champion Single Horse and Open Pairs Driving. Pink will be the color of the evening on Friday in honor of Midwest’s new Pink Ribbon Class, number 154, Five Gaited Ladies Amateur...

Photo by Randi Muster (Victoria Birdsall and Baheera captured the Third Annual George Morris Excellence in Equitation Exhibition.) The 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) is winding down as it finished its 11th week of competition on March 24-28. The week featured the highlight event of the season, the $500,000 FTI Consulting Finale Grand Prix, CSI*****, along with a full schedule of hunter, jumper, and equitation classes, including the prestigious Third Annual George Morris Excellence in...

In an effort to implement a pilot program for equine drugs and medications testing for its sanctioned events, the United States Polo Association (USPA) has engaged the services of the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Equine Drugs and Medications Program. This new pilot program was approved by the USPA Board of Governors in October 2009 and has been implemented in time for the annual 2010 polo season that includes the annual USPA U.S. Open Polo Championship. The Championship takes...

Photo by Robbi Meisel (Taylor Land and Karonda V Schl’Hof) The Atlanta Spring Classics welcomed the new season with Cherry Blossoms in bloom, blue skies, and heated competition among hunters and jumpers. And the biggest competition this week centered around two sisters, Frances and Taylor Land, who dominated the jumper rings. Produced by the Classic Company and held at the Georgia International Horse Park, home of the 1996 Olympics, in Conyers, GA, the two-week event runs March 24-April 3 with...

Photo by ESI Photography (Jennifer Alfano and Fantabulous on course in the $10,000 Devoucoux Hunter Derby at HITS Ocala. ) The 2010 HITS Ocala Winter Circuit was certainly a successful tour for HITS Ocala Veteran Callan Solem. The accomplished equestrian found victory in the Grand Prix ring several times during the eight-week horse show circuit at HITS Post Time Farm in Ocala, FL, including a win in the $50,000 Ring Power Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, on Allison, owned by Quiet...

Photo by Gary Pirnat (USC Mascot Traveler, owned by Joanne Asman.) The popular Fiesta of the Spanish Horse, an annual benefit and horse show to support cancer research, will be held May 5-9, 2010, at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center. This year marks the 12th annual Fiesta of the Spanish Horse, a revered Southern California equestrian tradition that raises funds for cancer research organizations. It also plays an important role in integrating communities by honoring horses and people steeped in...

Photo Courtesy APHA/Abigail Wilder Boatwright (2007) (Colonels Smokingun aka “Gunner” is the first registered American Paint Horse to join the exclusive list of NRHA Two Million Dollar Sires. ) Colonels Smokingun, better known as Gunner in the reining world, has recently been named the unofficial eighth National Reining Horse Association (NRHA) Two Million Dollar Sire. He accomplished this only three years after being named a NRHA One Million Dollar Sire. This was, in part, due to the recent...

Photo Courtesy JRPR (Redwine, owned by Gray Fox Farm and ridden by Peter Pletcher.) The gorgeous black imported Hanoverian stallion Redwine, owned by Jill Burnell and Gray Fox Farm in California, won the Equilite™ 2010 Grooming and Conditioning Award during the prestigious Winter Equestrian Festival. Redwine (Rotspon x Matcho) is being shown at WEF by Peter Pletcher, and was awarded Equilite™ brand products from award sponsor Arenus, makers of animal health products and supplement blends,...

Sappire Wins Again for McLain Ward (Shannon Brinkman/ USEF Archives) Wellington, FL - March 27, 2010 - Tonight's $500,000 FTI Consulting Finale Grand Prix, CSI 5* drew the largest crowd in the history of equestrian sport in Wellington. More than 9,000 spectators came to see who would win one of the biggest show jumping purses in North America. Sapphire, ridden by McLain Ward (USA) and owned by Ward and Blue Chip Bloodstock, came home with the win and repeated their victory from last year over...

Jimmy Fairclough Threads the Needle (Joanie Morris/USEF) Ocala, FL – An exciting day of marathon driving at Live Oak International presented by US Trust showcased some of the very best in the US vying for USEF National Championship honors for both Single Horses and Four-in-Hands. Jimmy Fairclough drove like a man on mission – and his perseverance prevailed. Driving Jane Clark’s team, the New Jersey driver started out confidently in the first hazard and got better and better as he guided his...