The second week of show jumping at HITS Ocala wrapped on Sunday with warm weather and exciting action, proving that the "Horse Capital of the World" is also the "Land of Opportunity," as the Grand Prix Arena saw some new faces emerge in the winner’s circle. In Thursday’s $25,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, Lacy Morrone-Cramer from Pittstown, NJ, earned her first grand prix win of the season riding Ulysses Van De Krekebeke, owned by Equi Sport, LLC. The duo bested 36...

Photo by Don Stine (One More Round++// with Alexis Doughty riding, shown with trainer Ben Flynn and Bill Doughty.) One More Round++// (Al Jassur Laddin x Winifred), owned by Bill and Alexis Doughty of Cape Charles, VA, was named the 2009 Arabian Horse Association (AHA) High Point Horse of the Year. The 2004 bay gelding earned 467 points in 2009 by competing in over 200 classes at 20 shows. The rigorous show schedule, which was carefully balanced with rest time, began in January and ended in...

The 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) had a fantastic sixth week of competition on February 17-21. The week featured the AHJF Hunter Classic Spectacular of Palm Beach and the $50,000 CN Palm Beach Jumping Derby along with a full schedule of hunter, jumper, and equitation classes. The week six title sponsor was Bainbridge. Charles Jacobs of Boston, MA, captured the top prize in the $50,000 CN Palm Beach Jumping Derby on Quidditch II, owned by Deeridge Farm of Wellington, FL. They sped to...

Photo Courtesy AHA/Conley Driediger (Conley Driediger with gelding, Winning Afire+//.) Alexis Starer Doughty of Cape Charles, VA, and Conley Driediger of Yarrow, BC, Canada, were named the Arabian Horse Association (AHA) Adult and Youth Amateurs of 2009, respectively. Doughty earned an impressive 646 points at 22 AHA-recognized shows in 2009, while Driediger earned a whopping 485.5 points from 17 shows. The AHA Amateur Achievement Award program began in 2002 and tracks the points of individual...

Photo by Diana DeRosa (Liza Boyd and Brunello) "He is my Olympic hunter," commented Liza Boyd after she nailed her third victory in the 14th Annual American Hunter-Jumper Foundation (AHJF) Hunter Classic Spectacular in Wellington FL, aboard her seasoned mount, Brunello. She won the very first one riding Monday Morning in 1997 and then in 2008 tasted victory again on Fiyero. Now just 3½ months after the birth of her first child (Ellen) it was important to prove she still had what it takes. Yet,...

Photo by Robbi Meisel (Wilhelm Genn and Chantal) Lebanon, OH-based Wilhelm Genn had a stellar second week at the 2010 Gulf Coast Winter Classics with victories in both Thursday’s $5,000 Welcome Open Jumper Stake aboard Happy Z and Sunday’s $25,000 Gulf Coast Grand Prix with Laura Ryan-Barnaclo’s Chantal. Deciding the path this week’s jumpers would take was one of the sport’s most revered course designers, Michel Vaillancourt, who began testing their limits on Thursday with a curvy 15-effort...

Waiting to Jump (Shannon Brinkman/USEF) Lexington, KY – Thirty-three of the country’s best riders are going to line-up for a nod to represent the United States at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. The Road to Lexington will run through the Winter Equestrian Festival when the USEF Selection Trials for Show Jumping grace the International Arena at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Club. Five trials over 11 days means an action-packed time in Wellington, FL – further highlighted...

Photo Courtesy Highlife Farm (Highlife's Burberry) Highlife’s Burberry, a Weser-Ems pony stallion bred by Highlife Farms, has made history as the first U.S.-bred Weser-Ems pony to be licensed as a breeding pony. Burberry’s sire is Highlife’s Bodyguard, a Weser-Ems German Riding Pony that stands at Highlife Farms, home to world-class sport horses and one of the country’s most prominent breeding farms. “It is really exciting to have bred a pony that turns out to achieve a ‘first ever’ title,”...

Photo Courtesy Rolling Stone Farm (Shakespeare RSF ) The 2004 dark brown Hanoverian stallion Shakespeare RSF by Sandro Hit, out of EM Acapella, by Arrian, was named Champion of his 70-Day Stallion Performance Test held October 4-December 12, 2009, at Silver Creek Farms in Broken Arrow, OK. Shakespeare is owned and bred by Maurine (Mo) and Jim Swanson of Rolling Stone Farm in Slatington, PA. Shakespeare achieved Class I status with a score of 130.53 points overall (this score reflects a 5%...

Photo by Randi Muster (Pablo Barrios and Simply The Best) Pablo Barrios of Venezuala was able to score two wins on Wednesday, February 17, at the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) in the Young Jumper Championship (YJC) classes in two age divisions. When up on Simply The Best, owned by Joaquina Barrios, he was victorious in the $1,000 YJC Five-Year-Old Time First Round. Asta Torokvei of Toronto, ON, Canada, and Chabadue, owned by Westhaven Farm, led the way in the $1,500 YJC Six-Year-Old Time...