Laura Kraut (Middleburg, VA) won the $32,000 Jolera International Jumper Welcome at the Royal Horse Show with her athletic mount Teirra (pictured), following a third place finish in the $20,000 International Jumper Power & Speed with Belmont. (© BenRadvanyi.com) Toronto, ON – When speed is the name of the game in a show jumping class, there are a few riders who jump to the top of your mind. Laura Kraut of Middleburg, VA, showed Tuesday night what makes her a top rider against the...

Toronto, ON - The 90th Royal Horse Show welcomes an outstanding lineup of international riders to Toronto. They will compete this week in matinee and evening competitions including the $100,000 Hickstead FEI World CupTM Grand Prix (Wednesday, November 7), the $50,000 Weston Canadian Open (Friday, November 9) and the $75,000 Ricoh Big Ben Challenge (Saturday, November 10.) The riders representing the home squad: Ten-time Olympian Ian Millar (Perth, ON), three-time back-to-back Canadian Show...

Lexington, KY - “Brio in the Bluegrass,” the Paso Fino Horse Association’s 40th Anniversary Grand National Championship Show & Expo, was acclaimed a great success in its first year in Lexington, KY. For almost two weeks, the Kentucky Horse Park paths and arenas were awash with the taca-taca-taca-taca of the Paso Fino horse’s smooth four-beat gait as exhibitors prepared to compete for the ultimate title—Grand National Champion—in the Classic Fino,...

Lexington, KY – The second and final USEF Elite Youth Dressage Training Session for 2012 concluded Sunday in Chino Hills, California. The two-day intensive training session was made possible by a generous donation from Kristen McDonald and the Marquis George MacDonald Foundation. The gracious hosts of the Western U.S. session were David and Alisa Wilson, owners of W Farms. Participants in the USEF Elite Youth Dressage Training Session (USEF Archive) The invitation-only training session...

Alexandra Lawson is a 19-year-old freshman at Purdue University from North Salem, Indiana. She is a member of the three-gaited section of the 2012 U.S. Saddle Seat World Cup Team. I've spent most of my life in the small farm communities of Danville and North Salem, Indiana. My parents and maternal grandparents are grain farmers - farming about 5,000 acres in the surrounding area. When you grow up in farm country, you just naturally get involved with FFA and 4-H, and it was through 4-H that...

James Alliston and Tivoli (Amy McCool) Temecula, CA - Start calling James Alliston “Mr. Galway Downs.” The Galway Downs International Three-Day Event has offered a CCI3* for the last three years. Alliston finished third in 2010, finished first and seventh in 2011, and this year he finished first, second and sixth. Alliston, of Castro Valley, Calif., rode Tivoli to first place (53.4) Jumbo’s Jake, the horse he won with in 2011 and finished third with in 2010, to second place...

Jacob Pope completes the Final Test at the Alltech National Horse Show aboard Patrick to win the coveted ASPCA Alfred B. Maclay Finals (Rebecca Walton/PMG) Lexington, KY - It was another fairytale day for Jacob Pope of Columbia, MD, during the 2012 Maclay National Championship for the ASCPA Alfred B. Maclay Horsemanship Classes. The Alltech National Horse Show, 129th Edition, welcomed 152 riders for the prestigious event. At the end of the day, it was 18-year-old Pope whose horsemanship...

David Rudder and Phind the Treasure (Brooke Jacobs with Jacobs Photography) Lexington, KY - Saturday night at the 129th Edition of the Alltech National Horse Show, the American Saddlebred Divisions concluded their amateur division championships of Three Gaited, Park Horse and Five Gaited. The return of the Saddle Horses to the Alltech National Horse Show at the Alltech Arena in Lexington, KY has been met with much enthusiasm. Kentucky is a hub of some of the most celebrated trainers in the...

McLain Ward and Antares F (Rebecca Walton/PMG) Lexington, KY - It was a very emotional night at Alltech National Horse Show as McLain Ward piloted his top mount Antares F to victory during the Alltech $250,000 Grand Prix, benefitting the United States Equestrian Team Foundation. The win comes just days after the passing of his father, Barney Ward, who had been Ward's most important supporter. Ward rode through his grief to beat six others in the jump-off, as the first to compete on his...

Victoria Colvin and Inclusive captured the Overall Grand Junior Hunter Championship at the Alltech National Horse Show. (Shawn McMillen) Lexington, KY - The Alltech Arena was filled with top junior talent as riders showcased their mounts during the handy and stake classes Saturday afternoon at the Alltech National Horse Show, 129th Edition. Victoria Colvin and Inclusive were awarded the Large Junior 15 and Under Championship for their efforts throughout the division. They were also presented...