GUADALAJARA, Mexico – The U.S. Show Jumping Team got off to the start they were looking for at the 2011 Pan American Games, leading after the first leg on a converted score of 2.90 penalties. Mexico sits second on a score of 3.26, with Brazil third on a score of 7.61. Beezie Madden (Cazenovia, NY) led the effort, flying to the lead on Coral Reef Via Volo in a lightning-quick time of 77.53 seconds. Riding fourth for the American team, the two-time Olympic Gold medalist lived up to her...

GUADALAJARA, Mexico - Immaculate jumping won Individual eventing medals at the 2011 Pan American Games - and the top three horses were beautifully ridden over three days. Canadian Jessica Phoenix held onto her dressage lead, adding nothing to her winning score of 43.9 with Don Good's Pavarotti. She had the Team Gold medal-winning Americans chasing her all weekend, and after the last fence was jumped, she shared the medal podium with two of them. Hannah Burnett and Harbour Pilot won Silver...

Harrisburg, PA – Kelly Champion of Washington, NJ rode her horse All In to victory in the $10,000 North American League (NAL) Adult Hunter Finals at the 66th annual Pennsylvania National Horse Show on Friday. The win was bittersweet for Champion, who was on tap to show at the Capital Challenge two weeks ago, but was unable to compete because her husband, Tony, suddenly fell ill and was rushed to the hospital where he was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He is recuperating nicely so he urged...

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – The U.S. Eventing Team presented five horses at the First Horse Inspection of the 2011 Pan American Games and all were accepted without incident. The United States drew fourth position, but of the three countries drawn ahead only Venezuela has a complete team; therefore American Buck Davidson and Absolute Liberty will be the second horse in the ring in Friday’s dressage. All five horses looked sharp, and the Ground Jury of Wayne Quarles (USA), Janine Rohr (ARG)...

Gold medals are the reason we came here (well that and Olympic Qualification in Jumping)… and the Dressage Team delivered an incredible effort yesterday. What they accomplished went far beyond the (incredibly heavy) Gold hardware they all now have around their necks. They were awesome. Cesar got it going with a solid, mistake-free effort – which is the job for the pathfinder on the team. Marisa and Heather then had personal best performances on Frankie and Paragon respectively and...

The U.S. Dressage Team's Gold medal never looked in doubt today at the 2011 Pan American Games. They started off confidently and with each ride, the margin improved. They stormed to victory and won their fourth consecutive Pan American Games Team Gold medal - a first in the sport of Dressage. Their combined average score of 74.421% left them well clear of the Canadians who won Silver with a combined average of 70.413%. Colombia put in a valiant late effort to surge into the top three with...

Elkton, MD - Sunday brought an action-packed slate of show jumping at the 2011 Dansko Fair Hill International. With the top riders in both the CCI3* and CCI2* divisions tremendously close, clear rounds were at a premium. Boyd Martin and Kylie Lyman rose to the occasion producing fault-free rounds to win their CCI3* and CCI2* divisions as well as claim 2011 USEF National Eventing Championships. The leaderboard in both the divisions at the Dansko Fair Hill International saw great fluctuations as...

Elkton, MD - Clear jumping and quick trips across the country were the name of the game Saturday at the 2011 Dansko Fair Hill International. The rain that plagued the first two days of competition was nowhere in sight as the sun shone over Derek di Grazia’s tracks. Heavy going resulted in time faults for many of the competitors and a shake-up on the leaderboard in both divisions. Jan Bynny and Kylie Lyman produced two of the quickest rounds of the day in the CCI3* and CCI2* to lead their...

Elkton, MD--More than 100 horses, 77 of which were from the United States, were presented to the Ground Juries Wednesday afternoon at the Dansko Fair Hill International, where 45 horse-and-rider combinations will compete in the CCI3* and 62 in the CCI2*. Three horses were held for re-inspection: Tipperary Liadhnan, ridden by Thailand’s Nina Ligon, and King Billy, ridden by Laura VanderVliet, in the three-star; and Elizabeth Spencer’s Firewater in the two-star. Only Monte Carlo,...

Things are getting going now. The day started with a trip to the USOC communications headquarters at the Main Press Center - it was great to see everyone and make some plans for the next three weeks. To many of the sport people, what we do is very foreign so I did a lot of explaining about how these horses are going to get to Mexico. The USOC staff is great, I met them all in Colorado Springs a few weeks ago - it is a great reminder that we are part of something so much greater than our sport....