Mario Deslauriers and Urico (Rebecca Walton/Phelps Media Group) Lexington, KY – For the American show jumping community, the 2010 Rolex/FEI World Cup Final in Geneva, Switzerland will not be remembered for what happened on the field of play, but for a controversial decision by the Ground Jury involving the disqualification of Sapphire (ridden by McLain Ward) after the second leg. On top of the world after the first two legs, and with a variety of riders winning the majority of the classes...

I spent last night stuck in Orlando and then Charlotte before finally getting home well after 2 am. Tornadoes ripped through North Carolina and there were a lot of stranded people. It was very encouraging that it was all over the news in the airport. I could have been stuck in Ocala at my lovely friend Max's house. She was kind enough to let me stay while I was at Live Oak, she works for Karen O'Connor, and lives on their wonderful farm, so I had it pretty good for 5 days. I paid for it by...

When 15-year-old Chelsea Dowdy entered one of Kentucky’s many county fairs in 2009 with El Diamante, she could feel their usual synergy. With all the fun she had, it was an easy decision to enter another. And another. By season’s end, they had not only claimed top honors and a collection of garlands and ribbons—they had amassed a respectable college fund totaling $10,799.31. That hefty chunk of change came courtesy of the Kentucky Breeders’ Incentive Fund (KBIF), earmarked for a...

Dressage Dressage riders on the West Coast competed under the California sun this weekend at the Dressage Affaire CDI3* held at the Del Mar Horse Park. Steffen Peters continued to demonstrate his dominance in U.S. dressage, winning in all seven of his outings. With 2009 Horse of the Year, Ravel, Peters blew away the competition winning by nine percentage points in both the Grand Prix (77.660%) and Grand Prix Special (77.375%). Adrienne Lyle and Wizard put in two excellent performances to finish...

Nicole Shahinian Simpson and Tristan (Randi Muster/Mustphoto.com) Wellington, FL – Twenty-two horses remained in the USEF Selection Trials for the US Show Jumping Team for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and they contested their fifth and final Trial as part of the $150,000 CN US Open at the FTI Winter Equestrian Festival. A total of 55 horses tackled Guilherme Jorge’s course in the second feature event of CSIO Wellington week and the competition proved fierce. A difficult related...

Tampa, FL —Competition in the 2010 Cavalor Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series continued to grow more intense during the month of February. With classes still in full swing at the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) in Wellington, riders continue to earn points on the series' overall standings. One such rider is Chloe Wormser of Northbrook, IL. Wormser, who competes in the Series' East Conference Amateur-Owner division with her mount Udiana, finished in second place in two of the...

Photo by SusanJStickle.com (Steffen Peters and Ravel) Wellington, FL – Somehow it keeps getting better. After just collecting the United States Equestrian Federation's Horse and Rider of the Year accolades for 2009, US dressage superstars Steffen Peters and Ravel ran their streak to six major wins with a convincing effort at the Grand Prix at the 2010 Exquis World Dressage Masters. Ravel, a 12-year-old KWPN gelding (Contango-Hautain) owned by Akiko Yamazaki’s Four Winds Farm appeared even...

Dressage rider and trainer Tracey Winter takes great pride in her horses, and thanks to her recent win at the United States Dressage Federation (USDF) Region 3 Championships she has even more to be proud of. Winter and Windsor, her six-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding by Routinier, out of Oceana, by Charmeur, won the Region 3 First Level Open Championship. “It was a surreal feeling to win, as I was just hoping to be in the thick of things,” Winter said. “It was a good-size class with very nice...

Competition in the Cavalor Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series continued during the month of October, as the end of the Series was drawing near. With only a few horse shows remaining in the schedule, competition was in full-swing. With Cavalor's support, the series honors one rider each month as the Cavalor Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series Rider of the Month. The honor goes to the one rider who earns the most points on one horse in series competition that month. With...

Kristi Nunnink and Corner Street ended the CCI** at the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event the same way they started it—in first place. With her three closest competitors less than two points behind her as show jumping, the event's final phase, got under way, it looked as if Nunnink and the 10-year-old gelding would have to be absolutely perfect. But third-placed Tamra Smith dislodged two rails on Bubbles At Bricky before second-placed David Koss lowered three rails with Look...