So when I got here I thought ‘How hard could it be to take 20 minutes every day and write about what happened’? Very difficult when you are running around like a headless chicken. Cross country day brought glorious weather and some epic performances were on display. The crowds were amazing and you could hear the horses coming by the roar of the crowd all the way around the course. There were people installed along the galloping lanes, not even anywhere near a fence. It was...

Laura Chapot and Umberto on course in the $75,000 Chartis Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health. (ESI Photography) Saugerties, NY – HITS-on-the-Hudson has been dubbed The Chapot Show as Laura Chapot of Neshanic Station, New Jersey won her third Grand Prix in a row when she produced the only double-clear ride in Sunday’s $75,000 Chartis Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health. Last Sunday during HITS-on-the-Hudson IV, Chapot won the $50,000 HITS Grand Prix, presented by...

Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation has approved the nominated entry for the U.S. Endurance Team for the 2012 FEI World Endurance Championship as follows in alphabetical order. Melody Blittersdorf on her own Synthetic Cody Boysen on Roxi Welling's Viktory Banner John Crandell III on John Crandell Jr's Heraldic Becky Hart on her own No Repeat Valerie Kanavy on her own Reach For The Gold Nicki Meuten on her own Not Tonight Ellen Olson on Jeremy Olson's SA...

A retired couple from Western New York and their two young Thoroughbreds are poised to pick up a pair of championships at the Career2 Grand Finale, to be held at the Millbrook Horse Trials in Millbrook, N.Y., Aug. 2-5. Career2 is the new program created to promote eventing as a second career opportunity for retired racehorses. Linda and Jack Walnes of Avon, N.Y., lead the Beginner/Novice and Novice Divisions as Career2 heads into the Grand Finale. Mr. Walnes is also vying for a championship in...

Maggie Ridenour Traverse City, MI - The final Saturday afternoon of the Horse Shows by the Bay Hunter/Jumper Series kicked off with the featured HJAM Junior and Adult Medal Finals. After one course walk prior to the three hotly contested Finals, Horse Shows by the Bay held a moment of silence to honor the recent passing of Richard A. Cram, Sr., a legendary Michigan horseman. His son, Rick Cram, Jr., provided a tribute to his dad that was read to the large crowd gathered to pay respects to a...

Greenwich, UK - The Olympic Eventing dressage concluded today and the U.S. put in two strong performances to settle into seventh place after the first phase. The Germans have a commanding lead on a combined score of 119.10, just clear of Australia on 122.10. The home team sits third on 127. The next five teams are separated by less than 11 points, meaning that Monday’s cross country is destined to be influential. There is an unlikely leader at the top of the leaderboard as Yoshiaki Oiwa...

Aaron Vale and Tibor won the $40,000 Kentucky Summer Grand Prix with a blazing speed, defeating Pablo Barrios for the winning title. (Kendall Bierer/PMG) Lexington KY - The Rolex Stadium was alive with excitement as 34 entrants competed in the $40,000 Kentucky Summer Grand Prix at the Kentucky Summer Horse Show. It turned into a nail-biter as five competitors progressed into the jump-off with a clear first round effort. Trailblazer Pablo Barrios aboard Zara Leandra was the first to post a...

Day One at the 2012 Olympic Games It’s been crazy as I landed from one fire (NAJYRC) into another - trying to get my brain to switch over and into Games mode. So far it has been great. Considering it started by me flying from Lexington to Chicago to Boston to Washington, DC to London in one day. It’s a complicated story without a really logical explanation but ground stops in Chicago = desperate. The UNITED staff couldn’t have been more accommodating and they worked it out...

Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation has named the team for the 2012 Paralympic Games. The four athletes representing the U.S. in London turned heads at the Para-Equestrian Dressage National Championship and Selection Trial held in Gladstone, NJ in June. The following two U.S. team veterans and two rising stars will compose the team: Rebecca Hart (Unionville, PA) and Jessica Ransehousen's Lord Ludger Jonathan Wentz (Richardson, TX) and Kai Handt's NTEC Richter Scale...

Mollie Kowalchik and Uccello Traverse City, MI - When Mollie Kowalchik walked into the Grand Prix Arena at Horse Shows by the Bay yesterday for the first time, she never dreamed that she would conclude the day with her first two major equitation wins in her young riding career. The 16-year-old Loveland, Ohio native captured top honors in both featured equitation classes by winning the USEF Talent Search Medal and the WIHS Jumper Phase. Aboard her 11-year-old warmblood Uccello, Kowalchik...