Wayne, Ill. – Friday brought another warm and sunny day to HITS Chicago at Lamplight Equestrian Center where seven classes of the 2020 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions showcased a wide variety of horses and riders on their quest for national champion titles. Four divisions concluded and named their national champions on Friday: The USEF Intermediaire I Dressage National Championship; Adequan®/USEF Young Adult ‘Brentina Cup’ Dressage National Championship; USEF Pony...

Welcome to the fourth installment of a different kind of blog from WDAA! The purpose of this post is to allow the reader "into the heads" of both a trainer/judge/competitor, Karen Abbattista and her student, Deborah Herbert, a Florida WDAA member. We would like to share with you some moments in Deb's journey as she pursues her riding goals with her AQHA mare "GenuineArcticSpring", barn name "Belle". Please enjoy as you follow along with these posts that we consider interesting or...

This article has been reprinted with permission of Erin Gilmore. The original article can be found at https://www.proequest.com/news/2013/03/28/a-for-effort-first-usef-town-hall-meeting-on-horse-welfare-is-heavy-on-promises-plan [Wellington, FL] “We have to admit that we know we have a problem.” No, this wasn’t a church basement gathering of recovering addicts, although an atmosphere of “enough is enough” hung heavy in the air. A crowd of 75 trainers, riders and...

Ken Borden with his mare Shirly and site-champion foal Sir Flemmingh, now a licenced stallion, at Little Bit Farm's 2007 ISR/Oldenburg inspection (Fire & Earth Photography). Wilmington, IL – Turn the drive through the green gate and there’s the pink crabapple tree, in bloom against the white-and-gray siding of the barn. To the left is the front pasture, soon to be home to a group of mares and foals. To the right is the approximately 100-year-old farmhouse – from its...

Wayne, Ill. – Competition wrapped up on Sunday at the 2023 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions . After a week of weather ups and downs, riders and spectators were rewarded with a comfortably cool day at HITS Chicago at Lamplight Equestrian Center for the seventh and final day, which saw the final five dressage national champion titles awarded. Winners in each division received prize packs generously provided by Le Mieux, which included an ear bonnet, saddle pad, and leg boots. Division...

Wayne, Ill. – A busy day of competition took place at HITS Chicago at Lamplight Equestrian Center with seven classes across two rings for day four of the 2023 U.S. Dressage Festival of Champions . The Neue Schule/USEF Intermediaire I division had its conclusion with the FEI Freestyle Test, culminating in the second national championship title of this year’s show. Madeleine Bendfeldt and Lindholm's Quick Step. ©SusanJStickle.com Markel/USEF Five-Year-Old Dressage National...

Traverse City, Mich. – At the midway point of the 2022 FEI North American Youth Championships (NAYC), Ella Fruchterman has already racked up a pair of gold medals in the Junior Dressage division. Ella Fruchterman and Holts Le'Mans. ©KTB Creative Group Fruchterman (West Lakeland, Minn.) and Holts Le’Mans, her own 2011 Danish Warmblood gelding, were part of the Region 4 team that won gold on Wednesday’s Junior Team Competition. On Friday, the pair clinched the...

Traverse City, Mich. – History repeated itself on the first day of competition at the 2022 FEI North American Youth Championships (NAYC) for dressage as the Junior team representing Region 4 won team gold for the second consecutive year. The 2022 NAYC Region 4 Junior Dressage Team. ©KTB Creative Not only was it a repeat win for the region, but the roster was made up of veteran horse-and-athlete combinations from the 2021 Region 4 Junior Team. Lexie Kment (Palmyra, Neb.) and Montagny...

Mill Spring, N.C. – Competitors in the 2020 Adequan®/USEF Para Dressage National Championship concluded their week at the Tryon International Equestrian Center on Sunday with their FEI Para Freestyle tests. Rebecca Hart and El Corona Texel. Photo: Taylor Pence/US Equestrian Rebecca Hart (Wellington, Fla.) and Rowan O’Riley’s El Corona Texel held on to the lead through all three days of competition, finishing with an exciting freestyle that showed off the gelding’s...

Laura Graves and Verdades (Photo by Shannon Brinkman Photo) Gothenburg, Sweden – In the dramatic conclusion of the FEI Dressage World Cup™ Final, Laura Graves and her loyal mount Verdades piaffed their way to silver in front of an enthusiastic Swedish crowd of more than 11,500. Showing the strength of the American dressage program, all three U.S. combinations broke the top seven with scores over 80%. “I was thrilled. [Verdades] was so rideable, and I was just really thrilled...