Oliver Townend Could Make History by Winning the Rolex Grand Slam of Eventing Once again, the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, this year Presented by Bridgestone, will host a truly international event at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY, April 22-25. The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, part of the HSBC FEI Classics™ Series, attracts many of the world's best horses and riders as they vie for their share of $250,000 in prize money. Enhancing this year's schedule will be the official...

Stadium Jumping, Inc., announced that the first week of the Tampa Equestrian Festival has been cancelled. The Suncoast Internationale was scheduled to run March 24-28. Michael Morrissey of Stadium Jumping, Inc., made the announcement on Tuesday morning, and said the change in schedule was long overdue. "That first week has always been a transitional week for us," said Morrissey of the cancellation. "We are listening to what our exhibitors have been telling us regarding that week. They have told...

Photo by Randi Muster (Daisy Farish aboard Ballou in the Small Pony Hunters.) The 2010 FTI Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) Week Nine, held March 10-14, 2010, featured many winners in the equitation, hunters, and jumpers, including the leader in the $200,000 FEI World Cup Grand Prix, CSI***, presented by CN. The week nine title sponsor was CN. Double H Farm's Night Train sped to the win with Olympic Gold medalist Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil in the $200,000 FEI World Cup Grand Prix, CSI***,...

At least half a dozen U.S. riders aiming to represent the United States at the 2010 Eventing World Championships will launch their selection bids at the Galway Downs International Horse Trials on March 26-28. The CIC*** at Galway Downs will be a vitally important preparation event for these riders as they head for the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** in late April, the primary U.S. selection trial for the Eventing World Championships. Several Canadian World Championship candidates are also expected to...

Excellence in equestrian sport does not come easy. It takes an amazing sense of dedication, incredible skill and a courageous heart. And in 2009, five horses (and their riders, drivers and handlers) have shown the world exactly those qualities. For each of them, their hard work and brilliant talent has garnered them a nomination for the United States Equestrian Federation's highest honor bestowed upon a horse - the Farnam/Platform USEF Horse of the Year Award. The five nominees represent the...

Michael Blowen, the Founder and President of Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farm in Kentucky, is pleased to announce that the satellite facility, Old Friends at Cabin Creek: The Bobby Frankel Division, will be the new permanent home of Bobby Frankel-trainee Gigli and famed New York-bred stallion Thunder Rumble. The first Old Friends auxiliary farm, Cabin Creek, is located just outside of Saratoga in Greenfield Center, NY, and is owned by Joann and Mark Pepper. In 1992, Thunder Rumble...

HITS is pleased to announce that they will host the Dressage Getaway CDI*** during week III of the 2010 HITS Desert Circuit in Thermal, CA. The show, held on February 12-14, will feature a full schedule of national and high-performance dressage classes. The 2010 HITS Desert Circuit in Thermal, CA, will have six weeks of hunter/jumper competition from January 26 to March 14. During the Dressage Getaway competition, the CSI jumpers and CDI dressage horses will share the indoor warm-up ring and...

With great sadness, Mo and Jim Swanson of Rolling Stone Farm announce the passing of a World Champion dressage legend on August 11, 2009. The Hanoverian stallion Welcome S (World Cup I-Grebina/Grande) was euthanized in August 2009, due to infirmities of age. He was 22 years old. Welcome was owned by Jan van der Kamp and was managed by his daughter, Patricia Stemerdink of Dekstation de Havikerwaard in De Steeg, The Netherlands. The Swanson’s leased Welcome for breeding after a chance meeting in...

Equestrian Sport Productions (ESP), the manager of the Winter Equestrian Festival, has released the finalized dates for the competitions commencing on January 13 and running through April 4, 2010. As in the past two years, the Festival will feature 12 weeks of AA USEF competition showcasing some of the world's top Olympic riders and awarding major prize money at one of the premiere equestrian facilities in the world. Once again, the Festival will feature the Battle of the Sexes, the Nations Cup...

HITS, Inc., is pleased to announce the dates for the 2010 HITS Desert Circuit, held at the HITS Desert Horse Park in Thermal, CA. The horse show circuit will run for six weeks and will also include an off week. There will be four World Cup qualifiers during the circuit, and it will feature special classes for riders of all levels in equitation, hunters, and jumpers. An added bonus for exhibitors this year is special circuit pricing packages, which will help exhibitors make their showing plans....