Three Przewalski horse foals kicked up their hooves, making a grand entrance at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park on Friday, August 8, 2008. The Wild Animal Park currently houses 17 of these critically endangered horses, including the new additions, born August 3, July 22 and July 19. Two more babies are expected soon. Foals are born after an 11-month pregnancy. Approximately 30 minutes after birth the babies must be on their legs and able to move with the herd. Since 1974, 138 Przewalski's...

Hong Kong, China – Coming into the Games, Peters was pinned as the best individual medal hope for the US in recent memory. Riding Akiko Yamazaki’s formerly undefeated Steffen Peters and Ravel (Shannon Brinkman) 10-year-old KWPN gelding Ravel, Peters put in a masterful performance in the horse’s first effort outside the US. Anky van Grunsven and Salinero won on the strength of their freestyle (82.4%), winning her third consecutive Individual gold medal for The Netherlands on a...

Hong Kong, China – A jump-off between the United States and Canada decided the Team Gold medal tonight at Sha Tin. Gold for the USA (Shannon Brinkman) Two countries, tied on a score of 20, after two rounds. The US won. In the Olympic rules, all team members return to the ring to jump-off. Canada began the evening a horse down because Mac Cone withdrew Ole. This meant that they did not get to drop a score. Under the watchful eye of Chef d'Equipe George Morris, McLain Ward led it off...

Lexington, KY— Though it was Morgan Moog’s first time competing at the 2008 United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Pony Medal, she and her horse Goodnight Moon topped the efforts of 184 other competitors to win the championship title. In the USEF Pony Medal Final, the riders compete in small, medium and large divisions based on pony size and are judged on their equitation and ability to ride the course correctly. From there, the top riders are asked to come back for another course over...

Lexington, KY— The final leg of the three-day Adequan/United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) 2008 National Pony Jumper Individual Championship was fast-paced and highly competitive as 25 young riders came back on Saturday night to compete in head-to-head competition. Over a more challenging course with larger fences than the team competition the night before, it was 10-year-old Jessica Pyfer and Sosha who went triple clear to win the 2008 Adequan/USEF National Pony Jumper Individual...

Lexington, KY— Last year, eleven-year-old Lillie Keenan made history by being the first young rider to sweep the small, medium and large divisions of the 2007 Wild Horsefeathers/United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) National Pony Hunter Finals. Keenan almost repeated history again this year by winning the Medium and Large Pony divisions, securing her the Champion and Reserve title. Keenan bested 292 competitors with a top score of 1077 aboard Dogwood Hill’s German Warmblood gelding...

Steffen Peters and Ravel (Shannon Brinkman) Hong Kong, China – The dressage riders temporarily reclaimed the ring from the show jumpers tonight at Sha Tin and although Germany continued to rule… the Americans put in an impressive showing. Two US riders were in the fold and Steffen Peters and Ravel (who is owned by Aikiko Yamazaki) were first of the pair in the ring. Their test was brilliant, with no mistakes, Peters did a masterful job in the piaffe and passage and guided the...

Lexington, KY— The third day of the United States Equestrian Federation’s (USEF) 2008 National Pony Finals was an all day affair, starting with the pony hunters throughout the day then transitioning into pony jumpers in the evening. In true form, the pony jumpers added to the excitement of the day with the evening’s championship ending with Zone 7 on top with a total of 4 faults and the fastest team time of 188.037, winning the 2008 Adequan/USEF National Pony Jumper Team...

Hong Kong, China – After receiving the lowest score of her career (63.00%), all of Brentina’s connections were concerned that despite training absolutely phenomenally every day leading up to the Games, there may have been something physically wrong with the gallant 17-year-old Hanoverian mare. “She’s fitter and sounder than ever,” said her rider of 13 years, Debbie McDonald. “She’s been schooling so well but she was totally different in the ring than she was in the warm up. I was totally caught...

Hong Kong, China – Steffen Peters, the anchor rider for the US Team, did everything he could to coax a brilliant performance out of Ravel to secure the team bronze medal. Courtney King-Dye and Mythilus (Shannon Brinkman) Peters really went for broke and finished the first Individual Qualifier in 10th place individually on a 70.00%, which wasn’t quite good enough for a team medal after teammate Debbie McDonald had a completely uncharacteristic performance on Brentina. Ravel, who is...