A First of its Kind World-Class Competition The first Best Performance Team Invitational will take place on Friday evening, February 20, 2015, under the lights in the International Arena during week 7 of the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida. Darragh Kenny, Laura Kraut, Beezie Madden, Rodrigo Pessoa and McLain Ward are among the grand prix riders forming teams to compete over a jumper course judged on style and performance by the legendary George H. Morris and Katie Prudent....

Part of the joy of Saddleseat is the tradition, and there are few finals where that’s as true as in the NHS “Good Hands” Finals, held annually at the MidAmerica Mane Event Horse Show. The “Good Hands” Final began in 1883 in Madison Square Garden, billed as ‘ America’s Oldest Indoor Horse Show ’. In the 131 years since, a lot has changed. When that first final took place, football still didn’t have a forward pass and basketball didn’t...

Lexington, Ky. - Patti Blackmore (Louisiana, Mo., Region 4) placed third at last year's Finals in the First Level Adult Amateur division, and this year she improved upon that performance to claim the Second Level Adult Amateur Championship aboard her own Hanoverian gelding Rubico (by Rotspon). As the only combination to break seventy percent, they earned a decisive win with a total score of 71.905%. "I breathed a sigh of relief after our counter canter portion of the test," laughed...

Temecula, Calif. - Barbara Crabo rode Eveready II to victory in the CCI3* at the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event, scoring 53.2 penalties. Her faultless show jumping around pushed her to the top when leader Buck Davidson lowered one rail with Copper Beech to finish second (54.0). Maya Black and Doesn’t Play Fair finished third (59.2). For Crabo, of Scottsdale, Ariz., Galway Downs was her first victory in a CCI3*, and for it she received a check for $7,000. “I’m...

Lexington, Ky. - At the end of the year-long horse show circuit, there is one final destination where the nation's top hunter and jumper riders all flock: the National Horse Show at the Kentucky Horse Park. The prestigious six-day culminating final kicked off today with five full professional hunter divisions. Scott Stewart and A Million Reasons (Phelps Media Group, Inc.) In the Second Year Green Hunter division, sponsored by Ernie and Betty Oare and Patricia Adikes-Hill, it was Scott...

Davidas (Horalas *Pg*E* - Abdullah *Pg*E*) during the free-jumping phase of the 2014 Trakehner Verband stallion inspection in Neumünster, Germany, last week. He was named “Best Jumper” by the inspection team and approved as a premium stallion (Holders Hill Photography) The American bred and foaled Trakehner stallion Davidas jumped his way into the history books last weekend when he was approved as a premium stallion by the German Trakehner Verband at their annual stallion inspection and auction...

Pau, France – Three U.S. horse-and-athlete combinations performed their dressage test at the Les Étoiles de Pau CCI4* on Thursday, and Land Rover Competition Grant recipients Lauren Kieffer and Veronica lead the way for the U.S. contingent. Lauren Kieffer and Veronica (Libby Law Photography) Kieffer (Ocala, Fla.) and Team Rebecca, LLC’s Veronica had a lovely test to score 44.2 from the Ground Jury of Jane Tolley, Eric Lieby, and Polly Ann Huntington, putting them in fourth...

Lexington, Ky. – The second day of dressage at the Military Boekelo CCIO3* wrapped up on Friday in Boekelo, The Netherlands. Strong performances in the first phase have put the Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team in second place with a score of 139.60 as they heading out on the Sue Benson’s cross-country track on Saturday. USEF Land Rover Competition Grant recipients Clark Montgomery and Loughan Glen led the way for the U.S. contingent, going into the lead on Friday in the field of 89...

Lucy Deslauriers and Hester (Al Cook Photo) Harrisburg, Pa. – The 2014 Randolph College/USEF National Junior Jumper Championship kicked off Thursday evening at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show with Phase I of competition, the Speed Leg, as efficiency and tidy jumping were the name of the game in the faults converted class. As the final competitor of the evening, Lucy Deslauriers outran the field of 32 that went to task over Michel Vaillancourt’s 1.40m track to hold the early...

Lexington, Ky. – The Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team is off to a solid start at the Military Boekelo CCIO3* following the first day of dressage as competition got underway in Boekelo, The Netherlands. Elisabeth Halliday-Sharp and Fernhill by Night (Libby Law Photography) Elisabeth Halliday-Sharp (East Sussex, UK) and Fernhill by Night had a lovely test in front of the judging panel of Anne-Mette Binder (DEN), Christoph Hess (GER), and Angela Tucker (GBR) to receive a score of 47.90. She and...