Photo by Carole Dwinell (F.A.C.E.) El Sueño Equestrian Center near Camarillo, CA, was the site for the the fourth of five USEF Selection Trials on the road to this year’s 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG) for American vaulters. Translated from Spanish, El Sueño means "dream." This new facility represents four years of hard work and upgrading efforts at the recently purchased property. Owner Gina Atton-Thomas has now hosted upper-level dressage clinics, a hunter/jumper series, and...

Photo by ESI Photography (Tracy Fenney was the star of the show at HITS Culpeper winning the $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Derby and the $40,000 HITS Grand Prix. ) The road to the Pfizer Million passed right through the heart of Virginia's horse country for the HITS Culpeper July horse shows and saw two major contenders in the race for the top prize in the Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix pull off a pair of big wins at HITS Commonwealth Park, in Culpeper, VA. Aaron Vale got the party started during the...

SusanJStickle.com (Young Rider Dressage Team Gold) Lexington, KY - July 28, 2010 - It was dueling dressage riders today in the gleaming parallel lines set on the field of the Kentucky Horse Park’s new Main Stadium. Junior competitors (ages 14-18) and Young Riders (ages 16-21) performed side-by-side to kick off the 2010 Adequan FEI North American Junior & Young Rider Championships presented by Gotham North. Today’s event, The Platinum Performance/USDF Dressage Championship Team Test represented...

Courtesy Joanie Webster (Junior rider Natalie Kupperman astride her purebred Connemara gelding, Elphin Song Sparrow, winner of the Consummate Connemara Trophy.) The Annual West Coast Connemara Show, dedicated in memory of Larry Ervin, was held for the second consecutive year at Twin Rivers Ranch in Paso Robles, CA. Chris Knox of Chesterfield, ID, was the USEF-licensed Connemara Breed and Performance judge. Forty-six Connemara ponies along with some 'open' horses vied for ribbons in the...

Photos of all new 2010 Elite Mares, Elite Mare Candidates, High-Score Hanoverians and non-Hanoverian mares from the inspection sites, new Jumper Breeding Program mares, and the mares upgraded from Studbook to Main Studbook in 2010 through performance are needed for publication in the inspection reports included in the fall and winter issues of The American Hanoverian , as well as for the Mare Book section of the 2011 AHS Breeders’ Guide and Stallion Directory . The AHS would like to include as...

Photo by ESI Photography (Sue Lyman and The Lion's Share) Sue Lyman rode The Lion's Share to a roaring victory in Saturday night's $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Derby to highlight the Cavalier Classic for hunter riders at HITS Commonwealth Park, in Culpeper, VA. Lyman and The Lion's Share used a score of 85 in the first round to put them in the hunt for the blue ribbon when the top 12 horse-and-rider combinations returned for a handy round on a course set by Rian Beals. At the conclusion of the first...

Photo by Jennifer Singleton (One of the driving marathon elements for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.) Richard Nicoll, driving course designer for the upcoming Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games (WEG), was recently on the grounds of the Kentucky Horse Park for several days to work with the course builder, meet with various decorators, and generally check on the progress of the marathon obstacles. According to Nicoll, construction is now about 95% percent complete on the marathon...

The FEI has undertaken a review of the Protocol for Thermography and Clinical Examination (Hypersensitivity of Legs) and, in an effort to further strengthen the protocol, has issued the following mandatory guidelines to be applied by the Veterinary Commissions appointed for FEI Events. The new guidelines state: (i) All horses that are tested pursuant to the Protocol for Thermography and Clinical Examination will continue to undergo a thermography examination as one part of the evaluation...

A dramatic win by Darragh Kenny of Ireland in the $75,000 Hermès Grand Prix CSI 2* for the Whitney Perpetual Challenge Trophy highlighted the 41st Annual Lake Placid Horse Show. Only five entries from the starting field of 24 succeeded in completing the 16-jump, first-round course designed by Olaf Petersen, Jr., of Germany without penalty. They returned for the nine-jump jump-off at the North Elba Showgrounds. First to go was Callan Solem of Chester Springs, PA, who set the mark to beat by...

Photo by Randi Muster (Kelley Farmer will return to Horse Shows by the Bay for her second year.) The 2010 Horse Shows by the Bay Equestrian Festival is pleased to welcome many of the country's top horses and riders to northern Michigan this summer for four weeks of exceptional equestrian competition. Set in the heart of scenic Traverse City, MI, competitors will enjoy world-class competition at the beautiful Flintfields Horse Park from July 8 through August 1, 2010. Dressage by the Bay Series I...